Customer Reviews

The Desert Sessions, Vols. 9 & 10

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Desert Sessions 9&10 is by far the most cohesive of the series with an almost normal song-to-song flow and it also has some of the best desert sessions tracks to date. I really can't knock it even though I'm trying. Vocals are outstanding throughout and PJ Harvey shines on several occasions, particularly "There Will Never Be A Better Time", "Crawl Home" and "Powdered Wig Machine". It's great hearing a truly powerful voice repeatedly over-driving the mic, even from a distance!

If you're a Queens fan you will almost certainly enjoy this album and if it's your first time with the Desert Session you'll come away wanting to explore related bands. Do it. There's so much diversity here but it really does hang together as a single entity, and you will definitely keep coming back for more.

Twisted, simple and wonderfully engineered. The perfect balance of spontaneity, drugs and craziness supported by underlying musical genius. Buy it.

This latest installment of "Desert Sessions" entitled "I See You Hearin' Me (Vol. 9)" and "I Heart Disco (Vol. 10)" respectively, is proof that great music can still be made sans high priced producer and big name record label. In fact the music contained on this disc is so good, only a song by song review can do it justice, so lets do it.

Vol. 9 "I See You Hearin' Me"
1. Dead In Love--The albums strong opening song begins with a guitar riff that sounds stuck somewhere between Alice Cooper and AC/DC. Pretty much a straightforward rocker until the timer hits 3:00, at which point the listener is treated to an excellent outro, complete with clarinet, piano and slide guitar.

2. I Wanna Make It WitChu--Undeniably the best song on the album. Great vocals, great musicianship, all around wonderful song. You'll be listenin' to this one over and over.

3. Covered In Punks Blood--A song that sounds pretty much what the name implies. The "hardest" song on the whole album. Nothin' but guitar, bass and some awesome drumming.

4. There Will Never Be A Better Time--A stripped down song featuring PJ Harvey on vox and Chris Goss on guitar. The beginning isn't bad; however the song eventually grows old, with PJ whining along with a boring, repetitive guitar riff. I find myself skipping this frequently.

5. Crawl Home--Featuring PJ on lead vox and distorted bass and Al Johannes providing "relatively surfish guitar". Good vocals, good chorus, good song.

6. I'm Here For Your Daughter--Shortest song on the album (44 seconds). Morbid but funny lyrics and a funky little guitar lick make this "song" quite interesting.

Vol. 10 "I Heart Disco"
7. Powdered Wig Machine--Not extremely good, not bad either. Kinda middle of the road. See what you think.

8. In My Head...Or Something--Catchy, very catchy. Could be a B-side to a single off of QOTSA "Songs For The Deaf".

9. Holey Dime--Starts off with a nice lap steel and evolves into a rhythm heavy song. Good stuff.

10. A Girl Like Me--A half sung, half spoken word song featuring PJ rambling in cryptic lyrics about a failed relationship. Another middle of the road song.

11. Creosote--When I first heard this I was remined of Helmets country/blues inspired song "Sam Hell". "Creosote" kinda falls along the same lines. Nice little piece of weird music.

12. Subcutaneous Phat--A nice groovy song with a cool steady beat. Hints of guitar here and there and no vocals, save for the "Oooohhs" in the background. Very listenable.

13. Bring It Back Gentle--Sort of brings to mind a darker version of Ween, much darker. Good raw chorus.

14. Shepherds Pie--A you-had-to-be-there "song". All it is, is a bunch of people singing "shepherds pie" over and over again. Not the best way to end an album, but what are you gonna do??

All in all "Desert Sessions (Vol 9&10)" is a great album filled with great music. There must be something in the water out in Joshua Tree,CA.

This album is amazing. I was in some dive of a record shop and the owner saw me pawing through Queens (my copies had been stolen) and turned me onto this album. I was reluctant to buy it but he swore it was a must have (unliike the other deserts sessions apparently). I was never into PJ Harvey or Ween for that matter but they rock! PJ especially. This is a little corner of flip side heaven...except for the 'In my head' which is a-side and a hit but it sounds like the rest of this surprise great album. Take the plunge!

Having never heard any of the previous Desert Sessions, I was expecting a strong A Perfect Circle vibe from this edition of Josh Homme's pet project, what with the presence of Twiggy Ramirez, Josh Freeze, and ex-APC guitarist Troy Van L. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how different this album was from that band, and how much it veered away from the QOTSA feel.

Reviewers so far have noted the amazing vocals contributed by PJ Harvey on various tracks, particularly "There Will Never Be A Better Time." I can't argue with them; tracks like that one, which gives me the shivers every time I hear it, as well as "Crawl Home" and "A Girl Like Me" are simply outstanding. I hope she shows up on future Desert Sessions as well. Dean Ween's influence is more subtle, but can definitely be felt in "Powdered Wig." And songs like "Dead In Love," "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu," and "In My Head...Or Something" are very reminiscent of early QOTSA albums.

