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EXCLUSIVE: Unreleased Queens of Stone Age Track

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Desert rock juggernauts Queens of the Stone Age are releasing a deluxe edition of their classic album Rated R on August 3, featuring six b-sides and a recording of their Reading Festival set in 2000. Listen to the previously-unreleased-in-the-U.S. track, “Ode to Clarissa,” below!

“Clarissa” is classic Queens of the Stone Age — badass, supercharged rock’n’roll. A thunderous drum intro gives way to a piercing guitar riff.

QOTSA completists might already be familiar with “Ode to Clarissa”: It appeared as the 12th track on the Japanese pressing of Rated R; on a limited-edition vinyl version of the album; and as the b-side on the U.K. single for “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret,” the album’s best-known tune. A live version of the “Clarissa,” recorded at the Reading Festival, is included on the new Rated R special edition, as well.

Rated R landed at No. 8 on SPIN’s 20 Best Albums of 2000 list, with Sia Michel lauding the record’s “mysteriously beautiful, smartly stoopid psychedelic jams.”

In other QOTSA news, the band is set to play a benefit concert August 12 in L.A. for Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O’Connor, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The show is sold out, but the Eagles are auctioning off some special ticket packages via their website. Another site is collecting donations for O’Connor, too — click here for details.

What do you think about “Ode to Clarissa”? Tell us in the comment section below!

LISTEN: Queens of the Stone Age, “Ode to Clarissa”