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13:16 · 1,868 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- The lineup was a one-off dream team. Dave Grohl put Foo Fighters on hold to be the band's full-time drummer, alongside Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan.
▶ 00:01:57
- The concept came from the bassist. Homme resisted it at first, worried a concept would get in the way of the songs, then agreed it could hold three vocalists and a crowd of guests together.
▶ 00:02:34
- The frame is a drive from downtown Los Angeles out to Joshua Tree, the route Homme used between gigs, with each track standing for a town along the way.
▶ 00:02:49
- The conceit is that the radio only picks up strange local stations, so the album's interludes are mock broadcasts mocking pretentious hosts and mainstream playlists.
▶ 00:03:04
- The opener is written to feel like Los Angeles traffic, roaring guitars and screamed vocals as a punch rather than an introduction.
▶ 00:03:38
- The drug material does not resolve. Having made a whole album about it before, they are still writing about dependence taking as much as it gives.
▶ 00:05:04
- Song for the Dead works as the record's showcase, Grohl at full force, two fuzzed guitars in call and response, and the first appearance of Mark Lanegan's rasp.
▶ 00:05:38
- The station concept came from the band's own frustration at finding nothing on the radio, so they invented the stations they wanted, running from death metal to hypnotic blues to near-Beatles pop.
▶ 00:06:54
- The irony is complete: an album built to mock the mainstream is the one that broke them into it, and the title itself implies the audience must be deaf to listen to what radio plays.
▶ 00:11:02
- The lineup dissolved straight afterwards, Grohl back to Foo Fighters, Oliveri removed over accusations of physical abuse, and Lanegan staying for one more album.
▶ 00:11:33