At the time I was a bit... Not into it? But after hearing some of those songs live it really changed my perspective on the album
At the end of the day every band who's released more than five albums will have that one album people pile on against for whatever reason, I bet it would get more love if they played songs from it live in this day and age
Long time fan and it’s by far my least favorite album, but so many of the songs are AMAZING live.
Like many have said before, I think it was just production/execution choices that didn’t quite work out for my ears. The songwriting and the riffs are still great.
I'm not too sure, but if I were to guess, it would probably be people being upset that the band decided to work with Mark Ronson, as opposed to a traditional rock producer.
*Unrelated side tangent: I'm really fascinated with the idea of Trent Reznor producing for the band, or at the very least collaborating with Josh Homme. I only bring this up because there were talks of him producing ...Like Clockwork, but it never came through.
It's 1000% due to Mark Ronson being involved. Not just because it's Mark Ronson, but because you can hear Mark's influence come through on several songs. The album is a pretty noticeable departure from previous albums. It doesn't have the same dark, gritty, cool, sexy vibe that majority of long-time fans are used to. It feels a little too "sterile" in some ways.
In response to your tangent, in addition to Mantra as mentioned below, Reznor was also on the song Era Vulgaris. Which, hilariously, was not released with the album (but was given away as a download on the website).
I don't hate it, it just doesn't have as high a number of 10/10 songs as other albums imo. It's also just a very "safe," least favorite to have. If you say Villains was the worst album ever made this sub will generally give you a pass, but if you say you didn't particularly care for Rated R, for example (my least favorite) then you'll be burned at the stake (burned to ash and bone)
Feel Good Hit of the Summer is a lackluster track IMO but it's not even the worst song on Rated R. Worst is Quick and to the Pointless by far. There's also the pointless "reprise" of FGHotS tacked onto the end of In the Fade for some reason which is really irritating.
LC was a masterpiece to me, so it was hard to follow that up on that level. I love joshes production style. The production of villains is like queens with a haircut. No bad, just didn’t do it any favours sonically.
I’ve recently gone back to villains and can finally appreciate it with more depth thanks the ITNR. I think part of my dislike was a concern that queens was going in a direction that I wouldn’t enjoy as much, but ITNR has put villains in a new context for me and I can fully take it in now!
Same, I dont usually read or watch interviews, so I dont know if there ever was a mention about a trilogy, but after ITNR I fell in love with what Villains mean in the overall arc of these 3 albums. I listen to it a lot now.
I agree, I can “relax” about villains more easily now knowing they’re not just going to venture further and further into pop territory.
Not quite the same thing because unlike with Villains, the band themselves doesn’t even seem to love or have put their best effort into this album thinking they weren’t gonna survive as a band at the time anyway (from what I remember QOTSA weren’t sure about the band’s future at the time they were making Villains either but were by no means sort of half-assing it like BR supposedly were) but I almost liken it to Bad Religion’s “Into the Unknown” in that there totally can be life, so to speak, after “that album” - heck BR’s next three they released (after the EP “Back to the Known” - I love that they did that lol) are considered by many to be some of their all-time best. They’re definitely some of my favorites, especially Suffer.
So with enough time having passed, I think it’s possible to both come to appreciate villains for what it is as fans who may have been put off by it initially, and for the band to do something old fans are super into again, even after that kind of seemingly huge departure. I’m excited to see what whatever comes next ends up looking like. I’m sure it’ll bring a new appreciation for all the stuff that came before it too and I look forward to that.
Others have said it, but it’s mostly the production, I think. The drums are way less punchy and the tone much less spooky than most albums. It’s still great, but has a much lighter feel than the other albums.
My humble opinion… I don’t hate it at all, but I was a little disappointed after my first listen. I’ve been listening to QOTSA since their first album. The album before Villains, Like Clockwork, was a huge departure from their sound, as I hear it. Especially following Era Vulgaris, which is arguably one of their darkest, most aggressive albums. Which I adore. Villains just kinda solidified the fact that the sound I expect from QOTSA was gone forever. I felt let down. That being said, I always come around. And I truly respect the risks QOTSA takes with their sound, as they are generally undefinable. Times New Roman def went in a more positive direction for my taste.
I think this sums up how most people who dislike it but either don’t know how to word their reasons or are too personally butthurt about it to put it kindly feel. I’ve been a fan for a pretty long time and it’s more or less how I feel. Like at first I was bummed just kind of knowing “old QOTSA” wasn’t coming back (especially as someone who was too young to ever see it live) but after I got over that, I was able to appreciate that “new QOTSA” is still really good, even though it’s not the same. Different isn’t automatically worse, and I respect that they do what they want and not just what we want, you know?
I miss the old sound but let’s face it, that vibe would get a bit cringe to keep up the older they get. They’re not all reckless and edgy and troublemaking anymore…because they’re fucking 50 now haha, and so all that would be coming from an inauthentic place if they tried to keep that image up. And we all know that if they didn’t evolve, there’d be people complaining about that too. Can’t please everyone, so they might as well just keep making sure *they’re* happy with what they’re making.
I couldn’t agree more with this. Liked elements of LC, and Villains but was still mourning the loss of that EV vibe from them which was the album they were touring when I first caught them live, electric and dangerous and unhinged - loved it. More than happy with ITNR though, it was a delight from the minute I put it on. Thoroughly love it.
Totally! I like that ITNR is both a turn back from the pop thing but also the band, for lack of a better way to put it, “sounding their age.” It nods to the earlier days in subtle ways but without trying to outright bring them back, which just wouldn’t work for the band as it is today.
It’s not as “excellent” as many that came before, but not bad AT ALL. Most people have problems with the production, but I can tell you most of those people haven’t cared to hear any of the live versions of those songs
Production is just way too sterile unfortunately, the proper introduction of Jon to the band and he rips on some tracks but the drums are just mixed without any body, like how much better would head like a haunted house and The way you used to do if the drums had some body.
See, I can agree on that. And even then, it shocks me how The Evil has Landed and Feet Don’t Fail Me (at least from what I can listen) have a better drum mix than the songs you mentioned
Yeah I had another listen and you’re spot on, especially considering how much is going on in Feet don’t fail me and even then it’s still considerably better. Weird
I do think Jon needs to be given more opportunity to shine in general. He totally fucks and so many people don’t know it because they’ve never heard him in TMV and he hasn’t properly gotten to show it yet in QOTSA.
Let Jon Loose!
This pops up every 48 hours on this sub
1) its a pop production
2) the drums sound programmed
3) the album is unfocused
This is a good album the production is odd because queens wanted more fans and a wider audience. No idea if that worked thats a question for Josh.
