Queens of the Stone Alive in the Catacombs (OLE2142CDJP) Japan Music CD^

Product Description Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA), the undisputed champions who conquered the world from US alternative and hard rock, have brought their long-held dream to life with "Alive in the Catacombs." This film is a video and audio documentary recording the band's long-rumored performance in the catacombs of Paris. Filmed and recorded in July 2024, this is a truly unique experience that captures QOTSA in a way never seen or heard before. The setlist, carefully selected from songs spanning their career, has been boldly restructured to suit the catacombs. There, surrounded by the bones of millions of people, QOTSA exists in a space more intimate than ever before?"We played in front of the largest 'audience' we've ever played," says Josh Homme. The Paris Catacombs are a massive underground ossuary stretching 320 kilometers (approximately 200 miles) and containing the remains of millions of people buried in the 18th century, with many of the walls composed of skulls and bones. Josh had dreamed of performing in the Catacombs with QOTSA ever since his first visit nearly 20 years ago. However, the city of Paris had never granted permission for artists to perform there. QOTSA, law-abiding citizens, waited patiently for official permission to realize their dream. Every aspect of the performance?from song selection and instrumentation to staging?was meticulously planned with the utmost respect for the Catacombs. From the acoustics and ambient sounds (the sound of dripping water, reverberations, and natural resonance) to the dim lighting that enhances the music, every detail was carefully considered. Far removed from the comfortable environments of a soundproof studio or stage monitors, 'Alive in the Catacombs' captures the band not just taking on this challenge, but embracing it head-on. Josh recalls: "Everything is stripped down in that place, so we stripped away the superfluous too. And the music was stripped away, the words were stripped away... It's foolish to try to rock in that place. That space made all the decisions. That space governs everything. When you're in that space, you can only go along with it." As a result, QOTSA was condensed into its most essential form. Josh Homme, Troy van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and John Theodore were joined by a string trio. For percussion, they used improvisational tools such as chains and chopsticks. 'Alive in the Catacombs' is a work in which QOTSA was inevitably stripped down to its most primitive form. Because there was no power supply, the electric piano was connected to a car battery, and the performance was not even "unplugged" in a sense. And all the songs were recorded in one take without overdubs or editing, and no filters were used whatsoever. The magnificence of 'Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs' is beyond words. This film, where tranquility and grandeur coexist beautifully, can only be truly appreciated through experience. Beauty lies within inner conflict and external constraints. This is Josh Homme's most physically vulnerable yet most glorious moment. If you're going to be haunted, you should be in a place surrounded by millions of dead. I've never felt so welcomed in my life. - Josh Homme 01. Running Joke / Paper Machete 02. Kalopsia 03. Villains of Circumstance 04. Suture Up Your Future 05. I Never Came