At this point I think any listener will have to acknowledge the first-rate drumming on this album. Dave Grohl is a wizard with a drum kit, and here he plays a little harder, and maybe just a little better, than I've ever heard him play for Nirvana or Foo Fighters. QOTSA is mostly synonymous with power chords, yes, but even those who don't appreciate the guitar-playing skill involved will surely recognize Grohl's mastery of his instrument.

The rest of the album mostly continues the trend of hard-rock guitars with a distinctive melody. A Song for the Dead and The Sky Is Falling act almost as a matched pair, and the vocal harmonies found in both (but especially in The Sky Is Falling) are - dare I say it? - almost Beatlesque. It's a shame when the songs end and the little fake radio bits come on again.

Six Shooter is a dreadful bit of screaming. I am sorry that it was included on the album, as it marks 80 seconds or so of music worth skipping. Fortunately, Hanging Tree is solid.

Go With The Flow is one of the standout tracks of the album, at least for me. Perhaps it just reminds me quite a bit of Foo Fighters, but I've listened to this track twice as much as most of the rest of the album. That's probably one reason why I'm so unhappy about the little radio bits - I have to listen to an especially annoying one at the end of this song each and every time.

If Go With The Flow sets the pace for harmony, Gonna Leave You ups the ante. While the lyrics are more repetitive than the last track, the vocals are smooth, and nicely balance out the guitar track. Do It Again seems to be a bid for Arena-rock status, and the nod to Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part One in the beginning will probably get them some play during sports events.

I've commented on nearly every song, but that's because I've been really excited about most of them. Even the odd "hidden" Mosquito Song is strangely appealing. Dropping the rock facade completely, QOTSA show their tender side and reveal that they are really a piano and violin band at heart. While the style for this song is radically different from the rest, it manages to make itself at home thanks to repeated vocal and harmony themes that have become familiar from the rest of the album.

I normally try to listen to an album at least a dozen times before I review it. That gives me a chance to grow to like some songs that initially didn't sit well with me, as well as to grow annoyed at things that didn't bother me very much the first couple of times through. In order to get the review out prior to the album's release, I've compressed the usual schedule and I've only listened the the album a few times. It's enough to already grow extremely annoyed at the radio tidbits between the songs (obviously), but I've noticed already that all of the songs (except Six Shooter) just sound better the more I hear them.