If you're not familiar with the Desert Sessions, you can imagine this disc as Queens of the Stone Age stoned: more mellow, a bit stranger, and willing to let all of their buddies go crazy in the studio. If this sounds up your alley, then I say jump on this album. It's easily one of the best stoner-rock CDs that I've heard in a while.

By the way, my votes for "song most likely to show up on a future QOTSA album" go to "Powdered Wig Machine," "Dead In Love," "In My Head..." and "Holey Dime," in order of likelihood.

Desert Sessions was created by Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage) as a way for a group of musicians to come together and just create music without restriciton. The result is an incredibly solid and sonically varied album. However, some of the songs, especially towards the end of the album, were probably more fun to create then to listen to. The album ends with a song about shepards pie... people just singing over and over about wanting to eat shepards pie...

Other then a couple let-downs at the end this album is great. A few songs sound like they would be right at home on a Queens of the Stoneage album whereas others are PJ Harvey B-sides just waiting to happen. If you happen to like either Queens of the Stoneage or PJ Harvey then I deffinately suggest getting this album.

Overall its PJ Harvey that pulls this album up, she performs on 7 of the tracks and sings lead on 4 of those. Those 4 songs - There Will Never Be a Better Time, Crawl Home, Powdered Wig Maching, and Girl Like Me - are the 4 strongest of the album. PJ Harvey sounds like she just let herself be free on this side-project and she ends up sounding better then she has in years.

If you like QOTSA at all, or are just looking for some groovy rock to drip and bleed from your speakers - look no further. While past desert sessions have been more of a buffet for me, this set delivers a full course meal. The usual variety is on tap here, but somehow it all coheres into a mind-melting full length that amazes with its consistantly great tunes. The PJ Harvey tunes in particular blew me away - "There Will Never be Another Time" sends a chill down my spine every time. Yes, there are a couple of throwaway songs that were probably more fun to record than hear - but that lasts for a total of probably 5 minutes on this otherwise awesome album. I'm a huge fan of QOTSA and, while being a lot less heavy and altogether different, this is just as satisfying as any of their albums. Get it, stupid.

Albums like this have to make you wonder what what the artists were smoking when they made them. In this case its not exactly a bad thing. "Dead in Love" starts out like a psychadelic 80's goth song but ends up drifting in an uneasy guitar solo. "I Wanna Make it Witchu" is one of those songs that anyone can get into. Its just so damn funky. You'll be hitting the back button alot on this one. The closest thing to a QOTSA song would have to be "in my head, or something..." Really catchy, hence the title. I could see this one popping up on the next QOTSA album.

PJ Harvey gives it her best on "There Will Never Be a Better Time." This one gave me goosebumps. "Crawl Home" is another great track featuring polly. Twiggy's (ahem, Jeordie) bass brings out portishead style guitars as polly and josh battle it out. Great stuff.

At first this one doesnt seem as good as other desert sessions. Just give it a little time and it will grow on you. Now get off kazaa and buy it! They need our support to keep coming out with such great projects. Can't wait for 11/12!

I don't know if I like this album as much as DS 7&8, but I felt compelled to review it after seeing young Chris's review.

Young Chris, you are right. You are absolutely correct.

You and your golden ears are the only ones who have "paid attention to the lineup of Desert Sessions albums at all". They get weird! They get all CRAZY! ZANY!

The bottom line is that this is like ALL of the other Desert Sessions recordings. Never to see the light of radio, just cool musically-minded folks trying some new stuff.

So it is musicians getting together and experimenting. So it has a harder edge, so what? It is still new and fresh and exciting.

Not weird.

I saw Josh Homme (of Queens of The Stone age) at a gig this past summer. I was wondering what he was up to for a moment. I had never heard of Desert Sessions till a few weeks ago. It looked like a great idea or a vanity project. It turns out that it is better than expected. This time PJ Harvey, Dean Ween, Twiggy Ramirez, and others join Homme. There is nothing as different as the two lead tracks: "Dead in Love" is hard rock and "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu" is like a song by Randy Newman. "There Will Never Be A Better Time" is a collaboration between PJ Harvey and Chris Goss. It is an intense acoustic and vocals number where Harvey can show off her vocal talents. Harvey and Josh Homme duet on vocals on "Crawl Home" which is also a stand out track, which could easily been a song on the last PJ Harvey album. "Powered Wig Machine" is an electronic prog rock song. "In My Head... Or Something" is a key song. It is the most Queens type song that just rocks out. A personal favorite. A few more musical numbers follow this. A few more experimental songs featuring Dean Ween on guitar. It is all summed up in the end by the big rock of "Bring It Back Gentle" which oscillates between soft rock and loudness. I found myself listening to this record about twenty times in a row. I was interested in finding the other desert sessions. This is one of the great records of this year.

This CD is awesome. If your a fan of QOTSA then you have to get it. There is alot more texture to this CD then what QOTSA puts out, but it definitely rocks. I just wonder which of these songs will make it to the next QOTSA album.