Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by the Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 22, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, eventually topping over 342,000 copies as of March, 2007 according to Nielsen Soundscan.
The album has been certified gold in the UK, where it has sold over 100,000 units. It is also the band’s first album to be released after bassist Nick Oliveri was fired from the band. Singer/guitarist Josh Homme and singer Mark Lanegan are the only members from the previous album, Songs for the Deaf, to play on this album and it is the first album to feature drummer Joey Castillo and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.
The album title Lullabies to Paralyze was intended to bridge Lullabies with its predecessor Songs for the Deaf by naming it after a line in “Mosquito Song“, the final track on Songs for the Deaf. The “deluxe limited edition” of the album includes a bonus track and a bonus DVD containing “a look behind the scenes and special bonus footage”. Videos were produced for singles “Little Sister“, “In My Head” and “Burn the Witch“, and the song “Someone’s in the Wolf“. The video for “Someone’s in the Wolf” was featured on the bonus DVD of Lullabies to Paralyze.
The album was delayed during 2004 because of some changes to the line-up: bassist, vocalist, and co-songwriter Nick Oliveri was fired and on-off vocalist Mark Lanegan went on tour with his own band. Lanegan can still be heard singing on several songs of the album; he also contributed lyrics. Because of this turmoil, there had been rumours that Lanegan had left the band, which Josh Homme eventually clarified in several interviews was never the case.
Tracklist:
- This Lullaby
- Medication (Homme, Mark Lanegan)
- Everybody Knows That You Are Insane
- Tangled Up in Plaid (Homme, Lanegan)
- Burn the Witch
- In My Head (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Freese, Castillo, Johannes)
- Little Sister
- I Never Came
- Someone’s in the Wolf
- The Blood Is Love
- Skin on Skin
- Broken Box
- You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…
- Long Slow Goodbye (Includes a “Hidden Outro”)
Queens of the Stone Age
Josh Homme: lead vocals (all but 1), guitar (all but 6), bass (5, 6, 8 (chorus), 12–14), piano (12), drums (8, 12), percussion (8, 10, 12), handclaps (13), whispers (1)
Troy Van Leeuwen: guitar (4, 6, 9, 11–14), bass (2, 7, 8, 11), lap steel (2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14), piano (4), keyboards (11), handclaps (13), backing vocals (6)
Alain Johannes: guitar (5–7, 11), bass (3, 4, 9, 10), flute & marxophone (9), backing vocals (12), phone (14)
Mark Lanegan: lead vocals (1), co-lead vocals (“Precious and Grace”), backing vocals (5, 13)
Joey Castillo: drums (all but 1), piano (6, 8, 14), percussion (3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14), handclaps (13)
Guest appearances
Chris Goss: backing vocals on “You Got a Killer Scene There Man…”, “Someone’s in the Wolf” and “Burn the Witch”
Billy Gibbons: guitar and backing vocals on “Burn the Witch”, guitar and co-lead vocals “Precious and Grace”, guitar on “Like a Drug”
Dave Catching: opening guitar on “The Blood Is Love”
Jack Black: handclaps and stomps on “Burn the Witch”, and is also seen contributing the same for “Broken Box” during the bonus DVD
Jesse Hughes: flute on “Someone’s in the Wolf”
Shirley Manson – backing vocals on “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…”
Brody Dalle: backing vocals on “You Got a Killer Scene There Man…”
Joe Barresi: triangle on “Tangled Up in Plaid”
The Main Street Horns: tubas and baritone trombone on “I Never Came”, “Someone’s in the Wolf” and “Skin on Skin”
Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022)