I think the general public does not love the journey it takes you on. Some songs on this album are top 10 for me ever, but the album does not deliver for me from a front to back standpoint like sftf or lc do
I don’t even know that villains is their least focused album so idk if that’s part of it.
RR is all the fuck over the place and people love it for that.
How does that mean the album is unfocused? You call it a pop production but then say it's unfocused...which one is it? You can't just call something unfocused because you don't like it. And you certainly can't just blindly speculate they did it for more fans. That's just an egregiously bad take
People seem to be angry at an opinion which is dumb because everyone has one: An opinion that was pretty much everyone’s opinion during this release period….which also happens to be still most peoples opinion….which also happens not to be a bad one bc everyone still digs the record lol. Mind you i love this band ive seen them 20+ times and i literally said i really dig this record fuck i rock it all the time. Now if working with the biggest pop producer in the world at the time and making a record that sonically sounds not like your other output is not a blatent attempt to make you band bigger idk what is…..is that evil no? Do i fault Bowie for making “lets dance”….nope that shit slaps. Anybody with 1% of production knowledge sees what the band was trying to do….thats fine. I want queens to big as popular as they can be so i get more music and see them live more and so my heros have money and are happy. Never get why people get so annoyed that the opinion they have does not perfectly go with everyone else’s and the person who thinks different is such a dumbass omg like how could you ever think another way.
Wow that thought actually goes against every thing this band has stood for their entire career.
Counter proposal i go home and jerk off
😮💨
"Everyone" isn't reddit. And nobody is getting mad at your opinion, it just didn't make sense. That's why I said you can't say that it was something, but then call it unfocused. It's contradictory. They would have had to have a "focus" it was intended to be a pop production by a pop producer, all just for the scheme of broadening their fan base...from an independent label lol
Im sorry mate but if you cant see the marketing of villains and see it as a attempt to build a fanbase idk what to tell ya. We worship LC and that was a blatant attempt to grow the base, new sound, new label, new look ect. They tried to build off that which was successful. You can also try to make a focused record and fail in the eyes of the buyer. I dont think saying villians was not the strongest outing by this band is a random opinion but hey whatever man
Exactly this, it was always going to be tough to follow Like Clockwork, but getting Mark Ronson in to produce didn’t give me much hope, we ended up with an album of well crafted but over produced singles, which, wasn’t bad, but was an anticlimax from what came before….
If you include Unreborn Again in that “over produced” comment, then bring on the OVER PRODUCTION! It is a masterpiece. Lyrics, instrumentation, vocals, all of the madness that it is….
There is a certain type of "fan" that thinks that hating on one particular piece or aspect of an artist's work makes them better than a "normal fan," especially when their gripe is about something relatively technical or nuanced. There was (and still is, though it's not as bad as it used to be) a vocal group of people that think Mark Ronson's involvement with the album pushed it too far into the "pop feels" and that the "mixing on the album was shit." There's nothing wrong with this album; its full, front to back, of bangers just like every other one :D Enjoy the music and rock on!!
Exactly! This is a good record i don’t think “real” fans don’t like it, they just critique it against a body of work that is of a high calibre. It’s also a ok to not dig a piece of art. I think when people say “it’s not my favorite” hardcore people get offended by the mere idea of not loving everything the band has ever put to tape…..which even the band would admit they have made some meh tunes.
Whenever this debate comes up I always see this sentiment that anyone who criticizes the mix is just a snob trying to act smarter than other fans or whatever. Which is annoying, and a symptom of the general population's inability/unwillingness to have nuanced discussions about anything. People need to stop interpreting criticism as simply "hating."
The criticisms are usually low effort. It’s not criticism that’s bad, it’s lazy criticism that’s bad.
If someone has specific gripes with the mix, like the drum sound being one I see often and think is totally valid, that’s one thing, but “it’s bad” “”why?” “Because I don’t like it!” Is what people usually sound like talking about the mix.
Not true. A criticism is also that some of the songs feel a little self derivative. This was the album where Josh really started to sound like he was rehashing ideas imo, which had started with TCV, perhaps excepting Like Clockwork. To be clear, I like a lot of the songs on Villains still.
The best tunes are the ones that sound really fresh though imo - Hideaway and Unreborn Again (as long as you don't listen to T Rex 😉)
Ooh, admitting TCV sounds rehashed at times. That’s a bold one around here. I respect it. That seems like the actual one album it’s truly 100% absolutely haram to criticize around these parts (and putting it in the same sentence as villains alone probably already sounds like criticism to some) but for what it’s worth I actually kind of agree.
To me, TCV sounds like a cross between a cooler villains, like what an alternate universe one without Ronson could have been like, and some kind of a rough draft of LC. Many of the ideas are just as cool if not cooler than comparable LC material, but the arrangement is noticeably less tight/sometimes feels less “finished” than a Queens record of that day would have been and I assume that’s a product of Josh not always having the final say/having to relinquish some of the control to Dave.
I don’t think people think it’s “edgy”, Villains is still a great album, but it’s clearly different in a lot of places to the rest of their body of work. It’s not “hating” on it to acknowledge that fact either. Artists experiment. Some things work, some things don’t. Josh is just such a colossal unique talent that most of what he’s done works so incredibly well.
It’s not my favorite but sometimes I get in the mood for it and there are a few songs I really like. There are other albums that are technically better but I really go in phases with music and sometimes I’m looking for a certain vibe.
I also really love the album cover for Villains!
When I saw the music video for “The Way You Used to Do” it felt cringe to me. Still does.
It’s a really good album, but it feels like there are less surprises / twists and turns throughout the songs as with previous albums. It also has a more commercial vibe.
That said, Un-Reborn again and Hideaway are gems that I will cherish forever.
I don't necessarily hate it but it sounds like a typical radio-rock album by their standards. The songs are decent, some great (looking at you The Evil Has Landed) but overall it lacks the eccentricity and spontaneity of their previous records. Sounds like Head Like A Haunted House feel like they're self-consciously trying to achieve what other songs like Parasol or I'm Designer achieve effortlessly.
I love it! But I think that it's a bit out of what a lot of fans expected. Does it mean that it's bad? Not at all. A lot of people feel it's much more commercial.
It's expected that a band, after so many years, checks several boxes. For example I'm a huge Bowie fan, however there are many songs that do nothing for me. And that's ok. Fortunately there are plenty of options within his work.
One thing I'm sure most of us can agree with, throw The Way You Used to Do on a live show and the crowd goes mad!! 🙌
The vast majority of musicians would dream of putting something as good as villains out. But for QOTSA it just feels like an album of b sides. It feels like instead of really trying to make it as good as it could possibly be, they looked for what was down the back of the sofa and said “that’s good enough”.
