Josh Homme wanted to ''expose'' himself with '... Like Clockwork'.

The Queens Of The Stone Age frontman took a big risk on the band's sixth album by funding it from his own pocket, which helped the results become their most ''honest'' and raw to date.

He told The Guardian newspaper: ''I wanna be fully exposed. I paid for this myself. I took the risk myself. Risk nothing, get nothing. If you wanna be famous, then it's OK if the music is fake, because fame isn't real.

''If you just wanna take the shortest distance to Kim Kardashian's underwear drawer, then that's fine, too. I'm not even against it. But if you wanna make something real, and you want it to be honest, then you don't have any choice but to take a huge risk.''

Josh - who is joined in the band by Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita and Michael Shuman - found it difficult firing drummer Joey Castillo before recording the album, but insists it had to be done in order for the group to progress with their music, even if it did make him appear to be a ''jerk''.

He added: ''By the time you get to your sixth record, some of the benefits of being in a band are grander than ever, but some of the obstacles are just massive. You deal with these lateral subjects and all that is left is the elephant in the room.

''Some people think I must be a jerk because I fired my best friend, but the truth is I went to his house, stared him in the face and I told him how I felt. Can you do that?''

'... Like Clockwork' is released today (03.06.13).