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Album Review
by SashaS
18-3-2005
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| Clutch: 'Blast Tyrant - Enhanced CD' |
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Clutch: 'Blast Tyrant - Enhanced'
(DRT)
Clutch: pro ancient heroes Vs iCONic candy
In the world where showbiz is as real as WWE Wrestling matches the old ‘heroes’ have turned into antitypes: Michael Jackson’s faded into myriad rumours and the court case, Whitney Houston into a plethora of issues, Mariah is making a comeback after a comeback, Ozzy Osbourne had plastic surgery and traded in his legendary status for ‘loaded Homer Simpson of Heavy Metal’, Marilyn Manson is like a comic version of Boris Karloff, Avril Lavigne is Shirley Temple of ‘rock’, Blur and Oasis are only local helden…
Linkin Park, or Korn before them, or Pearl Jam even earlier, have all avoided picking up the sceptre of rock rebellion that’s effectively been vacant since Kurt Cobain and that is nigh to eleven years ago! Looking at Radiohead, or the bands of the Coldplay ilk, such as Snow Patrol and Keane, or the new kids on the market - Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party - they all are too lo-profile for heroism.
What we see around are people who are halfway between celebrities and stars, sort of temp-icons. Beyoncé, Britney, Alicia or any other younger pretender can’t compete with Madonna at 46; where are today’s Jim Morrison or Johnny Rotten, when is the next Ian Curtis due? New David Bowie? [Moby, ambition ain’t enough…]
Now, even being a shopping addict can turn you into a celeb: chav-queen Colleen McLoughlin, Wayne Rooney’s girlfriend, is on the cover of Vogue. Her only qualification is being an expert credit card user, a professional buyer, a girl around retail-racks… But, couldn’t tell you what ‘Books Etc’ sell…
All current famers come not only with the ‘use-by’ date but also geographical coordinates: for instance, Robbie Williams couldn’t get arrested in America even if he pulled the ‘George Michael stunt’; Scissor Sisters are megastars in the UK but could fall short of selling out 1000-seater back home; The White Stripes have always seemed too awkward to become ‘leader’, as well as The Strokes; Foo Fighters are going on a double-album trip with Norah Jones’s guesting - revolution in my studio!? Green Day have always sounded and behaved fake, American Hi-Fi and Good Charlotte – God help us! All we get are illusions of eminence.
Todays ‘stars’ are so instantaneous no patina can settle on, they all lack some substance, like they all are damaged goods, only slightly ‘divine’ to last a … Clutch have been around for a while and may not have been fortunate enough to get the real break but have made and are still making - great music.
‘Blast Tyrant’ is an album full of harder rockers that roll sweetly: it is the kind of music that is powerful but not thunderous per se, its vibe is clear and yet not overassertive and vocalist is passionate without shout-to-impress approach. Clutch’s base is blues but distilled through decades of rock formations, via Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Free, AC/DC and Dr Feelgood…
‘Profits Of Doom’ blasts like meteors falling on your hairdo, ‘Cypress Groove’ goes funky, guitar soars on ‘Promoter (of Earthbound Causes)’, slow-blow-slow rings ‘The Regulator’, magic riffs through ‘Army: Bond’, ‘Ghost’ goes somewhat mellower, ‘WYSIWYG’ is fusionistic instrumental… In general - timeless kinda rock-solid.
Music has developed plethora of dialects over the years and Clutch can speak many of them… at will.
This is an ‘Enhanced’ version of the year-old album but the band weren’t slacking in meantime and have almost finished recording the tracks, 15 or so, and are doing overdubs this week. “The album is to be delivered to DRT in April,” writes singer Jean-Paul Gaster on the official website, “for a July/August release date. No titles as of yet. It seems the tunes are heavier and bit more ‘out there’ than ‘Blast Tyrant’.”
8/10
SashaS
18-3-2005
Clutch album ‘Blast Tyrant - Enhanced’ is available now on DRT Entertainment
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