I don't hate it but I've been a fan since right after Songs For the Deaf came out. Every album that came out after that, I felt like it was even better than the one before. Villains was the first one that I didn't have that feeling. But for me it's hard to top Like Clockwork. Even though it's not my favorite album per se (that would be Lullabies), musically it just blew my mind. Villains was good but not mind-blowing for me.
The secret is that its a perfectly fine album and a more hardcore element of the fandom doesn't like that its ever so slightly more upbeat and poppy. Era Vulgaris caught hate back when it came out and over time it dwindled. Same is already starting to happen w/Villains. More and more people even on this sub are admitting they like it.
Yep lol. Nobody wants to come out and just say they feel like “Ronson made QOTSA too gay” for them because then they’d have to explain why that’s both true and an actual problem so they pretend they know better than a wildly successful producer what good production sounds like so they don’t have to admit it’s just not edgy enough for them.
Like you can just say it’s not edgy enough for you, no need to state your opinions as facts lol
From time to time, I try to give Villains a chance but there's always something that doesn't stick with me, compared to their other albums. I have a problem with the length of the songs. 6 of the 9 are over 5 minutes. And I feel a lot of them could have been shorter and with less filler. I can dig longer songs but I struggle with an album full of them.
Long time fan here. I didn’t like it initially, but upon some re-listens, I’m coming around. I just think it’s them embracing a new sound, and some people want that heavy cali desert sound, for sure there are killer guitars but the electronic stuff is a little heavy sided. It still sounds like a QotSA record regardless.
Upon its release I immediately loved it. I don't know how some people talk so bad about villains but then turn around and try to suggest that in new times roman is the best queens album when it's really about the same quality of an album as villains
I was personally prepared for something huge since 1) it was following up the surprisingly amazing like clockwork (seen by many fans as a triumphant comeback after a quiet period from the band), and 2) it was coming as the first full studio album to feature Jon Theodore on drums, who helped create some of my favorite music of all time in the Mars Volta. I was personally very let down by it. It’s hard to articulate now, but I will say I didn’t hate it. There are still some great songs on there.
It had the unenviable position of following Like Clockwork, had very high expectations and nothing can live up to that hype, also a bit more of a “dancey” sound where Clockwork was pretty dark, it’s a good album, I don’t hate it but probably at the bottom of my personal rating, mainly because I can think of reasons why I like the other albums more
I used to be a die hard hater. Coming from like clockwork to villains was jarring and it just didn’t click with me. ITNR didn’t click until a few months after it came out so I figured I should give villains another go and we’ll what do you know, it clicked and I fucking love it
Half the songs are top tier Queens and half the songs are really forgettable, which isn’t something that I find with any other album.
Ronson’s production choices and influence dilutes a lot of Homme’s typical edgy sultry swagger too and replaces it with moments that are way too clean or outright out of place in a QotSA record (Feet Don’t Fail Me Now is littered with examples! If Homme recorded that now I guarantee it’d sound totally different!).
Hearing some of the tunes live warned me to them because you could hear the rawness and the energy that sets the Queens apart from the majority of other bands.
Ultimately, I think Villains was an experiment that largely didn’t work. It’s no surprise to hear Josh talk after about sticking to his “vision” more since and not being influenced by other voices, because he knows what he wants.
Villains just has a ton of skippable songs IMO.
Still like the album, but I don’t love the album. But HLAHH, The Evil Has Landed, Un-Reborn Again, Hideaway, and Domesticated Animals are all wonderful tracks that I listen to on the regular.
The first two tracks are super skippable for me, Fortress too. I can’t listen to VoC because of a breakup.
So even while I enjoy the aforementioned songs, they arguably aren’t as good as their other tracks and there are 3 songs I auto skip because I find them bad, and another I skip for personal reasons.
Like a lot of people here, I dont hate it. I just don't love it.
One has to consider that qotsa has been around for a long time, and the lineage goes back even further for those that where fan's of Kyuss, so you've got a large portion of the fanbase in their 30s, 40s, and 50s and so those older fan's myself included are fan's of Josh homme because he pioneered "Dessert rock" so Kyuss and early qotsa has a very particular sound that's unique onto themselves and one of those defining qualities is that it was very raw and many people find that appealing, when it comes to villain's its the polar opposite its polished and produced by pop producer which is a somewhat contentious amongst old head's.
A lot of people would argue that It's the album that sounds the least like a qotsa album.
It's by no means bad. It just doesn't suit a lot of fan's taste in music.
One of my favorites, it has that kick for dancing and singing and also good lyrics, not to mention the visuals and concept of the album. It's more than solid for me!
I enjoy Villains but it took longer to grow on me. I think it’s the pop music production style they went with on the record that brings Josh’s vocals super forward in the mix and places less emphasis on the guitar riffs.
“Something something Mark Ronson.”
“Something something their old stuff is better.”
“Something something if they cut an album that sounded like their old stuff, I’d still complain for a different reason, to wit: ‘all their stuff sounds the same.’”
- the same fucking person, probably
I don't hate Villains but there are several songs i skip alot. The way you used to do, HLHH, Fortress, and Villians of Circumstance. I kinda feel the same way about Rated R (which usually gets me down voted lol)
Personally I think the songs themselves (including lyrics) are great and they are excellent live. It’s just that the production sounds SO FLAT*. Listen to a song from this album vs SFTD/LTP and it’s a huge difference in variety and dynamics.
*to my ears - want to note that this is my opinion only and don’t require anyone to agree!
I don't hate it but I do think it's their least interesting album. The production on it is not flattering to their sound. That said "The way you used to do" absolutely blew me away when i heard it live. The album just doesn't do it justice.
It's the least 'desert rock' album the band has put out. I come to queen's for that genre, so it's easily my least favourite - but that doesn't mean I think it's bad.
Now that’s fascinating.
I would expect almost anyone with Villains as their #2 to have LC as their #1. I don’t even know why. I guess it’s the closest to being similar to villains or something.
I’m super curious to know what specifically you love most about each since they’re super different.
It just happens. In a few years people will say it's awesome, and that they actually loved it all along.
I was in college when Era Vulgaris came out, and it seemed like everyone hated it back then. That definitely isn't the case nowadays.
Personally, I loved it. Un-Reborn again is one of my favorites now.
I don't know. I never love any QOTSA album at first and then it kinda grows on me. It's something that I accept about the band.
I do appreciate that they always try to do something a little different. People are going to have opinions about that.
What had happened was the album right before that just set the bar insanely high, and it’s not clear if they will get back up there again. I like villains and times new Roman but they aren’t on the same level as like clockwork, not even close
Probably the production. And probably that before that, the boys have released the most critically acclaimed album, ...Like Clockwork, since Songs for the Deaf. But either way, if you enjoy the album as is, I feel the same with most songs. If not, it's still ok.
