Guitarist Josh Homme became a guitar god (of cult status anyway) with his critically acclaimed – but ultimately under appreciated – early ’90s rock band KYUSS.

While KYUSS established a loyal fan base, its heavy riff-laden brand of rock failed to garner pop attention in the days of grunge and the alternative revolution. KYUSS’s thundering rock was a throwback to the days of riff masters like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, earning it the dubious label “stoner rock.”

After disbanding KYUSS in 1995, Homme continued to hone his guitar skills as a touring guitarist with Seattle’s Screaming Trees. In 1998, Homme again decided to take up the helm of a band and formed an informal group dubbed Queens of the Stone Age.

Former KYUSS bassist heard the stuff Homme was doing and decided he couldn’t stay away from his former bandmate. With the core of the band solidified, Homme and company began to write the songs that would become the Queens’ second album, “Rated R.”

“Rated R” would become last year’s best rock album, with only one problem: Nobody knows it’s the best album of 2000.

Critics and music industry people, including artists like the Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl and the editors of Rollingstone Magazine, know that the Queens and “Rated R” are the real deal, but, sadly, the band is largely ignored by the MTV crowd.

While it is often lamented that rock is dead, the Queens are proof positive that rock isn’t going anywhere without a fight.

The Queens don’t play heavy metal, although members toured with Ozzy Osbourne’s metal extravaganza, OZ Fest and various other metal festivals.

There is no hip-hop fusion or rapping white boys with red baseball caps turned backwards anywhere on “Rated R.” The Queens don’t care if you’re playing with their heart, and there certainly is nothing about them that Carson Daly and his flock of sheep would want to see on TRL.

Hard rock is way too cheesy of a nomenclature to describe the Queens’ sound, and while it has a semblance of indy/punk sensibilities, it has nothing in common with the hordes of wannabe punks and “alternative” artists who barely keep rock on the pop charts.

So who are the Queens, and what makes “Rated R” 2000’s best album you never heard?

The Queens play straight ahead heavy rock with no gimmicks, tricks or agenda other than just wanting to rock listeners.

Homme is a guitar wizard – and not some old bearded sage like Gandalf or Merlin. He is a 10-foot, 400-pound caster of entrancing spells that take the form of ponderous, solid guitar riffs and blistering solos.

The Queens don’t really seem to care for the term “stoner rock,” but “Rated R” is rife with references to drugs, alcohol and achieving altered states of consciousness. The lyrics aren’t complicated, but, in conjunction with the music, they create beautiful imagery.

The album’s production is crisp, and the 11 tracks are ordered so there is not a dull minute on the album. “Rated R” is heavy, but Homme and his bandmates orchestrate their songs so carefully that the surreal beauty of each individual track makes them sound almost delicate. “Rated R” is pared down rock ’n’roll, yet Homme’s songwriting and guitar skills make the tracks seem more complex than they really are.

Every single track is so good that it is virtually impossible to pick out highlights. From the open riff of the first track “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” with its repetitious chorus of “Nicotine/valium/marijuana/alcohol/no cocaine” to the final blaring horn notes of the robotic yet chaotic last track, “I Think I Lost My Headache,” “Rated R” is a triumph of rock ’n’roll hedonism.

Oh yeah, there is one problem with “Rated R”; it’s only got 11 songs.