UMUR "Them Crooked Vultures" is the self-titled debut studio album by US/UK hard rock act Them Crooked Vultures. The album was released in November 2009 through DGC/Interscope. Them Crooked Vultures is what you can safely call a rock supergroup without offending anyone. The three-piece consists of Josh Homme on lead vocals and lead guitars (Kyuss, Queens of The Stone Age), John Paul Jones on bass, keyboards, piano, keytar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, violin and backing vocals (Led Zeppelin) and the omnipresent Dave Grohl on drums, percussion and backing vocals (Nirvana, Foo Fighters).

Because of Josh Homme´s voice and guitar playing style the music on the album has a strong Queens of The Stone Age sound to it, but this is not a Queens of The Stone Age album in disguise. Thankfully especially John Paul Jones adds a lot of more "vintage" hard rock elements to the sound and the album ends up having a distinct sound. There are a few melodic elements on the album that remind me of the Foo Fighters but Dave Grohl´s main contribution to the sound is his always tight and inventive drumming.

The 13 track album is rather long but it never becomes tiresome or exhausting to listen to. For that the songs are too well composed, with memorable hooklines, warm organic sound production and excellent musicianship. "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" starts the album in great style and while the quality drops a bit and then rises again a couple of times throughout the playing time, the tracks are generally of high quality.

"Them Crooked Vultures" is upon conclusion a quality hard rock album and fans of especially Queens of The Stone Age should be able to enjoy this one greatly. This album rocks harder than the last couple of Queens of The Stone Age albums though and that´s very deliberating IMO. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.