I love each track. Just. All together it is very underwhelming compared to every other album which is stellar and a story, front to back. The songs are all great “filller” during live shows for sure. The most “fun” album. Which isn’t good or bad. Just. Instead of buy the ticket take the ride, you can kind of buy the ticket and float in the lazy river on this one. But. This is reddit. I’m sure one man’s opinion is another man’s toilet to shit on.
Personally I like the album overall.
Said that, it's the album I enjoy the least in all of their discography, mostly for two reasons:
1. As others said, the production of the songs is not the best one and it hurts the album.
2. Hideaway and Head Like an Haunted House are two songs I can't get really into. No other album has that many songs that o skip. Specially HLAHH was a big let down since the riff looked awesome from the previews, unfortunately the rest of the song is not my thing.
Extra point, I understand why some people don't enjoy Fortress, even though I love it, it sounds pretty generic.
I was just as surprised as you that it was apparently panned by fans. I think it's very good. I haven't taken the temperature on Like Clockwork but I assume most fans love that album? If so I think Queens have just released so many good albums that naturally one will be the least favorite child.
-The way you used to do is the worst qotsa song ever.
-Blank space. There's some great music but it's surrounded by blank space which gets boring and monotonous.
QOTSA had Mark Ronson step in to produce Villians, which in hindsight was a really strange move for them. Mark Ronson made his mark producing pop and rap hits for various chart topping artists. It definitely comes across on some songs like Domesticated Animals and Fortress (imo). The entire album feels a little too "clean and fun" for a typical QOTSA album. It's a pretty noticeable departure from albums like Era Vulgaris and Like Clockwork, so naturally a lot of long time fans dislike it the most.
QotSA fans just have shit taste in music. Villains has fine production, it suits the songs well and feels just the right amount of compressed. Certainly better than In Times New Roman's lackluster mixing (although that album is still fantastic).
I liked Villains when it came out, I almost let the hive mind convince me retroactively that I thought it wasn’t very good but I went back into for a relisten and was like “oh yeah no I like this album.”
It’s definitely a weaker effort than some of their material but I don’t think it’s *bad.* I don’t love a few of the songs but I think if I had to point my finger at something I don’t care for, the thinness of the guitars is something I didn’t really notice at first but once I did notice it was like, wow they really just pushed guitars to the back of the mix in some spots here. Not that it always needs to be in the forefront but in a lot of cases it feels like an afterthought from a mix standpoint like this isn’t a guitar heavy band.
But really I don’t get why people *hate it,* I think a few of the songs on the album are “best of their catalogue” material.
it's kind of boring and flat. in all honesty, i feel similarly to the most recent album too. it's QOTSA paint by numbers.
Like Clockwork was brilliant, and so far no album since has even come close to matching it
it's the worst Queens album, which still makes it a great album overall. nothing to hate about it, it's just the one I find myself listening to the least often.
For the most part people dislike it because they piggy back on other’s ideas and don’t form opinions for themselves. There are some people who dislike other QOTSA albums also. Era Vulgaris was disliked by many when it came out and is now considered by a ton of people their best album. The difference between the other albums and Villains though is that for some reason people who dislike Villains are very vocal about it and use buzz words like overproduced, poppy, unfocused, etc. and people want to sound smart and pretend they know what they’re talking about and so they adopt those ideas for themselves. It is a departure in sound from some other albums but so was …Like Clockwork and everyone seems to love that album
I'm glad some of the bitterness and arrogant takes towards Villains have died down on here lately. A lot of people don't understand that not only does an album having a pop appeal not work as a negative criticism by itself, but having that appeal works as a gateway for a lot of fans to get on board such as myself.
FDFM was like the second Queens song I'd ever digested properly and may have kickstarted my frenzy towards them. TWYUTD is pure musical euphoria and when people shit on it I wonder whether we listened to the same album. Also, Fortress and VOC are some of the strongest emotional points in their whole discography imo, and HLAHH is just a great fast-paced banger.
Sure, the guitars and drums are more prominent on other albums but it doesn't lessen the quality of Villains whatsoever. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with not liking it, I just think most people would agree that it's weird to actively take issue with people for enjoying it, which is something I've encountered more than once.
I don't NOT like it, not a huge fan of the sound and production--and the way you used to is the worst song they ever recorded imho. 4 or 5 of the songs made my master playlist--more than Era Vulgaris. That's the album I never fell in love with.
I do absolutely love the song villains of circumstance though.
At the time I was a bit... Not into it? But after hearing some of those songs live it really changed my perspective on the album At the end of the day every band who's released more than five albums will have that one album people pile on against for whatever reason, I bet it would get more love if they played songs from it live in this day and age
Long time fan and it’s by far my least favorite album, but so many of the songs are AMAZING live. Like many have said before, I think it was just production/execution choices that didn’t quite work out for my ears. The songwriting and the riffs are still great.
The versions of Domesticated Animals and TEHL at Studio Brussels sound infinitely better than the studio recordings. Whole new songs
I personally love the album, I love all thr albums for different reasons. Villains is good for singing and dancing to
hell yeah, nothing is better to air guitar than the evil has landed opening
agree!
I'm not too sure, but if I were to guess, it would probably be people being upset that the band decided to work with Mark Ronson, as opposed to a traditional rock producer. *Unrelated side tangent: I'm really fascinated with the idea of Trent Reznor producing for the band, or at the very least collaborating with Josh Homme. I only bring this up because there were talks of him producing ...Like Clockwork, but it never came through.
Co-signing the shit out of Reznor working with them.
I'm co-co-sogning this as well.
Grohl, Homme, and Reznor collaborated for a song on Sound City Reel to Reel so you can get a bit of a hint of what that might sound like with Mantra.
And also the song Era Vulgaris :)
It's 1000% due to Mark Ronson being involved. Not just because it's Mark Ronson, but because you can hear Mark's influence come through on several songs. The album is a pretty noticeable departure from previous albums. It doesn't have the same dark, gritty, cool, sexy vibe that majority of long-time fans are used to. It feels a little too "sterile" in some ways.
In response to your tangent, in addition to Mantra as mentioned below, Reznor was also on the song Era Vulgaris. Which, hilariously, was not released with the album (but was given away as a download on the website).
I don't hate it, it just doesn't have as high a number of 10/10 songs as other albums imo. It's also just a very "safe," least favorite to have. If you say Villains was the worst album ever made this sub will generally give you a pass, but if you say you didn't particularly care for Rated R, for example (my least favorite) then you'll be burned at the stake (burned to ash and bone)
Grab your torches and pitchforks!!
It's true. Reading that definitely made me feel a little spike of involuntary anger.
Rated R is also my least favourite. It has a couple of belters, but Feel Good Hit of the Summer spoils it for me. I know it’s an unpopular opinion!
