Dead Planet＜Solid White Vinyl＞

After listening to the first release by Queens of the Stone Age after the ousting of bassist Nick Oliveri, 2005's Lullabies to Paralyze, you couldn't help but wonder where the cajones of the previous releases went. After a nationwide search, they've finally been found -- on Oliveri's 2006 release (credited to Nick Oliveri and Mondo Generator), Dead Planet: Sonicslowmotiontrails. Backing Oliveri on the tracks are some of his Palm Desert pals, as well as the U.K. duo Winnebago Deal, and the results are, well, quite impressive. For those who assumed that Josh Homme was the major force behind QOTSA, Oliveri proves once and for all that he was much more of a contributor than many had believed. While Oliveri's strong suit will always be punk metal freakouts (represented here by such thrashers as "Basket Case," "All Systems Go," and the lead-off single, "I Never Sleep"), there is also some variety. In addition to punk metal, you get good, old-fashioned, ass-kicking rock & roll ("All the Way Down"), twisted riff rock ("Like a Bomb"), an acoustic tune straight out of a spaghetti western ("Take Me Away"), and a bouncy new wave ditty ("Paper Thin"). And as always, beneath all the rage, Oliveri has a knack for melody, as evidenced by "She Only Owns You" and a re-recording of an earlier Mondo classic, "So High." Also of note is "Lie Detector," whose stop-start riff bares a resemblance to "Someone's in the Wolf," off of Lullabies (or vice versa -- the jury is out as to who originally wrote what). A fine album -- easily the finest Mondo/Oliveri release yet. But one thing is obvious -- if you combine the highlights from Lullabies and Dead Planet, you get one helluva album -- and the real successor to Songs for the Deaf. ~ Greg Prato