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Music... Queens for Today By Jimi Wilson Cover courtesy of Interscope Records Fans of the Seattle's Queens of the Stone Age naturally worried when bassist Nick Oliveri left to persue other projects. Some panicked even. Surely the band would be crippled by the loss of the Oliveri, whose thunderous style so defined QOTSA's sound. Now, with the band's eagerly awaited fouth album, Lullabies to Paralyze,those fears can be allayed. Frontman Josh Homme's sardonic wit and keen sense of irony are all the more central to Lullubies to Paralyze. And although slightly more laid back than Songs for the Deaf, the Queens' latest album is every inch the cranium-warping, window-shattering thumbing of the nose to musical convention as its predecessor -- a breath of fresh air or, if you prefer, a bloody, choppy, electically-charged gasp at the center of a sweaty mosh pit. Yeah, that's it. This is rock as it was meant to be. Although fans may be thrown a bit by the intro, "This Lullaby," the crank-and-shred isn't far behind. And as with their previous albums, Queens of the Stone Age have managed to strike that oh-so precarious balance between raw power and slick production that manages to evoke live shows in little clubs. You can almost smell the stale beer through the speakers. Standouts include "I Never Came," "Blood Is Love," the hit-bound "Little Sister" and the Alice In Chains-esqe "Everybody Knows That You Are Insane." This one's a keeper!

Brave News World is a general-interest magazine produced online by students in the course Online Journalism JRN 410 led by Professor Anthony Curtis, Department of Mass Communications, University of North Carolina at Pembroke. The cover, sections and pages were designed by students in the course and article topics were chosen and reported by the individual students who wrote them. We are eternally grateful to those agencies and institutions that have graciously provided images for this edition. Views expressed by individual writers in this magazine are not endorsed by the professor, the department, the university, or possibly anyone else. Your comments are welcomed by the professor who may be contacted at (910) 521-6616. Or you may e-mail the professor at acurtis@uncp.edu.