Clutch (3) – Earth Rocker

When Earth Rocker kicked in, I thought: This one really R-O-X-! Was very pleased, 'cos this is the first time I'm listening to newer Clutch material. Just before this I had a go with 'The Elephant Riders' and 'Slow Hole to China'(*). Compared to those ones, Earth Rocker is very Tight Cut Pure Rock Fury! And very much to my liking! Ev'ry song sinks in, and there is almost none of the boring guitar wanking and wailing. Plus: none of the songs feel off or out of the league of others. It is not so awfully common that an album hasn't got a single song you'd wanna ditch. (*) Ended up editing myself a copy of the song 'Slow Hole to China', cuz it had a lot of idling.

I don't get the complaining for a 60 min record. Mine is definitelly not lasting even the 45 mins. Possibly there are variants, and I can't say which one mine is. Those trendy people complaning vinyl pressings, on the other hand, are also foreign to me. CD plays very well and sounds fine. None of the media is ment to be trampled on, tho, but no pressing issues here.

One more thing: Funny how Clutch has changed in their visual look. The record could be something filled with prog-rock by the looks of the covers and the styling of the band name. You'd not be expecting full throttle pedal-to-the-metal! Makes your ears pant and your heart pound!

I don't listen to much indie rock these days. I had heard a track on You Tube from this album and I thought it sounded OK. I came across a three disc set of this album for only a few bucks the other day so I grabbed it. It was a good buy. The tracks are strong but not completely over the top, which works for me. There is enough melodic power to hold the listeners attention for most of the 60 minutes of the album. Personally I find 45 minus long enough for a rock record. I guess the possibility of making an hour long album on a CD makes many bands feel like they have to make a longer release. Usually I get bored after 45 minutes-I feel if a band is gong to do something decent they should be able to do it in a 45 minute time frame. Not a major criticism, but I think the album was a tad long at 60 minutes length. Worth a listen if you can appreciate good "indie rock" (rock that doesn't fit into an easily classifiable rock mainstream) -which this is-since it is a blend of heavy metal & rock and roll. This band is part of a 'new wave' (this is the bands tenth album) of rock bands from the US that includes acts like Brant Bjork & Fu Manchu. Some examples of this 'new wave' are better than others.