If Only (Queens of the Stone Age song)
| Queens of the Stone Age | ||||
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Cover of the compact disc release, using a photograph from The Pin-Up: A Modest History (1972) by Mark Gabor
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| Studio album by Queens of the Stone Age | ||||
| Released | September 22, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | April 3–21, 1998 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:27 | |||
| Label | Loosegroove (LG 0021) | |||
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| Queens of the Stone Age chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
Cover of the original vinyl release
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| Singles from Queens of the Stone Age | ||||
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| Professional ratings (original release) | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 7/10 |
| Professional ratings (reissue) | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B− |
| Consequence of Sound | B |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 |
| Mojo | |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10 |
| PopMatters |   |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Uncut | |
Queens of the Stone Age is the debut album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released in September 1998 by Loosegroove Records. It was primarily written and recorded by founding member Josh Homme and his former Kyuss bandmate Alfredo Hernández, with Hernández playing drums and Homme singing and playing the rest of the instrumentation as well as producing the album alongside Joe Barresi. By the time of the album's release, bassist Nick Oliveri, also a former member of Kyuss, would join the band. Queens of the Stone Age received generally positive reviews from critics, who placed it in the stoner rock genre and drew comparisons to krautrock bands such as Can and Neu! as well as to Kyuss and other metal bands.
In 2011 Homme reissued Queens of the Stone Age through his Rekords Rekords label, having it remastered and adding three additional tracks: two from the album's recording sessions and one from two years earlier. The reissue also received a positive critical response, and was accompanied by a supporting concert tour.
Following the breakup of Kyuss in 1995, guitarist Josh Homme recorded new material in Seattle with producer Chris Goss, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Victor Indrizzo under the name Gamma Ray. The results, including the song "If Only Everything", were released as the Gamma Ray EP in 1996. Homme subsequently toured as a guitarist with Screaming Trees and started The Desert Sessions, a series of jam sessions involving many musicians including former Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernández. The song "Avon" originated from the Desert Sessions, appearing on Volume 3: Set Coordinates for the White Dwarf!!! (1998). After receiving a cease and desist order because the name Gamma Ray was already in use by a German band, Homme changed the name to Queens of the Stone Age. The Gamma Ray material was re-released in 1997 on the Kyuss / Queens of the Stone Age split EP, along with the additional track "Spiders and Vinegaroons" from the Gamma Ray sessions; the release featured some of the final studio recordings by Kyuss while debuting the "Queens of the Stone Age" moniker for Homme's new project. Reflecting on this period in 2011, Homme remarked "I just remember thinking I hadn't played for about a year and I started writing songs. The first song I wrote was 'Regular John', which is the first song on the album, and I remember thinking 'no-one's playing this trance rock music that you can dance to', but that’s primarily because I hadn’t heard bands like Can. I thought I could try to do this thing that hadn't really been done, and then I found out it had kind of been done but not very much. You just kind of try to carve your own space. I just wanted to start a band that within three seconds of listening, people knew what band it was."
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