The best Queens of the Stone Age riffs

[@sl3102]

Songs for the Deaf really is a masterpiece. Pure magic. The stars were aligned at that point in time.

[@pablospicoli]

Josh is frequently aligned

[@rickdb8480]

@@pablospicoliFacts

[@asdf9890]

Lanagan's vocals.....man, there will never be another like him. Fell in love with that guy's voice back when he was in Screaming Trees.😟

[@sl3102]

@@asdf9890 Indeed

[@Adam-ro8vj]

R rated is where the stars were aligned my friend this also a great piece tho

[@dangollapalli5113]

The verse riff from 'The sky is fallin' is one of my favourites

[@lewismacdonald7218]

The riff that got me into them in the first place - Regular John. It is so ridiculously simple, that it just highlights how important all the other elements are to make a truly great song/riff.

[@flaviul.georgiu8008]

“Keep Your Eyes Peeled” melts my face every time

[@eirikstor]

Agree!

[@AlbinoJedi]

Same. In my top 3 QotSA songs period.

[@ascendedalchemist2551]

"I think I lost my headache" melts my brain every time

[@briangarcia8384]

I guess you could say it keeps your face peeled.

[@josetex]

Turning on the Screw has such a great riff, but my favorite by far and the one riff that got me instantly hooked to Queens of the stone age has to be in Sick Sick Sick, the riff that comes right after the first chorus. God, what a tone

[@applepeel1662]

Same here!! Its so unique and tasty

[@gzee9]

I love Era Vulgaris

[@briangarcia8384]

Era vulgaris is an underrated masterpiece.

[@SeaW4rrior]

Gotta say "I think I lost my headache" is definitely one of my favourites!

[@mikechappell8235]

God is in the radio also has one of my all time favorite solos.

[@RJPhotographics]

That track has two of my all time favorite solos. Properly need a moment after each listening on a half decent speaker.

[@willhargreaveshf]

Oh my god yes

[@namyur]

There are two solos, both are incredible. Great great song.

[@jordanpreexisting224]

Best solo of the 2000s from 2000-2010 those solos lived rent free in a lot of peoples heads

[@Ash_Hudson]

Dave's heavy swing feel on the beat massively compliments the solos too.

[@edmanning274]

My theory was that Smooth Sailing was originally supposed to be a Them Crooked Vultures song.

[@Mr.GTheWatcher]

Damn that's actually spot on now that I think about it

[@kutter666]

Totally!

[@joehoppard814]

Am I alone in thinking The Blood Is Love is the best thing ever? Ace video, as always.

[@TheGavman007]

Came here to say this! With the snare right before the riff kicks in, man it gets me every time

[@willhargreaveshf]

It's one of their absolute best deep cuts and one of the best songs on Lullabies for sure. Incredible groove

[@Tocaraca]

That's my favorite song

[@SunofShasta]

​@TheGavman007 I am glad that you made this comment. That little part is something truly special. So powerful. It's like casually dancing before turning around to find you need to run.

[@dfawrtevfevwetetvwgw]

Best riff on lullabies

[@timokakoun4367]

I love every single QOTSA riff but In The Fade and Give The Mule What he Wants live rent free in my head and I'm very ok with it. Amazing tones you summoned there!!

[@Lauke101]

Took like 10 years of listening to it but at some point the chorus for Do It Again really clicked with me. Dang that is a dirty one!

[@eirikstor]

Do it Again should’ve been on the list for sure. Though of it more as a song I like rather than a riff

[@Lauke101]

@@eirikstor What is a riff anyway? ;-) Loved your list btw, definitely a lot of my favourites too!

[@digitalbladeca]

Man I remember working a cubicle job working through emails/invoices/etc and since someone mentioned QoTSA I added a random song from them. As soon as Better Living came on I was immedieately hoooked and they became my favorite band in quick succession, still are. And only ever getting better!

[@slayerBO2EPC]

Josh and QOTSA just don't know how to write a bad riff, or song for that matter. They are all bangers

[@TyCorr]

Theyre the band all the pros hear and want to quit music

[@TyCorr]

Theyre the band all the pros hear and want to quit music

[@georgeweller6023]

the riffs on in times are amazing. obscenery, carnavoyeur, straight jacket…

[@KevinRibelMusic]

Lullabies...I love this album so much! Great Riffage and textures all along!

[@eirikstor]

Yes, I love Lullabies too!

[@droctagon3k]

10:22-10:32 I don't know what you call it but those step downs in the chords / riff is just so satisfying and just triggers unexplainable things in my brain

[@thunderryu0494]

The first QotSA song that really sank its teeth into me was Burn the Witch. That entire album with its Brothers Grimm aesthetic really spoke to me in my formative years and set me on the path of learning bass guitar. I have never put it down and BtW is still my go-to warm up/tuning song.