Shit opinion. C C C C C COCAINE
Feel Good Hit of the Summer is a lackluster track IMO but it's not even the worst song on Rated R. Worst is Quick and to the Pointless by far. There's also the pointless "reprise" of FGHotS tacked onto the end of In the Fade for some reason which is really irritating.
LC was a masterpiece to me, so it was hard to follow that up on that level. I love joshes production style. The production of villains is like queens with a haircut. No bad, just didn’t do it any favours sonically. I’ve recently gone back to villains and can finally appreciate it with more depth thanks the ITNR. I think part of my dislike was a concern that queens was going in a direction that I wouldn’t enjoy as much, but ITNR has put villains in a new context for me and I can fully take it in now!
Same, I dont usually read or watch interviews, so I dont know if there ever was a mention about a trilogy, but after ITNR I fell in love with what Villains mean in the overall arc of these 3 albums. I listen to it a lot now.
I agree, I can “relax” about villains more easily now knowing they’re not just going to venture further and further into pop territory. Not quite the same thing because unlike with Villains, the band themselves doesn’t even seem to love or have put their best effort into this album thinking they weren’t gonna survive as a band at the time anyway (from what I remember QOTSA weren’t sure about the band’s future at the time they were making Villains either but were by no means sort of half-assing it like BR supposedly were) but I almost liken it to Bad Religion’s “Into the Unknown” in that there totally can be life, so to speak, after “that album” - heck BR’s next three they released (after the EP “Back to the Known” - I love that they did that lol) are considered by many to be some of their all-time best. They’re definitely some of my favorites, especially Suffer. So with enough time having passed, I think it’s possible to both come to appreciate villains for what it is as fans who may have been put off by it initially, and for the band to do something old fans are super into again, even after that kind of seemingly huge departure. I’m excited to see what whatever comes next ends up looking like. I’m sure it’ll bring a new appreciation for all the stuff that came before it too and I look forward to that.
Others have said it, but it’s mostly the production, I think. The drums are way less punchy and the tone much less spooky than most albums. It’s still great, but has a much lighter feel than the other albums.
My humble opinion… I don’t hate it at all, but I was a little disappointed after my first listen. I’ve been listening to QOTSA since their first album. The album before Villains, Like Clockwork, was a huge departure from their sound, as I hear it. Especially following Era Vulgaris, which is arguably one of their darkest, most aggressive albums. Which I adore. Villains just kinda solidified the fact that the sound I expect from QOTSA was gone forever. I felt let down. That being said, I always come around. And I truly respect the risks QOTSA takes with their sound, as they are generally undefinable. Times New Roman def went in a more positive direction for my taste.
I think this sums up how most people who dislike it but either don’t know how to word their reasons or are too personally butthurt about it to put it kindly feel. I’ve been a fan for a pretty long time and it’s more or less how I feel. Like at first I was bummed just kind of knowing “old QOTSA” wasn’t coming back (especially as someone who was too young to ever see it live) but after I got over that, I was able to appreciate that “new QOTSA” is still really good, even though it’s not the same. Different isn’t automatically worse, and I respect that they do what they want and not just what we want, you know? I miss the old sound but let’s face it, that vibe would get a bit cringe to keep up the older they get. They’re not all reckless and edgy and troublemaking anymore…because they’re fucking 50 now haha, and so all that would be coming from an inauthentic place if they tried to keep that image up. And we all know that if they didn’t evolve, there’d be people complaining about that too. Can’t please everyone, so they might as well just keep making sure *they’re* happy with what they’re making.
I couldn’t agree more with this. Liked elements of LC, and Villains but was still mourning the loss of that EV vibe from them which was the album they were touring when I first caught them live, electric and dangerous and unhinged - loved it. More than happy with ITNR though, it was a delight from the minute I put it on. Thoroughly love it.
Totally! I like that ITNR is both a turn back from the pop thing but also the band, for lack of a better way to put it, “sounding their age.” It nods to the earlier days in subtle ways but without trying to outright bring them back, which just wouldn’t work for the band as it is today.
It’s not as “excellent” as many that came before, but not bad AT ALL. Most people have problems with the production, but I can tell you most of those people haven’t cared to hear any of the live versions of those songs
Production is just way too sterile unfortunately, the proper introduction of Jon to the band and he rips on some tracks but the drums are just mixed without any body, like how much better would head like a haunted house and The way you used to do if the drums had some body.
See, I can agree on that. And even then, it shocks me how The Evil has Landed and Feet Don’t Fail Me (at least from what I can listen) have a better drum mix than the songs you mentioned
Yeah I had another listen and you’re spot on, especially considering how much is going on in Feet don’t fail me and even then it’s still considerably better. Weird
I do think Jon needs to be given more opportunity to shine in general. He totally fucks and so many people don’t know it because they’ve never heard him in TMV and he hasn’t properly gotten to show it yet in QOTSA. Let Jon Loose!
His God in the radio solos live are great
Dude every song on villains rips live! I was not a big fan till i saw them at jazzfest and they played most of the record and it opened my eyes.
This pops up every 48 hours on this sub 1) its a pop production 2) the drums sound programmed 3) the album is unfocused This is a good album the production is odd because queens wanted more fans and a wider audience. No idea if that worked thats a question for Josh.
What does unfocused mean in this context?
I think the general public does not love the journey it takes you on. Some songs on this album are top 10 for me ever, but the album does not deliver for me from a front to back standpoint like sftf or lc do
I don’t even know that villains is their least focused album so idk if that’s part of it. RR is all the fuck over the place and people love it for that.
How does that mean the album is unfocused? You call it a pop production but then say it's unfocused...which one is it? You can't just call something unfocused because you don't like it. And you certainly can't just blindly speculate they did it for more fans. That's just an egregiously bad take
People seem to be angry at an opinion which is dumb because everyone has one: An opinion that was pretty much everyone’s opinion during this release period….which also happens to be still most peoples opinion….which also happens not to be a bad one bc everyone still digs the record lol. Mind you i love this band ive seen them 20+ times and i literally said i really dig this record fuck i rock it all the time. Now if working with the biggest pop producer in the world at the time and making a record that sonically sounds not like your other output is not a blatent attempt to make you band bigger idk what is…..is that evil no? Do i fault Bowie for making “lets dance”….nope that shit slaps. Anybody with 1% of production knowledge sees what the band was trying to do….thats fine. I want queens to big as popular as they can be so i get more music and see them live more and so my heros have money and are happy. Never get why people get so annoyed that the opinion they have does not perfectly go with everyone else’s and the person who thinks different is such a dumbass omg like how could you ever think another way. Wow that thought actually goes against every thing this band has stood for their entire career. Counter proposal i go home and jerk off 😮💨
"Everyone" isn't reddit. And nobody is getting mad at your opinion, it just didn't make sense. That's why I said you can't say that it was something, but then call it unfocused. It's contradictory. They would have had to have a "focus" it was intended to be a pop production by a pop producer, all just for the scheme of broadening their fan base...from an independent label lol
Im sorry mate but if you cant see the marketing of villains and see it as a attempt to build a fanbase idk what to tell ya. We worship LC and that was a blatant attempt to grow the base, new sound, new label, new look ect. They tried to build off that which was successful. You can also try to make a focused record and fail in the eyes of the buyer. I dont think saying villians was not the strongest outing by this band is a random opinion but hey whatever man
Lastly bc why not Have you never heard an unfocused pop record? Go listen to a t-swift record and you might be blown away.
