Nick Oliveri - N.O. Hits At All Vol. 3 album review

More ferociously fun anti-hits from ex-QOTSA bass maniac

Cover art for Nick Oliveri - N.O. Hits At All Vol. 3 album

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As befits QOTSA’s erstwhile naked bass devil, it’s a ballsy move for Nick Oliveri to go virtually head-to-head against the new Queens album with the third in a series of six-track compilations proudly trumpeting his relative lack of success. Still, there’s something fantastically no-fucks-given about the project, collecting tracks Oliveri has sung on with a revolving collection of bands and musicians, here including Kyuss Lives!, Melissa Auf der Maur, Dwarves and a drummer called Rectom.

Here he goes, coming on like Robert Plant with his larynx on fire on R’N’R Outlaw by Royal Daemons, ranting manically through the oil-smoke garage blues of Dwarves’ Luv Is Fiction and revelling in his metallic desert psych roots on Kyuss Lives!’s anti-industry anthem Kyuss Dies! – ‘Here come the suits and ties, Kyuss dies!

Judging by his frenzied rendition of Sabbath’s The Mob Rules with Auf der Maur and the none-less-country Country As Fuck with Plan B, QOTSA are a far tamer beast without him.

Mark Beaumont

Mark Beaumont is a music journalist with almost three decades' experience writing for publications including Classic Rock, NME, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times, Uncut and Melody Maker. He has written major biographies on Muse, Jay-Z, The Killers, Kanye West and Bon Iver and his debut novel [6666666666] is available on Kindle.