[@rockomundo]

"My God is the Sun" def has one of my fave QUOTSA riffs ever

[@Beizeiten78]

“Tension Headache” and “Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” are some tasty riffs.

[@BrandonBriers]

If Only, First It Giveth, Sick, Sick, Sick, 3s and 7s, My God Is The Sun, Paper Machete are some of my other favourites, great list!

[@svds_studio]

The quality of your video content and production makes it just a delight to watch. It's like a cool TV show to me.

[@mitchsmix269]

Youre by far my favorite Queens related channel on KZbin. Really great tone in this video too

[@leighiansonmusic9688]

So glad you included Better living through chemistry, I think I lost my headache and someone’s in the wolf. They are my favs. I do have a soft spot for little sister too

[@ConjuredUndead]

My favourite solo is Leg of Lamb. Simple and overlooked. 🤘

[@nileee]

Song for the Deaf is such an amazing song, it's so haunting I wish they played it more

[@mthscstlh]

Just noticed that my favorite songs are actually synth driven: In The Fade, Misfit Love and Kalopsia 😅 By the way, you nailed it as always!

[@abdallahhamido2809]

Misfit love is a fucking masterpiece it’s in my top 3 with i appear missing and better living through the chemistry

[@chris.cotton]

ST: - If Only - How to Handle a Rope - You Can't Quit Me Baby (the bridge section, i know it's more of a chord progression of a riff but it's just so good) R: - I Think I Lost My Headache - Infinity SFTD: - Go With The Flow (again, more of a chord progression but come on) - The Sky Is Fallin' LTP: - Precious and Grace (obvs it's a cover but the way they play just has so much balls) EV: - 3s & 7s - Into the Hollow LC: - I Sat By The Ocean (slide riff) - My God Is The Sun Villains: - The Evil Has Landed - Domesticated Animals ITNR: - Negative Space - Carnavoyeur (bass)

[@zgamer1154]

Battery Acid and Made to Parade deserves a mention

[@kasperrasmussen6149]

You do some EXCELLENT playing and tone work of some awesome tracks!

[@eirikstor]

Thank you kindly!

[@danray84]

I realize this is a year old by now, but I came across this looking for a way to play the Whitewater (Kyuss) riff, and man I’m so glad I did.

[@Ash_Hudson]

No One Knows is so amazingly well constructed and composed. I could harp on about every other amazing song of theirs, but No One Knows is an example of how to make the perfect pop rock song.

[@vandal_dk]

They really do have some epic riffs, but most importantly, they’re memorable songs with beautiful melodies.

[@RSPZDLS]

millionaire is truly mindblowing and exciting both the riff and the song

[@daanabbring5409]

The Regular John and First it Giveth riffs are big favourites of mine

[@juanjosebusnelli390]

the tones are just perfect. you just mastered QOTSA tones

[@Renaaage]

It's amazing how you manage to match the sound so well!

[@MossMan4288]

Hell yea for including infinity one of my favorites and not nearly mentioned enough

[@connor9023]

If only and Give the mule what he wants, like how Josh plays it in that one interview

[@N00dlezzzz]

Which interview is that??

[@connor9023]

@@N00dlezzzz the one with Matt Sweeney, (that one interview, yk?)

[@N00dlezzzz]

@@connor9023 damn, guess it's time to watch that one again!

[@connor9023]

@@N00dlezzzz good plan!

[@Thrillhouse84]

Edit: i also gotta add that for me Queens isnt just about their riffs, which are awesome, but just how they all play off each other to syncopate their grooves, and how they embellish their riffs with all other cool guitar nuances like pedal steel, slide guitar, the strummed nylons in First it Giveth, all the crazy whale squeals in Song for the Deaf, just little things like that really elevate their songs. Song for the Dead is so rad. I didnt really notice the tritones in the power chords at first either until i heard it several times and started learning it

[@lancere00]

It's hard to pick a favorite, but The Sky is Fallin' has to be one of their best and most underrated Edit: Also need to mention Tangled Up in Plaid. So fucking good

[@CatmanJimbo]

Damn those are two solid asf picks and two of my favorites as well

[@Hevvvyyy]

If there's one song that sounds so different across their whole discography it's definitely that one, gotta love it

[@spiritualconnection4807]

My two favorite QOTSA songs

[@AlbinoJedi]

I love Sky is Fallin. The intro and then main riff get stuck in my head randomly so often.

