Rated R

Rated R (also known as 'R' or 'Restricted') is Queens of the Stone Age's 2nd studio album, released June 6, 2000. Its singles are Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret and Monsters in the Parasol.

Development[]

After touring for the debut album, Queens of the Stone Age, the band started working on the second album. It was initially called Queens of the Stone Age II and a lot of the lyrics contained drug references (especially Feel Good Hit of the Summer). Avoiding the "Parental Advisory" sticker on the cover, Nick Oliveri came up with the idea of redesigning the cover and calling it after the MPAA rating system: Rated R - Restricted to Everyone, Everywhere, All the Time.

Fun Facts[]

A few songs were remakes. Monsters in the Parasol was originally called Monster in the Parasol, and was in Desert Sessions' Volume 3 and 4, and Tension Head is a remake from Mondo Generator's '13th Floor', off their debut album, Cocaine Rodeo.
Quick and to the Pointless had the drums, guitars, bass and vocals recorded on only one take, as a performance. The vocal's were inteded to be scratch vocals, but the band liked Oliveri's take so much they just left it as recorded. There are two lines in Dutch on the lyrics: "Het leven is hard / de mensen worden bang".
Josh Homme's favourite song off the album is I Think I Lost My Headache. He says it's about "Paranoia... when you think something strange is going on, and everyone around you is so adamant about telling you it's fine... but then you start thinking 'Wouldn't that be exactly what you say if you didn't want me to know, and there is something going on?' And so it's kind of about that paranoid mentality which maybe I have sometimes."
Rated R contains the first appearance of Mark Lanegan on QOTSA. He sings lead vocals for In The Fade and backings for Auto Pilot, Leg of Lamb, and I Think I Lost My Headache.
Lightning Song is the only song to enter a QOTSA album that hasn't been written by Josh Homme or Nick Oliveri. It's a cover from Dave Catching's band, earthlings?

Reissue (Rated X/Rx)[]

On 2010, a anniversaty reissue for Rated R was released. The reissue is called Rated X, or Rx for the Deluxe Edition. The Rx edition included 2CDs, the second one with live versions of tracks off Songs for the Deaf and the Self-Titled album and the b-sides for that era.

Tracklisting[]

Feel Good Hit of the Summer (2:43) - Vocals: Josh Homme
The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (3:36) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Leg of Lamb (2:48) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Auto Pilot (4:01) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
Better Living Through Chemistry (5:49) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Monsters in the Parasol (3:27) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Quick and to the Pointless (1:42) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
In the Fade (4:25) - Vocals: Mark Lanegan (includes Feel Good Hit of the Summer reprise)
Tension Head (2:52) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
Lightning Song (2:07) - Instrumental
I Think I Lost My Headache (8:40) - Vocals: Josh Homme

RX bonus CD[]

Ode to Clarissa (2:40) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
You're So Vague (3:40) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Never Say Never (4:23) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Who'll Be the Next in Line (2:30) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
Born to Hula (5:54) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Monsters in the Parasol (live in Seattle) (3:47) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Feel Good Hit of the Summer (live at Reading Festival 2000) (2:59) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Regular John (live at Reading Festival 2000) (5:12) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Avon (live at Reading Festival 2000) (3:23) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Quick and to the Pointless (live at Reading Festival 2000) (2:34) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
Better Living Through Chemistry (live at Reading Festival 2000) (5:20) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Ode to Clarissa (live at Reading Festival 2000) (2:52) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri
The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (live at Reading Festival 2000) (3:33) - Vocals: Josh Homme
You Can't Quit Me Baby (live at Reading Festival 2000) (10:37) - Vocals: Josh Homme
Millionaire (live at Reading Festival 2000) (4:38) - Vocals: Nick Oliveri

Full length: 42:10[]

Pressings[]

During the test press of Rated X, a problem on the A-side showed up: Quick and to the Pointless does not play properly. It might come from a manufacturing problem, since the matrix number is different from the regular version.

The "X Rated" limited edition German 12" is in a red Gatefold sleeve with the same design as the blue CD cover, except for the X where the R should be. It contains Ode to Clarissa as a bonus track. Inside, explicit pornographic pictures line a stretched drawing of a face and two screen shots from a porn. A sheet with all of the credits and pictures from the CD sleeve comes with the record. This edition is unnumbered. Also on the back, just below the white stripe and in very small letters are the words, "Don't make me beg, just fuck me." The Japanese CD version also contains Ode to Clarissa as a bonus track. It comes with an extra booklet where the lyrics are printed.^[1]

The US and German promos come under the title "Queens of the Stone Age II." The name of the album was changed to Rated R shortly after that for the June release.^[2]

The Australian sampler comes with bits of six tracks and was redeemable for 5 Australian dollars: "Hand this cd over the counter of the retailer below and receive $5 off the price of the new album R." Rated R was listed as the Triple J album of the week on the front cover of the sampler.

The European sampler comes in a slimline jewel case. The sleeve has with the same design as the Rated R cover, but with red where there is blue on Rated R, and the inner sleeve has the same design as the German Lost Art 2-track CD single.

"Rated X" sampler: This is the first sampler released in the US for Rated R. It came in a cd sleeve with the same design as the album, but with an X where the R should be and it's red rather than blue. The back cover features Josh and Nick lounging on a bed with someone laying on Josh.^[3]

The pressing quantity of any sampler and/or R, X or Rx edition is unknown.

Matrix numbers[]

R - European press - 06069 490 683-2 02 * 51032806 (barcode 0694906832)
R - UK 2CD press - 4906832 01 6, 4974552 01 6 (barcode 606949086329)
R - "QOTSA II" promo press #1 - QUEENS 00095 51024 199 01 (no barcode)
R - "QOTSA II" promo press #2 - INTF100772 0792816988 (no barcode)
R - European promo - QOTSA1 02 6 (no barcode)
R - "Rated X" promo - INTR100782 0797117085 (no barcode)
R - B-sides EP - no matrix number (no barcode)
R - sampler - 0151833-QOTSASAMP 01 (no barcode)
R - Japanese press - UICZ-1002- ST V (no barcode)
Rx - 2CD Deluxe Edition - 06025 274 638-2 01 * 52576516, 638-4 01 * 52576518 (barcode 602527424903)
R + Deaf - Combo press - 06069 490 683-2 02 * 51032806 (bardcode 0075326889)
R + Deaf - promo press - no matrix number (no barcode)