Artist: THEM CROOKED VULTURES
Album: THEM CROOKED VULTURES (CD)

Release date: 2009
Media type: CD

Them Crooked Vultures is the debut studio album by rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, that was released on November 17, 2009. The album is self-produced by the band, comprising vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss), bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana). The first single from the album, "New Fang", was released on October 26, 2009. On November 3, 2009 they released their second single, via free download on iTunes, entitled "Mind Eraser, No Chaser". For one week before the album's day of release, the entire album could be streamed on the band's YouTube channel.

The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 70,000 units in the US in its the first week.

Them Crooked Vultures received a 76/100 Metascore rating from aggregrator Metacritic, based on 15 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Chicago Tribune reviewer Greg Kot was particularly complimentary of the album, giving it a rating of 3.5/4, he said "Nasty riffs and sticky melodies are everywhere". He also praised multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones, saying his "mastery of texture, whether on funky Clavinet for 'Scumbag Blues,' classical piano on 'Spinning in Daffodils' or slide guitar for 'Reptiles,' is the band's secret weapon". The A.V Club's Steven Hyden said the group's album "doesn’t equal the considerable awesomeness of its ancestors (the aforementioned Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age); it sounds like a second-tier Queens Of The Stone Age record", and that it "could have fit comfortably under Homme’s usual banner". He did however, commend it for being "a hell of a lot of fun" and awarded it a B+, mentioning the "The biggest pleasure of Them Crooked Vultures is hearing three supremely gifted players fall together quickly and easily on songs built on simple riffs that sound like they were made up on a lark five minutes earlier."

All songs credited to Them Crooked Vultures.

TRACKLIST:

1. "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" 5:10
2. "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" 4:07
3. "New Fang" 3:49
4. "Dead End Friends" 3:15
5. "Elephants" 6:50
6. "Scumbag Blues" 4:26
7. "Bandoliers" 5:42
8. "Reptiles" 4:16
9. "Interlude with Ludes" 3:45
10. "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" 7:50
11. "Caligulove" 4:55
12. "Gunman" 4:45
13. "Spinning in Daffodils" 7:28

LINE-UP:

Josh Homme – vocals, guitars, production
John Paul Jones – bass guitar, keyboards, piano, keytar, slide guitar, mandolin, backing vocals, production
Dave Grohl – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production