[@jordanpreexisting224]

Yes yes and yes again

[@vili2525]

I sometimes get a tear in the corner of my eye. Greatest fucking riffs on the planet.

[@williamoliveira1409]

Sometimes i forget what an amazing songwriter josh is

[@zoscarrhoads7741]

Some of my favourite riffs are in the Era Vulgaris album, Sick, Sick, Sick, I'm designer, 3's & 7's, Make it with chu, Battery acid, the bonus track Era Vulgaris...so underrated.

[@yukefort8402]

Well done putting Turnin On The Screw on the list! I love noisy rock.

[@scribbleowl]

Every single one of these are absolute bangers, but Song for the Deaf makes me feel that emotion I only get from listening to Queens.

[@Stormtrooper53]

For Song for the Dead, you have the notes right, but move your hand up to the 13th fret on the low C string and play them there. That's how Josh plays it live.

[@lord_vader_01]

I didn't expect to see Infinity! Great list btw

[@-k-b-]

You nailed it with this list 100%! They have so many simple yet effective riffs on pretty much every album, even if I like some albums more than others. I think in particular their first 3 albums and Era Vulgaris have their best straight up stoner rock/metal riffs, and anything afterwords is more ambiguous riff-wise with more going on with singing and added instrumentation and stuff: for example, I love the title track to Like Clockwork, but there's no riff lol

[@theonetruetim]

"Even more Evil than i thought i was" from start to finish:

[@fmorin71234]

I just saw them in Nashville...mind completely blown!

[@kevinholzwarth7553]

Great playing! All the riffs sounded killer

[@offdutyjie]

Nice Pics lol!! Would Love to see a part 2 to this man! Misfit Love, 3's and 7's, Songs for the Deaf, Sick Sick Sick, Lost Art

[@eirikstor]

Song for the Deaf is in there man!

[@rhyshepburn3913]

Loved this video, great span across the records. Can you do a similar version of this with bass lines? I’d love to hear You Can’t Quit Me Baby as that’s one of my favourites, most of the first album was played by josh apart from Mule which was Chris Goss, but over the years there have been so many cool bass riffs lurking in the songs from many different players

[@SKYVLY]

Great job w these riffs and tone is killer

[@maximefaisant6502]

Head like a haunted house is also a masterpiece

[@okimotdm]

So many great pics and comments already but don’t forget the pure simplicity and huge tone of Avon

[@Tocaraca]

Someone's in the Wolf is the best riff imo but at least it made it into your list Also i am so glad that Walking on the Sidewalks was one of the picks. That one immediately popped into my head when you mentioned a song from the first album with a weird riff

[@kylewilliams7084]

Fantastic list. Sick, Sick, Sick and Tension head are some of my favorits

[@adhamkhaled834]

I think my all time favourite riff by them has to be Avon!

[@eirikstor]

My QOTSA Kemper profile packs here ✌🏻 www.livingroomgearshop.com

[@HansAndreasR1]

no tab's made available?

[@nckro7713]

Love the tones! Is Kermper the only way to get the packs?

[@eirikstor]

@@nckro7713 yup

[@MarkJohnsonJams]

You Sir still continue to nail the Queens tones and playing. Hell yeah.

[@santiagomoncalvo9343]

Millionaire definitely is my fave as well. Awesome job.

[@Secondprize7]

You can't quit me baby. Fantastic, hypnotizing, ominous riff

[@guilhermefranco3658]

My favorite riff from qotsa is from tangled up in plaid

[@2010georgian1]

Lullabies is literally on of the best albums ever.. also it's the perfect Halloween album

[@eirikstor]

Yea! October album. Will listen all October

[@bintangardani5801]

paper machete slaps hard

[@gergmh86]

I would like to have seen Sick Sick Sick here. It's a great little riff.

[@kylephelan6989]

“A guitar riff that everyone knows” lol bro literally no one knows

[@discardiac]

I see what you did there

[@skullullox]

This is such a shitty dad joke lmao

[@Mr.GTheWatcher]

I will find you, Kyle phelan 6989

[@vman3695]

You are ready for fatherhood. If you are already a dad, you are now our mvp.

[@cyriljanssens8339]

Regular John, If Only, Paper Machete, Straight Jacket Fitting, and one from Kyuss: Demon Cleaner, i love that one

[@calincampbell5637]

Lullabies to Paralyze is not only my favorite QOTSA album but one of my favorite albums of all time.

[@Colaishons]

im designer riff is so underated

[@faramund9865]

Mexicola absolutely one of my favs too.