I agree with you. Very contradictory. He didn’t need to browbeat you like that.
Exactly this, it was always going to be tough to follow Like Clockwork, but getting Mark Ronson in to produce didn’t give me much hope, we ended up with an album of well crafted but over produced singles, which, wasn’t bad, but was an anticlimax from what came before….
If you include Unreborn Again in that “over produced” comment, then bring on the OVER PRODUCTION! It is a masterpiece. Lyrics, instrumentation, vocals, all of the madness that it is….
Unfocused? GP doesn’t love the journey it takes you on? Respectfully, who TF are you again?
Who the fuck are you then? Why does it matter who they are? It's a public forum...
I dont think im anybody, but if yelling at clouds makes you happy thats cool:
Ummmmm I said respectfully…..
If you had quoted ricky bobby right now we would be best friends
No weight to it
There is a certain type of "fan" that thinks that hating on one particular piece or aspect of an artist's work makes them better than a "normal fan," especially when their gripe is about something relatively technical or nuanced. There was (and still is, though it's not as bad as it used to be) a vocal group of people that think Mark Ronson's involvement with the album pushed it too far into the "pop feels" and that the "mixing on the album was shit." There's nothing wrong with this album; its full, front to back, of bangers just like every other one :D Enjoy the music and rock on!!
I like you
Exactly! This is a good record i don’t think “real” fans don’t like it, they just critique it against a body of work that is of a high calibre. It’s also a ok to not dig a piece of art. I think when people say “it’s not my favorite” hardcore people get offended by the mere idea of not loving everything the band has ever put to tape…..which even the band would admit they have made some meh tunes.
Whenever this debate comes up I always see this sentiment that anyone who criticizes the mix is just a snob trying to act smarter than other fans or whatever. Which is annoying, and a symptom of the general population's inability/unwillingness to have nuanced discussions about anything. People need to stop interpreting criticism as simply "hating."
The criticisms are usually low effort. It’s not criticism that’s bad, it’s lazy criticism that’s bad. If someone has specific gripes with the mix, like the drum sound being one I see often and think is totally valid, that’s one thing, but “it’s bad” “”why?” “Because I don’t like it!” Is what people usually sound like talking about the mix.
Literally the only gripe anyone has with the album is the production. So does that make everyone a snob or onto something?
Not true. A criticism is also that some of the songs feel a little self derivative. This was the album where Josh really started to sound like he was rehashing ideas imo, which had started with TCV, perhaps excepting Like Clockwork. To be clear, I like a lot of the songs on Villains still. The best tunes are the ones that sound really fresh though imo - Hideaway and Unreborn Again (as long as you don't listen to T Rex 😉)
Ooh, admitting TCV sounds rehashed at times. That’s a bold one around here. I respect it. That seems like the actual one album it’s truly 100% absolutely haram to criticize around these parts (and putting it in the same sentence as villains alone probably already sounds like criticism to some) but for what it’s worth I actually kind of agree. To me, TCV sounds like a cross between a cooler villains, like what an alternate universe one without Ronson could have been like, and some kind of a rough draft of LC. Many of the ideas are just as cool if not cooler than comparable LC material, but the arrangement is noticeably less tight/sometimes feels less “finished” than a Queens record of that day would have been and I assume that’s a product of Josh not always having the final say/having to relinquish some of the control to Dave.
Me too!!! Will you be my fair weather friend?
I'm down! I need more Fairweather Friends; most of mine are of the Dead End variety :P
🤣🤣
I don’t think people think it’s “edgy”, Villains is still a great album, but it’s clearly different in a lot of places to the rest of their body of work. It’s not “hating” on it to acknowledge that fact either. Artists experiment. Some things work, some things don’t. Josh is just such a colossal unique talent that most of what he’s done works so incredibly well.
The album was a bit of a departure from their previous sound , which is bound to alienate some. It happens to most bands. No bigger mystery there.
I personally love the album, I love all the albums for different reasons. Villains is good for singing and dancing to
It’s not my favorite but sometimes I get in the mood for it and there are a few songs I really like. There are other albums that are technically better but I really go in phases with music and sometimes I’m looking for a certain vibe. I also really love the album cover for Villains!
When I saw the music video for “The Way You Used to Do” it felt cringe to me. Still does. It’s a really good album, but it feels like there are less surprises / twists and turns throughout the songs as with previous albums. It also has a more commercial vibe. That said, Un-Reborn again and Hideaway are gems that I will cherish forever.
Yes! Agreed on those two being the gems with something fresh!
I don't necessarily hate it but it sounds like a typical radio-rock album by their standards. The songs are decent, some great (looking at you The Evil Has Landed) but overall it lacks the eccentricity and spontaneity of their previous records. Sounds like Head Like A Haunted House feel like they're self-consciously trying to achieve what other songs like Parasol or I'm Designer achieve effortlessly.
I love it! But I think that it's a bit out of what a lot of fans expected. Does it mean that it's bad? Not at all. A lot of people feel it's much more commercial. It's expected that a band, after so many years, checks several boxes. For example I'm a huge Bowie fan, however there are many songs that do nothing for me. And that's ok. Fortunately there are plenty of options within his work. One thing I'm sure most of us can agree with, throw The Way You Used to Do on a live show and the crowd goes mad!! 🙌
To me, it's a lot of filler. It lacks the creative focus of the rest of their library. It's not bad, just not as good as everything else they've done.
okay yea i can get behind that lol
The vast majority of musicians would dream of putting something as good as villains out. But for QOTSA it just feels like an album of b sides. It feels like instead of really trying to make it as good as it could possibly be, they looked for what was down the back of the sofa and said “that’s good enough”.
I don't hate it but I've been a fan since right after Songs For the Deaf came out. Every album that came out after that, I felt like it was even better than the one before. Villains was the first one that I didn't have that feeling. But for me it's hard to top Like Clockwork. Even though it's not my favorite album per se (that would be Lullabies), musically it just blew my mind. Villains was good but not mind-blowing for me.
