Queens of the Stone Age’s no bull-shit, fuzzed out, blackout rock, rolls like a good joint and delivers a high that doesn’t crash after the first listen. Homme’s, poetry be damned, film noir approach to song writing has won a relentless fan base in an age of embarrassed post rockers struggling somewhere between new indie and old grunge. Ten years later, Rated R hits just as hard and draws blood like a good Tarantino movie. Released Aug, 3 2010, Rated R'' is a re-issue of QOTSA’s first release with a major label that NME called, “the best, most important rock album for years…”

According “Bulby” the mascot for QOTSA’s pre-release advertising campaign, “these guys are just a bunch of hoods with guitars.” As a new QOTSA listener, that’s the impression I got and they are proud of that title. On, “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” Homme chants, “Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol.” Like a witch doctor, Homme’s mantra is entrancing . The voodoo like drums snap behind the moral-less incantation which explodes into a vomitous guitar solo that slashes and bends in an unpredictable manner. This same chemical guitar sound becomes the normative voice for other knock-out tracks like “Monsters in the Parasol” and “Quick and to the Pointless.”

“The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” struts forward as the albums most beguiling tune. The track has all the dark romance to be a pop-song but I think Homme’s lyrical intention is a bit more complex. Lines like, “Blame all the movement to give it away,” and “Leap of faith, do you doubt?” seem to show his exasperation with people too quick to pay lip service to an idea or belief without any follow through. In the year 2000, the now ubiquitous social networking outlets had yet to emerge but Homme still saw the way secrets become harder to keep when self-disclosure is in vogue.

For listeners who aren’t satisfied by nostalgia alone, or the realization of how old they are, the B-sides of this 2 disc set redeem the purchase. This bonus disc features a cover of the Kinks, “Who’ll Be the Next In Line,” Romeo Vold’s audacious, “Never Say Never” and a memorable live version of “Monster from Parasol.” There’s also several other listenable cuts from the Reading Festival live show.

We live in a cynical world of pretentious aesthetic appeal and seemingly unmovable apathy. In a twisted way it does seem consoling that these direct rock n’ roll “smudgites” still have a place in American music. Sun burnt, desert drugged and prickling with a restless honesty that bridges the gap between hooky pop song and dilapidated grunge iconoclasts, Rated R remains the working class rock album of the decade.