• Reissue
• Gatefold sleeve with color-printed insert
• Generic poly-line white paper inner sleeve
  
  

Queens Of The Stone Age released Era Vulgaris in 2007 as their fourth studio album, marking a deliberate pivot toward art-rock experimentation while maintaining the desert-heavy riff architecture that defined their sound. Following the massive success of Songs for the Deaf, Josh Homme and company stripped back the production polish in favor of abstract arrangements and oblique songwriting, establishing this record as a crucial waypoint in the band's evolution from stoner-rock purveyors to avant-garde rock architects. Era Vulgaris remains their most challenging and compositionally unconventional work, a record that rewards repeated listening and stands apart in their discography for its willingness to obscure rather than clarify its intentions.

The album opens with the angular, almost funky propulsion of "Turnin' On The Screw," immediately signaling departure from expected territory. "Sick, Sick, Sick" delivers crushing groove anchored by hypnotic bass work and layered vocal harmonies that blur into the mix, while "I'm Designer" strips things down further, showcasing Homme's ability to construct tension through restraint. The instrumental architecture throughout Era Vulgaris favors texture over technical display—feedback textures, unconventional drum patterns, and spacious production create an atmosphere that feels deliberately alienating. Tracks like "Into The Hollow" and "Misfit Love" exemplify this approach, building emotional weight through atmospheric density rather than melodic assertion. The record's thematic preoccupation with alienation and disconnection mirrors its sonic fragmentation, creating a unified artistic statement rather than a collection of songs.

This 2024 reissue arrives in gatefold packaging with a color-printed insert and white paper inner sleeve, housed in shrink wrap with a transparent sticker. The vinyl format emphasizes the production's deliberate murk and spatial design—the album's use of negative space and dynamic range translates meaningfully to the analog format. For collectors of Homme's catalog and those seeking Era Vulgaris in proper vinyl presentation, this pressing provides an accessible entry point to an album that repays its difficult aesthetic with substantial depth on repeated spins.

Tracklist:

A1. Turnin' On The Screw
A2. Sick, Sick, Sick
A3. I'm Designer
A4. Into The Hollow
A5. Misfit Love
A6. Running Joke
B1. Battery Acid
B2. Make It Wit Chu
B3. 3's & 7's
B4. Suture Up Your Future
B5. River In The Road
B6. Run, Pig, Run