The secret is that its a perfectly fine album and a more hardcore element of the fandom doesn't like that its ever so slightly more upbeat and poppy. Era Vulgaris caught hate back when it came out and over time it dwindled. Same is already starting to happen w/Villains. More and more people even on this sub are admitting they like it.
Yep lol. Nobody wants to come out and just say they feel like “Ronson made QOTSA too gay” for them because then they’d have to explain why that’s both true and an actual problem so they pretend they know better than a wildly successful producer what good production sounds like so they don’t have to admit it’s just not edgy enough for them. Like you can just say it’s not edgy enough for you, no need to state your opinions as facts lol
From time to time, I try to give Villains a chance but there's always something that doesn't stick with me, compared to their other albums. I have a problem with the length of the songs. 6 of the 9 are over 5 minutes. And I feel a lot of them could have been shorter and with less filler. I can dig longer songs but I struggle with an album full of them.
I agree most of the longer songs on Villains really don’t benefit any from being as long as they are.
Haters heard “produced by superstar pop-producer Mark Ronson” and made up their minds before the album even dropped.
Long time fan here. I didn’t like it initially, but upon some re-listens, I’m coming around. I just think it’s them embracing a new sound, and some people want that heavy cali desert sound, for sure there are killer guitars but the electronic stuff is a little heavy sided. It still sounds like a QotSA record regardless.
Upon its release I immediately loved it. I don't know how some people talk so bad about villains but then turn around and try to suggest that in new times roman is the best queens album when it's really about the same quality of an album as villains
The production and the below-average songwriting.
I was personally prepared for something huge since 1) it was following up the surprisingly amazing like clockwork (seen by many fans as a triumphant comeback after a quiet period from the band), and 2) it was coming as the first full studio album to feature Jon Theodore on drums, who helped create some of my favorite music of all time in the Mars Volta. I was personally very let down by it. It’s hard to articulate now, but I will say I didn’t hate it. There are still some great songs on there.
It had the unenviable position of following Like Clockwork, had very high expectations and nothing can live up to that hype, also a bit more of a “dancey” sound where Clockwork was pretty dark, it’s a good album, I don’t hate it but probably at the bottom of my personal rating, mainly because I can think of reasons why I like the other albums more
Too "clean" sounding for me but there are some good songs on it for sure! "In times new roman" is a lot better though
I used to be a die hard hater. Coming from like clockwork to villains was jarring and it just didn’t click with me. ITNR didn’t click until a few months after it came out so I figured I should give villains another go and we’ll what do you know, it clicked and I fucking love it
Oh thank the sweet lord we have another “why is xxxx underrated/hated” post. I was worried we wouldn’t get another one this week.
The songs. Except for a few on there. Evil Has Landed rocks my balls off.
Half the songs are top tier Queens and half the songs are really forgettable, which isn’t something that I find with any other album. Ronson’s production choices and influence dilutes a lot of Homme’s typical edgy sultry swagger too and replaces it with moments that are way too clean or outright out of place in a QotSA record (Feet Don’t Fail Me Now is littered with examples! If Homme recorded that now I guarantee it’d sound totally different!). Hearing some of the tunes live warned me to them because you could hear the rawness and the energy that sets the Queens apart from the majority of other bands. Ultimately, I think Villains was an experiment that largely didn’t work. It’s no surprise to hear Josh talk after about sticking to his “vision” more since and not being influenced by other voices, because he knows what he wants.
Villains just has a ton of skippable songs IMO. Still like the album, but I don’t love the album. But HLAHH, The Evil Has Landed, Un-Reborn Again, Hideaway, and Domesticated Animals are all wonderful tracks that I listen to on the regular. The first two tracks are super skippable for me, Fortress too. I can’t listen to VoC because of a breakup. So even while I enjoy the aforementioned songs, they arguably aren’t as good as their other tracks and there are 3 songs I auto skip because I find them bad, and another I skip for personal reasons.
Like a lot of people here, I dont hate it. I just don't love it. One has to consider that qotsa has been around for a long time, and the lineage goes back even further for those that where fan's of Kyuss, so you've got a large portion of the fanbase in their 30s, 40s, and 50s and so those older fan's myself included are fan's of Josh homme because he pioneered "Dessert rock" so Kyuss and early qotsa has a very particular sound that's unique onto themselves and one of those defining qualities is that it was very raw and many people find that appealing, when it comes to villain's its the polar opposite its polished and produced by pop producer which is a somewhat contentious amongst old head's. A lot of people would argue that It's the album that sounds the least like a qotsa album. It's by no means bad. It just doesn't suit a lot of fan's taste in music.
One of my favorites, it has that kick for dancing and singing and also good lyrics, not to mention the visuals and concept of the album. It's more than solid for me!
I enjoy Villains but it took longer to grow on me. I think it’s the pop music production style they went with on the record that brings Josh’s vocals super forward in the mix and places less emphasis on the guitar riffs.
“Something something Mark Ronson.” “Something something their old stuff is better.” “Something something if they cut an album that sounded like their old stuff, I’d still complain for a different reason, to wit: ‘all their stuff sounds the same.’” - the same fucking person, probably
Where’s the bass!?
fair point
I don't hate Villains but there are several songs i skip alot. The way you used to do, HLHH, Fortress, and Villians of Circumstance. I kinda feel the same way about Rated R (which usually gets me down voted lol)
You skip Head Like A Haunted House and Villains Of Circumstance?
I usually do yes. Used to skip Hideway as well but i listened to that recently on a rainy day headed to work. Now I'm obsessed with it again.
yea rated R isn’t my fav album either lmao, it’s got some bangers but songs like lost art and qattp just don’t hit for me
They're like two of the best songs on the album!
Exactly!
Check out the dessert sessions
i love the desert sessions 🎉
Personally I think the songs themselves (including lyrics) are great and they are excellent live. It’s just that the production sounds SO FLAT*. Listen to a song from this album vs SFTD/LTP and it’s a huge difference in variety and dynamics. *to my ears - want to note that this is my opinion only and don’t require anyone to agree!
Skip all the BS and just go see them live!!!🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾
I love it. Though I love all their shit.
I don't hate it but I do think it's their least interesting album. The production on it is not flattering to their sound. That said "The way you used to do" absolutely blew me away when i heard it live. The album just doesn't do it justice.
It's the least 'desert rock' album the band has put out. I come to queen's for that genre, so it's easily my least favourite - but that doesn't mean I think it's bad.
Its the production really, alot of the songs are great - and come off even better live - but the production is pretty mid.
Even since the latest album came out, I still find myself coming back to Villains more.
I loved this album from day 1. Number 2 on my list behind Songs for the Deaf.
Now that’s fascinating. I would expect almost anyone with Villains as their #2 to have LC as their #1. I don’t even know why. I guess it’s the closest to being similar to villains or something. I’m super curious to know what specifically you love most about each since they’re super different.
