Billboard CD reviews: Queens of the Stone Age

ARTIST: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

ALBUM: ERA VULGARIS

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The trips are getting darker for Queens of the Stone Age. In contrast to the adrenaline rush of 2000's drug anthem "Feel Good Hit of the Summer," lead Queen Josh Homme disappears in the fade almost completely on the band's fifth studio album, singing of "don't resist" and "forever midnight" on the devilish first single "Sick, Sick, Sick." Along the way, the band wrestles with the ambivalence of excess on the hazy slacker ode "Turning the Screw" and the increasing entitlement of American culture on the warped strut of "I'm Designer." QOTSA envelops many of the songs in a fog of menacing guitar squall. The big exceptions are the vulnerable "Suture Up Your Future" and "3's & 7's," a jumping dirty boogie that follows in the tradition of past hits like "Little Sister" and "No One Knows."

ARTIST: VARIOUS ARTISTS

ALBUM: INSTANT KARMA: THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE DARFUR (Warner Bros. Records)

This two-CD set, whose proceeds will support Amnesty International's work in Sudan and elsewhere, serves up 23 takes on the post-Beatles work of John Lennon. Although household names like U2, Aerosmith and Avril Lavigne make appearances on disc one, it's disc two that really delivers. Green Day offers a passionate, profound reading of "Working Class Hero," while Jack Johnson's sparse, tender interpretation of "Imagine" easily outshines Lavigne's slicker effort. The Black Eyed Peas convince with a fresh, uplifting version of "Power to the People," and Regina Spektor dazzles with an almost classical-style rendering of "Real Love." Disc one has its moments, especially Corinne Bailey Rae's soulful "I'm Losing You," but disc two's more "alternative" vibe better suits these maverick songs.

ARTIST: SONIC YOUTH

ALBUM: DAYDREAM NATION -- DELUXE EDITION (Geffen/UMe Records)

The canonization of "classic" indie rock albums continues with this double-disc edition of Sonic Youth's 1988 bellwether "Daydream Nation." Released just before hundreds of bands like, well, Sonic Youth, were snapped up by major labels in an attempt to commodify the sounds of the college rock underground, the original double album remains a vital crossbreed of avant-garde noise, experimental rock and hummable melodies. "Teen Age Riot" is the group's definitive "we're in step by being out of step" anthem, while epics like "The Sprawl" and "'Cross the Breeze" proved profoundly influential for shoegazers, stoners and adventurous punk kids alike. The live versions on disc two are hit-and-miss (many get by on attitude alone), and of the four contemporaneous covers, only a dirtied-up take on Neil Young's "Computer Age" impresses. In the past two decades, Sonic Youth has topped the best individual moments on "Daydream." But as an album, it's a singular feat -- a perfectly timed snapshot of a moment when their kind of art was a step ahead of commerce.