"No One Knows" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Queens of the Stone Age | ||||
from the album Songs for the Deaf | ||||
B-side | ||||
Released | November 26, 2002 | |||
Recorded | 2001 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Queens of the Stone Age singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio sample | ||||
Music video | ||||
Queens Of The Stone Age - "No One Knows" (Official Music Video) on YouTube |
"No One Knows" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age written by band members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. It was the first single and second track from their third album, Songs for the Deaf ,and was released on November 26,2002. [6] "No One Knows" was a chart success,becoming the band's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and their only single to top the US Alternative charts. The song was also critically acclaimed,receiving a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2003 Grammy Awards.
The main riff is reminiscent of Cold Sore Super Stars from Desert Sessions Vol 7 &8.
According to Homme,"No One Knows" existed before the recording sessions for Songs for the Deaf :
"We have patience with music,a year or five years down the road it may kind of rewrite itself and become what it's supposed to be. There's two songs on this record that are over five years old,you know? 'God Is in the Radio' and 'No One Knows'". [7]
Recording for Songs for the Deaf began in March 2002 at three studios across California. Though the liner notes credit Homme and Eric Valentine with producing the majority of the album –including "No One Knows" –Homme credits Valentine with merely recording the beginning of the album for contractual reasons. [8]
"No One Knows" has received critical acclaim from critics. In The Guardian review of Songs for the Deaf,Dave Simpson said "'No One Knows' has killer riffs to spare". [9] Playlouder were similarly enthused,calling the song "soulful,like the last gasp of the hero in an old western". [10] Eric Carr of Pitchfork Media called it an "easy groove" and "four-to-the-floor slime of the highest quality". [11]
"No One Knows" was awarded the number one position on Australian national radio station Triple J's annual Hottest 100 2002,with four other Queens of the Stone Age tracks also charting. [12] The March 2005 edition of Q magazine placed it at number 70 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks,saying of the song,"Possibly the only full-on,legs akimbo guitar great to be based around a rhythm that goes oompah-oompah,here Josh Homme joined the ranks of the immortal." [13] In September 2006,it was placed at number 13 on NME 's list of the 50 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade. [14] Rolling Stone placed "No One Knows" at number 97 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time,saying of the track,"QOTSA guitarist and overall mastermind Josh Homme found the sweet spot between hooky hard rock and the pulverizing metal he'd grown up playing." [15] The song was listed at number eleven on the 2002 Pazz &Jop list,a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau. [16]
"No One Knows" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2003 Grammys and was the band's first,but they lost the award to Foo Fighters for "All My Life", [17] which was credited to Dave Grohl,who was filling in as the drummer for Queens of the Stone Age.
In 2011, NME placed it at number 18 on its list,"150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". [18] In 2013,"BBC 6 Music" placed it at number 16 on its "6 music's greatest hits" voted for by over 100,000 listeners. [19] To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its "Hottest 100" poll,Australian radio station Triple J ran a "Hottest 100 of the last 20 years" poll in June 2013. Songs that were released between 1994 and 2012 were eligible for the poll and "No One Knows" was voted into eleventh position. [20] [21] In 2014,NME placed it at number 99 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [22] In 2016, Louder Sound ranked the song number one on their list of the 10 greatest Queens of the Stone Age songs, [23] and in 2021, Kerrang ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Queens of the Stone Age songs. [24]
"No One Knows" was released as a single on November 26,2002 and became the most successful single from Songs for the Deaf. The song's peak placings of number one,number five and number 51 on the US Modern Rock,US Mainstream Rock (where it lasted for twenty-eight weeks) and the Billboard Hot 100 charts respectively remain the highest of the band's career. [25] "No One Knows" is also the band's highest charting single on the Dutch Singles Chart (where it reached number 39) and on [26] the Irish Singles Chart (where it peaked at number 26). [27] It reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. [28]
It was voted number one in Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 countdown for 2002.
The music video for "No One Knows" was directed by Dean Karr and Michel Gondry; [29] Gondry filmed the first half in June with Karr taking over in July. [30] Josh Homme has said Gondry was chosen because he "did all those videos for Björk and we're huge fans of Björk,so we're excited". [31]
The video is split into two sections and switches between them throughout. The first has band members Homme,Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan driving a truck at night,whereupon they hit a deer. When they get out to inspect,the deer proceeds to attack them before going on a rampage in their International Scout,with the three band members tied to the hood of the car. The deer's rampage only stops when it falls in love with a doe statue decorating a garden,proceeding to make love with it after mounting the heads of the band members on the wall like trophies. The second section of the video is of Homme,Oliveri,Troy Van Leeuwen and Dave Grohl performing the song against a black background.