[@girthquakr]

The riff of "Sick, Sick, Sick" always punches me. It makes me wanna fight something

[@dieantfoordfighters]

awesome riffs, but i think one of the most underrated ones and that hit really good is River in The Road

[@StellanBmelon]

my favorite is Another Love Song. And it's complemented by Nick's beautiful singing voice.

[@cristoff30]

Cant go wrong with any of your choices. Sky is fallin is one of my favorites. Great playing by the way.

[@leosan9278]

Mexicola is easily one of the best qotsa song and I will forever stand by that

[@rickdb8480]

Qotsa a have so many riffs that are without doubt world class!

[@sergkatsur1436]

Thanks for the great QOTSA content as always! Absolutely agree with almost everything, especially with Turning on the screw and Millionaire but... Where's the I'm designer?

[@DeGroove]

Impossible to sort these...they're all great. Nonetheless my favorite might be "Tension Head" depending on when you'd ask me.

[@jesselawson224]

QOTSA definitely one of the best bands and there live show is amazing! Just two more weeks before I see them again! So glad you played god is on the radio, one of my favorite songs. Hope you do some desert sessions songs at some point.

[@KeithGrandchamp-hn8kb]

Some how you may be a bigger fan of queens than me if that’s even possible, josh is crazy talented

[@nuggnugg8464]

Tension Head - some great syncopation with the drums going on in that riff plus it sounds quite mean and nasty

[@jonathanmccord1334]

Nice Gretch Corvette! Got one of my own. Homme inspired me to get it of course

[@eirikstor]

it's a Dunable Cyclops

[@duncanmaccoll8336]

All awesome but... GIVE THE MULE WHAT HE WANTS simple classic. Also.. MEDICATION there's so much great stuff👍

[@NicolasFoucaud]

Great playing and great tone! Very cool video

[@eirikstor]

Thanks a lot!

[@merqury5]

Only channel I trust for this stuff. Have u met the main man yet?

[@eirikstor]

nope!

[@danielktdoranie]

@@eirikstorshame! You should!!!

[@xb5883]

Seriously....Josh Homme needs to come sit down with you

[@erickiltinen2017]

Nice work! The riff on In My Head is super simple but awesome, particularly the second verse, which uses some unusual intervals like a major 7th (C-B...WTF?) that sound beautifully empty and eerie.

[@3xtan327]

True that’s an underrated one, or maybe I am just biased because it got me into qotsa into the first because i heard it on the nfs u2 soundtrack

[@ItaiIfrach]

Sounds so RAW !

[@SeeMick1]

Millionaire is an all-timer. I think Josh slides into the note in the main riff tho, no?

[@Mister_Hijinks]

3's & 7's and Little Sister are both in there for me

[@RedJadeArt]

I fucking loved “I appear missing”

[@DHMarepoto]

Great vid, pretty cool.

[@ronnysunshine7857]

Its been a while but always played someone's In the wolf open C but yours sounded way better. The Songs for the Dead riff during the versus I always thought of in this way of, as if your hand is moving too quick or sloppy to hit all the right notes but u get the important ones, type of playing. Awesome video man

[@yourboyjosh-b6p]

Regular John, Tension Head, Headache. So many great ones

[@crocodilewani5467]

I do think Emotion Sickness should be on the list. It’s by far the sickest riff they’ve written in ages.

[@elliotcrane]

Though I actively follow the band since Rated R came out, most of my favorites are actually on Clockwork. And I love the current phase as much as I love Headache, which did not make this list.

[@djjordhamo]

Tangled up in plaid is probably my favorite riff

[@eirikstor]

Yeah, it's up there!

[@thecommondingus]

You Would Know from self titled. Never leaves my brain.

[@Hevvvyyy]

Love watching live performances with that song, especially the one from the 2000s at the Showbox

[@vitnemec8365]

Good list, like you said - my fav riffs would not be the same as my favourite songs. I will add: - The Fun Machine Took a *hit and Died - You Would Know - Keep Your Eyes Peeled - Straight Jacket Fitting And let’s throw in some least favourite ones - Avon - My God is the Sun - Time & Place (the whole song was designed to irritate me) QOTSA have many rhythm parts that wouldn’t quallify as riffs but are just as good (like the chorus guitar in The Way We Used to Do).

[@eirikstor]

Time & Place on your fav riffs list, but also annoys you? 😅 I think it's really irritating song

[@vitnemec8365]

@@eirikstor Last three are least favourite!

[@eirikstor]

@@vitnemec8365 ah, I didn't read that correctly!

[@jakeb7867]

I appear missing is one of the coolest riffs he's created. Brilliantly weird as only Josh Homme can think these things up.