Villains is the seventh studio album by Queens of the Stone Age, released on August 25, 2017 through Matador Records. The album was announced on June 14, with a teaser trailer taking the form of a comedy skit featuring the band performing a polygraph test with Liam Lynch. The first single, “The Way You Used to Do”, was released the following day along with the announcement of a world tour. Villains is the first Queens of the Stone Age album to not feature any special guest musicians, the second to not feature Mark Lanegan, and the first to feature Jon Theodore as full time member of the band.
The album received widely positive reviews and performed well commercially, topping Billboard‘s Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. At the 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony, it was nominated for Best Rock Album, losing to The War on Drugs‘ A Deeper Understanding.
The cover art for Villains was designed by graphic artist Boneface, who designed the artwork for Queens of the Stone Age‘s previous album, …Like Clockwork. It was the first time that the band had returned to an artist to request artwork on a subsequent album.
Tracklist:
- Feet Don’t Fail Me
- The Way You Used to Do
- Domesticated Animals
- Fortress
- Head Like a Haunted House
- Un-Reborn Again
- Hideaway
- The Evil Has Landed
- Villains of Circumstance
Queens of the Stone Age
Josh Homme: lead vocals, guitars
Troy Van Leeuwen: guitars, keys, backing vocals
Dean Fertita: keys, guitar, backing vocals
Michael Shuman: bass guitar, vocals
Jon Theodore: drums
Additional personnel
Nikka Costa: background vocals
Matt Sweeney: background vocals
Fred Martin: background vocals
Tai Phillips: background vocals
Faith Matovia: background vocals
The Section Quartet: strings on tracks 1, 3, 6
James King: saxophone on tracks 2, 6
Production and design
Mark Ronson: production
Mark Rankin: co-production, engineering
Wesley Seidman: engineering assistant
Justin Smith: engineering assistant
Caesar Edmunds: mix engineering
Alan Moulder: mixing
Gavin Lurssen: mastering
Reuben Cohen: mastering
Matt Zivich: guitar technician
Wayne Faler: guitar technician
Sahir Hanif: drum technician
Boneface: design, illustrations
