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May 28, 2013Homme has marshaled all of his strengths on ...Like Clockwork and has found a way forward, a way to deepen his music without compromising his identity.
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Alternative PressMay 30, 2013Surrendering to its strange charms could be one of the smartest decisions you make this year. [Jul 2013, p.106]
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Jul 3, 2013Like Clockwork: great for rock & roll, great for culture, great for the world.
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Jun 6, 2013Now on the other side of forty, this is QOTSA as weary of mortality as they’ve ever been. They also sound as vital, forceful and rough around the edges as they have in over a decade. Welcome back, gentlemen.
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May 30, 2013It's arguably the most potent lineup since Josh Homme put QOTSA together in 1996, and it's embellished on the band's sixth studio album by guests.
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Jun 3, 2013...Like Clockwork is the best and most focused Queens album since “Songs for the Deaf” in 2002.
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May 28, 2013Still flaunting in the grunge realm, the overall result is tough, yet accessible, including some deeper moments.
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Classic Rock MagazineJul 23, 2013Their rejuvenating effects make this the most rounded and melodic QOTSA album in a decade, a triumph snatched from the mortuary doors. [Summer 2013, p.88]
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Jun 3, 2013...Like Clockwork is one of the year’s finer rock albums--an exercise in songwriting, production, and musicianship.
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Jul 23, 2013It’s the kind of album we critics tritely refer to as a return to form but with the massively remarkable beast that ...Like Clockwork royally is, never has the phrase been more fitting.
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Jun 3, 2013It should go without saying but it needs to said: this is an intricate, jarring and complicated piece of work and is undeniably brilliant.
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Jun 3, 2013It's not entirely successful, but also it's far from a failure--and it's certainly a unique piece of art that shouldn't be dismissed after the first or second listen.
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Entertainment WeeklyJun 7, 2013Stoner-rock heavyweight Josh Homme shows no ring rust on QOTSA's first new album in six years. [14 Jun 2013, p.94]
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Jun 5, 2013So, while ...Like Clockwork doesn’t have that many feel good hits of the summer, there are plenty of lullabies to paralyze.
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Kerrang!Jun 26, 2013Like Clockwork may have been wrought from turmoil, what it delivers is the sound of Queens Of The Stone Age back at the top of their game. [15 Jun 2013, p.54]
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Jun 4, 2013Homme is one of the few singers and lyricists today who know that rock 'n' roll is built on a mix of menace and dark humor, and almost every track on ...Like Clockwork has a moment that makes you want to drive to Joshua Tree, pound some beers and start fires in the shape of pentagrams.
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MojoJun 17, 2013An album truly fit to do battle with the rock classics of any age. [Jul 2013, p.80]
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May 30, 2013Despite the distinct swerve in direction, there are still numerous killer blows to be found on ...Like Clockwork.
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Jun 3, 2013Josh Homme and his all-star pals prove the virtue of taking your sweet time on a record that’s as self-assured as it is damn sexy.
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Jun 10, 2013...Like Clockwork is easily the best release from the band since Songs for the Deaf.
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May 30, 2013Song for song, however, this is the best QOTSA album in a decade, delivering all the swagger and skew of their greatest work without rehashing it.
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Jun 4, 2013It’s the one of the best QOTSA records to date.
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Jun 3, 2013Fittingly for a band that’s spent the past few years retooling itself, it takes some time for Queens to shake off the cobwebs and get back to full strength.
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Jun 3, 2013It’s not propulsive like Era Vulgaris or dense and plodding like Lullabies to Paralyze. Instead, this is a record that feels more loose and laid-back, which is appropriate for a group that’s getting back together after a few years off.
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Jun 7, 2013Not the best Queens of the Stone Age record, but a respectable showing with a few absolute gems.
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Q MagazineJun 17, 2013...Like Clockwork is a return to form. [Jul 2013, p.107]
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Jun 5, 2013Josh Homme and fellow Queens Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, and Michael Shuman have gotten back on beam for the band’s first album in six years, apparently rediscovering the joys of creating robotic, riff-oriented hard-rock songs.
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Jun 4, 2013Yet for all his demon-steed drive, Homme's a versatile guy--he coos as persuasively as he howls, and few can rain down metal decay with as much nuance and craft.
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Jun 4, 2013It should be noted that this all sounds fantastic.
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Jun 4, 2013Most of the songs here are growers, and even the one's that are supposed to be immediate tunes like "My God Is The Sun" and "If I Had A Tail", don't quite grab and hold on to our attention like "No One Knows" or "Little Sister".
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May 28, 2013With all its sonic diversity, consistency and precision, ...Like Clockwork is an impressive step in the right direction.
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Jun 4, 2013A record of decadent, perverse, feel-weird hits of the winter. Just in time for summer.
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Jun 7, 2013Despite expanding their sonic remit further than ever, Queens Of The Stone Age are still the same peerless band, indebted only to themselves.
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May 30, 2013The album is dominated by Homme's razor-sharp songwriting, which ranges from the robotic pulse of If I Had a Tail to the succinct thud of My God Is the Sun and the wickedly infectious Smooth Sailing.
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Jun 7, 2013It's his band's most musically diverse effort.
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Jun 3, 2013The band return to the slow-and-low, sinister alt-boogie that made their name, with Homme's satisfying dirty badass guitar sound in full effect.
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Jun 5, 2013By having faith that his songwriting ability would stand up to being thrust into unchartered musical territory, he’s overseen the making of a tight album that has a cohesiveness that belies how open it is to new--and genuinely exciting--ideas.
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Jun 3, 2013Mr. Homme’s new songs are as strong as anything in that extensive catalog.
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Jun 5, 2013This is isn't album to fall in love with at first sight or listen; indeed, this requires a form of courtship between listener and album as the former, over time, opens up its many dense layers to first entice and then slowly seduce the latter into a lasting and meaningful relationship.
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UncutMay 30, 2013...Like Clockwork is the sound of the band, oddly, albeit entertainingly unsettled. [Jul 2013, p.79]
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Jun 24, 2013Perhaps a little minimalism--not stretching so many of those ideas to close to or more than five minutes—would make this an infinitely more enjoyable ride.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 401 out of 447
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Mixed: 13 out of 447
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Negative: 33 out of 447
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Jun 4, 2013
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Jun 4, 2013
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Jun 4, 2013