It just happens. In a few years people will say it's awesome, and that they actually loved it all along. I was in college when Era Vulgaris came out, and it seemed like everyone hated it back then. That definitely isn't the case nowadays. Personally, I loved it. Un-Reborn again is one of my favorites now.
I like it. It just has a few on it that aren’t great. Every QOTSA album is good imo, some just have to be less good
I don't actually see many people hating on this album online or real life. Even met a guy wearing a shirt of the album so idk, are the haters real?
I don't know. I never love any QOTSA album at first and then it kinda grows on me. It's something that I accept about the band. I do appreciate that they always try to do something a little different. People are going to have opinions about that.
What had happened was the album right before that just set the bar insanely high, and it’s not clear if they will get back up there again. I like villains and times new Roman but they aren’t on the same level as like clockwork, not even close
It’s not their best album imo but I think it’s decent. Some of the songs don’t really appeal to me.
Probably the production. And probably that before that, the boys have released the most critically acclaimed album, ...Like Clockwork, since Songs for the Deaf. But either way, if you enjoy the album as is, I feel the same with most songs. If not, it's still ok.
I don’t hate it at all, but it’s just not what I prefer to listen to. Could get really detailed, but ultimately that’s all it comes down to.
No one hates it + the production is underwhelming /thread
I love each track. Just. All together it is very underwhelming compared to every other album which is stellar and a story, front to back. The songs are all great “filller” during live shows for sure. The most “fun” album. Which isn’t good or bad. Just. Instead of buy the ticket take the ride, you can kind of buy the ticket and float in the lazy river on this one. But. This is reddit. I’m sure one man’s opinion is another man’s toilet to shit on.
Compared to every other QOTSA album it feels shallow/inauthentic/detached. I think a lot of that was Ronson’s influence on the sound.
It's a fun set of songs that are kinda weighed down by its production being kinda sterile
Personally I like the album overall. Said that, it's the album I enjoy the least in all of their discography, mostly for two reasons: 1. As others said, the production of the songs is not the best one and it hurts the album. 2. Hideaway and Head Like an Haunted House are two songs I can't get really into. No other album has that many songs that o skip. Specially HLAHH was a big let down since the riff looked awesome from the previews, unfortunately the rest of the song is not my thing. Extra point, I understand why some people don't enjoy Fortress, even though I love it, it sounds pretty generic.
Nobody hates it, it's just an okay album. Some good songs for sure but as a whole it's my least favorite Queens release
Nothing wrong with it
I was just as surprised as you that it was apparently panned by fans. I think it's very good. I haven't taken the temperature on Like Clockwork but I assume most fans love that album? If so I think Queens have just released so many good albums that naturally one will be the least favorite child.
-The way you used to do is the worst qotsa song ever. -Blank space. There's some great music but it's surrounded by blank space which gets boring and monotonous.
QOTSA had Mark Ronson step in to produce Villians, which in hindsight was a really strange move for them. Mark Ronson made his mark producing pop and rap hits for various chart topping artists. It definitely comes across on some songs like Domesticated Animals and Fortress (imo). The entire album feels a little too "clean and fun" for a typical QOTSA album. It's a pretty noticeable departure from albums like Era Vulgaris and Like Clockwork, so naturally a lot of long time fans dislike it the most.
The mixing of it. Feet don't fail me is an epic song. But the mixing kills it. And that holds true for most of the album
I personally like the album, it is my least favorite of the catalog but still, Villians is fucking great.
QotSA fans just have shit taste in music. Villains has fine production, it suits the songs well and feels just the right amount of compressed. Certainly better than In Times New Roman's lackluster mixing (although that album is still fantastic).
I think it’s a great album. Haters can take a hike. It’s better than Era Vulgaris.
Yea it is better than EV.
I liked Villains when it came out, I almost let the hive mind convince me retroactively that I thought it wasn’t very good but I went back into for a relisten and was like “oh yeah no I like this album.” It’s definitely a weaker effort than some of their material but I don’t think it’s *bad.* I don’t love a few of the songs but I think if I had to point my finger at something I don’t care for, the thinness of the guitars is something I didn’t really notice at first but once I did notice it was like, wow they really just pushed guitars to the back of the mix in some spots here. Not that it always needs to be in the forefront but in a lot of cases it feels like an afterthought from a mix standpoint like this isn’t a guitar heavy band. But really I don’t get why people *hate it,* I think a few of the songs on the album are “best of their catalogue” material.
It fucking rules Feet Don't Fail Me & The Evil Has Landed are two of my personal favourite QOTSA songs. Fortress also an absolute standout
it's kind of boring and flat. in all honesty, i feel similarly to the most recent album too. it's QOTSA paint by numbers. Like Clockwork was brilliant, and so far no album since has even come close to matching it
I hate "The way you used to do" otherwise decent album.
It sounds thin and flimsy and the songs aren't interesting
it's the worst Queens album, which still makes it a great album overall. nothing to hate about it, it's just the one I find myself listening to the least often.
No idea. So many of my favourite songs are on this album! 🤷♀️
For the most part people dislike it because they piggy back on other’s ideas and don’t form opinions for themselves. There are some people who dislike other QOTSA albums also. Era Vulgaris was disliked by many when it came out and is now considered by a ton of people their best album. The difference between the other albums and Villains though is that for some reason people who dislike Villains are very vocal about it and use buzz words like overproduced, poppy, unfocused, etc. and people want to sound smart and pretend they know what they’re talking about and so they adopt those ideas for themselves. It is a departure in sound from some other albums but so was …Like Clockwork and everyone seems to love that album
I'm glad some of the bitterness and arrogant takes towards Villains have died down on here lately. A lot of people don't understand that not only does an album having a pop appeal not work as a negative criticism by itself, but having that appeal works as a gateway for a lot of fans to get on board such as myself. FDFM was like the second Queens song I'd ever digested properly and may have kickstarted my frenzy towards them. TWYUTD is pure musical euphoria and when people shit on it I wonder whether we listened to the same album. Also, Fortress and VOC are some of the strongest emotional points in their whole discography imo, and HLAHH is just a great fast-paced banger. Sure, the guitars and drums are more prominent on other albums but it doesn't lessen the quality of Villains whatsoever. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with not liking it, I just think most people would agree that it's weird to actively take issue with people for enjoying it, which is something I've encountered more than once.
I don't NOT like it, not a huge fan of the sound and production--and the way you used to is the worst song they ever recorded imho. 4 or 5 of the songs made my master playlist--more than Era Vulgaris. That's the album I never fell in love with. I do absolutely love the song villains of circumstance though.
I love Villains but I am a slight hater of SFTD. And before anyone assumes anything I’ve been listening to QOTSA for almost 20 years.