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No One Knows

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"No One Knows"
Single by Queens of the Stone Age
from the album Songs for the Deaf
B-side
  • "A Song for the Dead" (live)
  • "Avon" (live)
  • "Gonna Leave You" (Spanish)
  • "Tension Head" (live)
  • UNKLE remix
ReleasedNovember 26, 2002 (2002-11-26)
Recorded2001
Genre
Length
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Queens of the Stone Age singles chronology
"Feel Good Hit of the Summer"
(2000) 		"No One Knows"
(2002) 		"Go with the Flow"
(2003)
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.

Background and writing

[edit]

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]

Reception

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"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]

Chart performance

[edit]

"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.

Music video

[edit]

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]

Subsequent recordings

[edit]

"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]

Track listing

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Personnel

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
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

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[52] Gold 30,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[53] Gold 35,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[54] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[55] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

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Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
2019 The Guardian United Kingdom Dave Grohl's Landmark Songs[56] N/A

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Varriano, Anthony (September 5, 2017). "Queens of the Stone Age: The best band of the Millennial generation". Genesis Communications Network. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  2. ^ Galindo, Brian (January 18, 2017). "19 Alt-Rock Songs You Loved In 2002". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  3. ^ Loudwire Staff (October 2, 2020). "The 66 Best Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century". Loudwire. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  4. ^ Pitchfork Staff (August 21, 2009). "The 200 Best Songs of the 2000s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 21, 2022. This powerful slab of punch-drunk boogie rock stands as the most visible piece of QOTSA's legacy...
  5. ^ Rolling Stone Staff (June 28, 2018). "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2023. 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.
  6. ^ "No One Knows Single (IMPORT)". Amazon. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  7. ^ McIver, Joel (2005). No One Knows: The Queens of the Stone Age story. Omnibus Press. p. 129. ISBN 1-84449-955-3.
  8. ^ Anderson, Nick. "August 2002 – Interview with Josh". TheFade. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  9. ^ Simpson, Dave (2002-08-22). "Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  10. ^ Alphabet, Adam (2002-12-09). "Content: Songs For The Deaf". Playlouder. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  11. ^ Carr, Eric (2002-09-11). "Queens of the Stone Age:Songs for the Deaf". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  12. ^ "Triple J Hottest 100 history – 2002". abc.net. Archived from the original on 2004-01-09. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  13. ^ "Q Magazine – 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!". Q. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  14. ^ "The Greatest Tracks Of The Decade 1996–2006". NME. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  15. ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-10-05. "With this enduring throwback to the T. Rex beat, QOTSA guitarist and overall mastermind Josh Homme found the sweet spot between hooky hard rock and the pulverizing metal he'd grown up playing. More than a few of the last half-decade's modern-rock bands have taken their cues from this hybrid of downtuned menace and AM-radio sugar frosting."
  16. ^ "The 2002 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  17. ^ "45th Grammy Awards". Rockonthenet. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  18. ^ "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years - NME". nme.com. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Live Blog – 6 Music Greatest Hits Top 100 Countdown". BBC Radio 6. BBC. 1 February 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  20. ^ Jody Macgregor (9 June 2013). "Hottest 100 of the last 20 years, day two". FasterLouder. FasterLouder Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  21. ^ Jody Macgregor (8 June 2013). "Hottest 100 of the last 20 years, day one". FasterLouder. FasterLouder Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  22. ^ NME.COM. "The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time: 100-1 | NME.COM". NME.COM. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  23. ^ Brannigan, Paul (June 22, 2016). "The top 10 best Queens Of The Stone Age songs". Louder Sound. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  24. ^ Law, Sam (July 26, 2021). "The 20 greatest Queens Of The Stone Age songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  25. ^ "Artist Chart History (singles) – Queens of the Stone Age". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  26. ^ "Dutch Singles Chart". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  27. ^ "Irish Singles Chart". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  28. ^ Queens of the Stone Age – UK Singles Chart. officialcharts.com. Retrieved on Jan 03, 2013.
  29. ^ "No One Knows profile". mvdbase.com. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  30. ^ "MTV News: Queens Of The Stone Age Choose Single for the Deaf". MTV. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  31. ^ "NME: Queens of the Stone Age film video for likey (sic) new single". NME. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  32. ^ "Show Highlights, Winners, Performers, Hosts and More From Past Video Music Awards". MTV. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  33. ^ "Fuzzbox". Amazon. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  34. ^ "Franco Saint de Bakker – live at AB Club, Brussels, June 5th 2004". moid.be. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  35. ^ "Franco Saint De Bakker – Live At The Ancienne Belgique". Discogs. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  36. ^ "Razorlight – Live Lounger Tour 2008". BBC. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  37. ^ "The Divine Comedy – Live At The London Palladium". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  38. ^ "Mark Ronson UK Chart placings". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  39. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (12 January 2021). "The Vaccines release cover of Queens Of The Stone Age's "No One Knows"". The Line of Best Fit.
  40. ^ "Go With the Flow Single (CD1)". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  41. ^ Prato, Greg. "Stone Age Complication". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  42. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Queens of the Stone Age". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  43. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows". Top Digital Download. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  44. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 45, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  45. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  46. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  47. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  48. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  49. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  50. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  51. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  52. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  53. ^ "Italian single certifications – Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  54. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  55. ^ "British single certifications – Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  56. ^ Barlow, Eve (August 16, 2019). "Dave Grohl: 'I never imagined myself to be Freddie Mercury'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
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