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Rated R (QOTSA Album)

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Rated R (QOTSA Album) (Music)
C-c-c-c-c-cocaine!
Rated R is the second studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 6, 2000, by Interscope Records.

Compared to the straightforward stoner rock sound of their debut album, this album has a mellower and more varied (but none-the-less hard) mix of stoner rock, grunge/alternative, classic rock and just a touch of heavy metal (with a few unorthodox musical experiments here and there, such as the use of steel drums in "I Think I Lost My Headache"). The album's themes primarily revolve around the effects (both good and bad) of drugs and alcohol. Nick Oliveri formally joined the band as the bassist, as well as providing lead vocals for three songs. Mark Lanegan would also join the album as a guest member, providing backing vocals for two songs and lead vocals for "In the Fade".

The album would become the band's first Breakthrough Hit into the mainstream, attaining both commercial success and critical acclaim. Many critics praised Rated R for its diverse and experimental sound. The band would eventually reissue a deluxe version of the album in 2010 titled Rated X/RX (on vinyl), featuring six unreleased B-sides and live recordings of the band's performance at the 2000 Reading Festival.

Two singles were released with this album: "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" and "Feel Good Hit of the Summer".

Not to be confused with the Rihanna album of the same name.


Tracklist

  1. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" (2:43)
  2. "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" (3:36)
  3. "Leg of Lamb" (2:48)
  4. "Auto Pilot" (4:01)
  5. "Better Living Through Chemistry" (5:49)
  6. "Monsters in the Parasol" (3:27)
  7. "Quick to the Pointless" (1:42)
  8. "In the Fade" (with a reprise of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer") (4:25)
  9. "Tension Head" (2:52)
  10. "Lightning Song" (2:07)
  11. "I Think I Lost My Headache" (8:40)

Feel Good Tropes of the Summer:

  • Age-Gap Romance: "Quick and to the Pointless" is about a lurid instance of this. It follows a desperate, older man lusting after a young girl who he wants to make love to.
  • Alliterative Title: "Leg of Lamb".
  • Alternate Album Cover: The Deluxe edition of the album turns the colour scheme to red and calls it Rated RX.
  • Binge Montage: Ultra-condensed in the form of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer", whose lyrics are nothing but a list of drugs, specifically nicotine, Valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy, alcohol — and, for the chorus, C-C-C-C-C-COCAINE!
  • Chronological Album Title: Very narrowly averted with Rated R. The album was originally going to be titled II (being the band's second album) but was renamed Rated R at the last minute. This is probably a good thing, since the album sounds almost nothing like the band's debut.
  • Cover Version: "Tension Head" originated as "13th Floor", a song from Oliveri's band Mondo Generator.
  • Double Entendre: "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" could be implying a musical hit, or one of the narcotics listed in the song.
  • Epic Rocking: "I Think I Lost My Headache" is easily the longest on the album at 8:40.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: Oliveri intersperses some Dutch a few times during "Quick and to the Pointless".
  • Hidden Track: On some versions of the album, the "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" reprise at the end of "In the Fade" plays as an independent track, but it's not listed on the back cover.
  • Last Note Nightmare: Or in this case, "Last Outro Nightmare". "I Think I Lost My Headache" features a outro that could be best described as a three-minute jazz freakout.
  • Lighter and Softer: Rated R is sonically mellower and trippier than the band's Self-Titled Album.
  • Limited Lyrics Song: "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" is made up of various drugs and narcotics repeated ad nauseam. The repetition is to the point of parody, which is probably intentional.
    Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol (cocaine!)
  • Longest Song Goes Last: "I Think I Lost My Headache" ends the album and is the longest at 8:40.
  • Minimalistic Cover Art: Rated R is the most obvious example from their discography, styled after the MPAA bumpers from the 1970s.
  • Miniscule Rocking: "Quick to the Pointless" at 1:42.
  • New Sound Album: As mentioned in the description, Rated R has a more mellow and varied sound than the Self-Titled Album's stoner rock sound, featuring dips into Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Punk Rock, and Alternative Metal.
  • No Ending:
    • "In the Fade" seems like it is going to lead into a fade-out, only for it to suddenly cut off.
    • "I Think I Lost My Headache"—and by extension Rated R as a whole—just cuts off at the very end. No silence or anything.
  • Shout-Out: "There's no one here/And people everywhere"note  in "Better Living Through Chemistry". (The title itself comes from an iconic DuPont advertising tagline, and was even used as the title of Fatboy Slim's debut album 4 years prior.)
  • The Something Song: "Lightning Song".
  • Step Up to the Microphone:
    • Oliveri takes on lead vocals for "Auto Pilot", "Quick and to the Pointless", and "Tension Head".
    • Lanegan provides lead vocals for "In the Fade".
  • Title Confusion: Their second album, officially titled Rated R, doesn't actually display that name anywhere on the packaging; it could either be referred to as R, Restricted or even Feel Good Hit of the Summer (displayed on the right spine).
  • The Un-Reveal: Unsurprisingly, the narrator of "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" never explains what the secret is.
    I think you already know
    How far I'd go not to say
    You know the art isn't gone
    And I'm taking our song to the grave

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