"No One Knows" received heavy rotation on music video channels culminating in a nomination for the MTV2 Award at 2003 MTV Video Music Awards,where it lost to AFI for "Girl's Not Grey". [32]
"No One Knows" has been covered by numerous groups,including The Section Quartet on their 2007 album,Fuzzbox, [33] and Franco Saint de Bakker, [34] with the song appearing on their 2004 release Live At The Ancienne Belgique. [35] It was also covered by Razorlight as part of Jo Whiley's Live Lounge Tour on September 26,2008. [36] The Divine Comedy often covered "No One Knows" at live shows and one such performance appears on their 2004 DVD,Live at the Palladium. [37] Mark Ronson also covered the song as a B-side to his single "Stop Me",and it later charted in the UK by itself. [38] The Vaccines released their cover version in January 2021. [39]
The song was the first Queens of the Stone Age track to be remixed by British musical outfit Unkle. The "No One Knows" remix appeared as a B-side on the follow-up single,"Go with the Flow",as well as on the EP Stone Age Complication . [40] [41]
|
|
Chart (2002–2003) | Peak position |
---|---|
Ireland (IRMA) [42] | 26 |
Italy (FIMI) [43] | 27 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [44] | 39 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [45] | 39 |
Scotland (OCC) [46] | 14 |
UK Singles (OCC) [47] | 15 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [48] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [49] | 51 |
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [50] | 1 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [51] | 5 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [52] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [53] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [54] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [55] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [56] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | The Guardian | United Kingdom | Dave Grohl's Landmark Songs [57] | N/A |
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream. It was Nirvana's biggest hit, charting high on music industry charts around the world in 1991 and 1992, and was number one on the charts in Belgium, France, New Zealand and Spain. It was met with wide critical acclaim, and described as an "anthem for apathetic kids" of Generation X. Although Nirvana grew uncomfortable with the mainstream and commercial attention the song brought to them, listeners and critics continue to praise "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of the greatest songs of all time. Having sold over 13 million units worldwide, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of the best selling songs of all time.
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lineup changes. Since 2013, the lineup has consisted of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.
Queens of the Stone Age is the debut studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released by Loosegroove Records on September 22, 1998. It was primarily written and recorded in April 1998 by founding member Josh Homme and his former Kyuss bandmate Alfredo Hernández, with Hernández playing drums and Homme singing and playing the rest of the instruments. Homme also produced the album alongside Joe Barresi. Bassist Nick Oliveri, also a former member of Kyuss, would join the band by the time of the album's release. Queens of the Stone Age received generally positive reviews from critics, who placed it in the stoner rock genre and drew comparisons to krautrock bands such as Neu! and Can, as well as to Kyuss and other metal bands.
Songs for the Deaf is the third studio album by the American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on August 27, 2002, by Interscope Records. It features guest musicians including Dave Grohl on drums, and was the last Queens of the Stone Age album to feature Nick Oliveri on bass. Songs for the Deaf is a loose concept album, taking the listener on a drive through the California desert from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree, tuning into radio stations from towns along the way such as Banning and Chino Hills.
Rated R is the second studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 6, 2000, by Interscope Records. Rated R was the band's first album for the label, as well as their first to feature bassist Nick Oliveri and vocalist Mark Lanegan.
Joshua Michael Homme is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the founder and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he formed in 1996. Homme is the band's primary songwriter and mainly sings lead vocals and plays guitar. He also plays drums in the rock band Eagles of Death Metal, which he co-founded in 1998.
The 2002 Triple J Hottest 100, announced on 26 January 2003, was the tenth of such countdowns of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. As in previous years, a CD featuring 39 songs was released. For the first time, a DVD, containing film clips of songs from the Hottest 100 was also released. This was also the last time that phone voting was allowed; in the 2003 poll, only internet voting was permitted. SMS voting was removed for the 2003 poll but was reinstated in the 2004 event
Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 22, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, eventually topping over 342,000 copies as of March, 2007 according to Nielsen Soundscan. The album has been certified gold in the UK, where it has sold over 100,000 units. It is also the band's first album to be released after bassist Nick Oliveri was fired from the band. Singer/guitarist Josh Homme and singer Mark Lanegan are the only members from the previous album, Songs for the Deaf, to play on this album and it is the first album to feature drummer Joey Castillo and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.
