Mondo Generator - 'Dead Planet - Sonicslowmotiontrails' (Mother Tongue) Released 04/09/06

This long after being banished from QOTSA, no one expected Nick Oliveri to bounce back with any kind of groundbreaking material, nor did anyone expect him to come back feeling ok about the whole situation that he was thrust into due to the deception handed out by a Mr. Josh Homme. Mondo Generator was always a means for Oliveri to get away from QOTSA, scream until his throat bled onstage with others that didn’t include his usual entourage and a way to exorcise his demons by laying down some of his own material, all whilst under the impression he was a mainstay in the QOTSA family. His Mondo Generator sessions took place when and where he wanted them to, never forced and never even remotely hinting at a man that was doing a side project because he had to have something to fall back on.

‘Dead Planet…’ is quite the contrary. Mondo Generator is now Oliveri’s last ditch attempt to keep his name out there as something other than a collaborator. It is all he has left. Literally.

2000’s ‘Cocaine Rodeo’ and 2003’s ‘A Drug Problem That Never Existed’ were albums showcasing a man that was comfortable with his skills and happy with his role in a band that allowed him to write the occasional song and focus his efforts on a side project when he wanted to. Now thrust into exile, his latest effort, however good it may be, will forever have that tainted contrived feeling, but if you get past it, you have an album that is essentially a lifeline for a man that has a great deal of talent.

Although album opener ‘Like A Bomb’ isn’t one of Oliveri’s greatest efforts, it is made apparent very quickly that he hasn’t sold out or changed his sound to cater for anyone else’s tastes, so off-kilter beats that you have absolutely no chance of grooving to and screaming lyrics that will make your stereo bleed seem to be on the agenda. Tracks like the brilliantly catchy ‘All The Way Down’ reinforce the fact that Olivieri was a main part of QOTSA’s ability to make quality tunes, as punchy guitars, pounding industrial beats and the man’s trademark guttural rasps are brilliant, along with the new single ‘I Never Sleep’ that has much of the same formula, yet dulled down for the mainstream radio. Acoustic track ‘Take Me Away’ lets the listener in on another angle that you would never expect from the angry-man-with-a-beard-who-is-mostly-naked-all-the-time. Other influences creep in more readily on ‘Dead Planet…’ like the Cramps-esque ‘Life Of Sin’ with its psychobilly rant and the Ramones homage ‘Mental Hell’, inspirations that have never really appeared on his earlier work in such a blatant form are aplenty here, as if he is paying his respects to his heroes before he doesn’t get the chance to do it again.

Yet it is when the listener digs deeper that the music begins to move away from just shout out load chorus lines and heavy guitars that shoot you down where you stand. Most notably are the tracks ‘So High’ that originally appeared on ‘A Drug Problem…’ and was supposed to appear on ‘Lullabies To Paralyse’ back when Homme wasn’t suffering from megalomania, and the poignant ‘Lie Detector’. Aside from being the best song on the album, it is plain to see that Oliveri is still fuming and still heartbroken about Homme’s culling of the man. With lyrics like "Why did you lie/when all I wanted was a reason why" and his accusations (or more so pleading questions) as to why he was left for dead make this song all the more important on this record. This is a vulnerable side of the man no one ever thought they would see.

Recorded in Dave Grohl’s home studio, the album is less raw than his earlier efforts, but the sound albeit a little more mainstream, is just as well put together as all his previous efforts under the Mondo Generator moniker, yet it is the substance and reasons behind his making this album that make it all the more important.