Queens of the Stone Age crafted what we called one of their lightest, most accessible records to date this year with Villains, taking a sonic direction that some of the band's longtime listeners didn't take kindly to.
However, Josh Homme was not at all surprised by the development. Speaking with Minnesota radio station the Current, the frontman admitted he was expecting backlash to the band working with producer Mark Ronson, saying, "It would be safe to understand that I might have known that that was going to happen."
Homme continued: "I do believe that there's no stasis or static in life. You're growing or dying. And, I feel if I'm challenging myself and if we're challenging each other, we're going in the right direction. The by-product of that is that anyone that's into us should expect the poke in the chest because we're doing it to ourselves first."
Homme then backed up his reasoning with some quick math of his own.
"Part of me thinks that every time we put something out, we may lose 20 percent of the people. That 20 percent of the people might go: 'It's changed! Where's my band that I had?' You can presuppose that. I told this to Ronson, 'If 15 percent of the people don't hate you, you suck." He said, 'I'm just trying to get it to 40.'"
Those who dig Villains are undoubtedly gearing up for the band's 2018 North American tour dates.
However, Josh Homme was not at all surprised by the development. Speaking with Minnesota radio station the Current, the frontman admitted he was expecting backlash to the band working with producer Mark Ronson, saying, "It would be safe to understand that I might have known that that was going to happen."
Homme continued: "I do believe that there's no stasis or static in life. You're growing or dying. And, I feel if I'm challenging myself and if we're challenging each other, we're going in the right direction. The by-product of that is that anyone that's into us should expect the poke in the chest because we're doing it to ourselves first."
Homme then backed up his reasoning with some quick math of his own.
"Part of me thinks that every time we put something out, we may lose 20 percent of the people. That 20 percent of the people might go: 'It's changed! Where's my band that I had?' You can presuppose that. I told this to Ronson, 'If 15 percent of the people don't hate you, you suck." He said, 'I'm just trying to get it to 40.'"
Those who dig Villains are undoubtedly gearing up for the band's 2018 North American tour dates.