"Little Sister" is the first single released by the rock group Queens of the Stone Age from their fourth album Lullabies to Paralyze. It was first issued as a promotional single in December 2004, but was later released as a commercial single on March 7, 2005. The song was recorded live in the studio in one take.
"Go with the Flow" is a song by Queens of the Stone Age from the album Songs for the Deaf, released as a single in 2003. It is the only single from the album to not feature Dave Grohl on drums, instead featuring Gene Trautmann who left the band during the recording of the album. At the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Troy Van Leeuwen is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. Joining the band in 2002, he is the second-longest-serving member of the band, after founding member Josh Homme. Van Leeuwen is also a member of the supergroup Gone Is Gone and has fronted his own projects, Enemy and Sweethead.
"Feel Good Hit of the Summer" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age and written by band members Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri. It is the opening track of their second album, Rated R, and the second single to be released from it. The song also accompanied the UK release of the album on a separate CD entitled Rated U. Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford, at the time fronting his solo band, contributed backing vocals on the song. Upon the album's release, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" had particular attention drawn to it due to the song's focus on drugs. Despite this, critical reception to the song was generally positive, with various critics considering it a highlight of the album.
"The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" is the first single from Queens of the Stone Age's second album, Rated R. It was released in the summer of 2000 through Interscope Records in Europe as a standard single, and in the United States as only a promotional one. The track's music video received mild airplay on music television. It was also the only single from Rated R to get a chart position, reaching number 21 on the Mainstream Rock charts, number 36 on the Modern Rock charts and number 31 on the UK Singles Chart.
Era Vulgaris is the fifth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. Recorded from July 2006 to April 2007, it was released on July 20, 2007 in the United Kingdom and July 21 in the United States, being released on July 29 in other countries. The single "Sick, Sick, Sick" was released in May, followed by second single "3's & 7's" in early June, and third single "Make It wit Chu" in October. The album debuted at No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts, selling 52,000 copies in its first week. It reached top ten positions in other countries, such as No. 7 in the UK, No. 5 in Canada, and No. 4 in Australia. It was the band's last album on Interscope Records.
"Make It wit Chu" is the third single by Queens of the Stone Age from their 2007 album Era Vulgaris.
Josh Homme is an American rock musician who has released 18 studio albums and collaborated with over 25 different artists. He started playing guitar in the 1980s and formed a band with Palm Desert, California schoolmates John Garcia and Brant Bjork, initially under the name Katzenjammer, then Sons of Kyuss, and later shortened to simply Kyuss. The band released an EP called Sons of Kyuss (1990) when Homme was 16 years old, before going on to record four critically acclaimed studio albums and a greatest hits release without breaking through to mainstream success. After the breakup of the band in 1995, Homme considered abandoning his music career, but was persuaded by vocalist Mark Lanegan to join the Screaming Trees on tour as second guitarist.
Them Crooked Vultures is an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 with American musician Josh Homme on lead vocals and guitar, English musician John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards, and American musician Dave Grohl on drums and backing vocals. Chilean-American guitarist Alain Johannes also joins the group during live performances.
...Like Clockwork is the sixth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 3, 2013, on Matador Records in the UK, and on June 4 in the United States. Self-produced by the band, it is the first Queens of the Stone Age album to feature full contributions from bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist and guitarist Dean Fertita, who both joined the band in 2007 to tour in support of the band's fifth studio album, Era Vulgaris, and record its bonus tracks.
"My God Is the Sun" is the first single by Queens of the Stone Age from their sixth studio album, ...Like Clockwork (2013). The band debuted the song at Lollapalooza Brazil on March 30, 2013. The studio version of the single debuted on BBC Radio 1 on April 8, 2013, and became available for download with preorders of the album.
This powerful slab of punch-drunk boogie rock stands as the most visible piece of QOTSA's legacy...
But perhaps what Grohl meant is that no matter what the current trends are, the 21st-century blues-rock grind of "No One Knows" is timeless.