Clutch: Songs Of Much Gravity 1993-2001

The story is a simple one and well known, Clutch started out as a punk/hardcore outfit who quickly evolved into a blues based groove machine that have transcended those tags to achieve really quite considerable success. And yet, that really is just the tip of this band’s particular monolithic ice sculpture. For one, Clutch didn’t really ever fit into the manufactured genre tags that punk and hardcore demand. More blues based and groove driven than you could ever hope to uncover, the band’s debut outing, 1993’s Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes And Undeniable Truths being more an explosion of barely controlled anger that’s still somehow honed and classy. And yet, punk and hardcore based the threatening as hell “Binge And Purge�, “Rats� and “A Shogun Named Marcus� undoubtedly are, even if the last is much more groove based and future looking. Singer Neil Fallon, while still to flourish into the front boomer/crooner we know and love today is still mighty in this setting but it’s a mixture of clever lyrics and biting guitars from Tim Sult that, for me, really carry this Clutch debut to the believable conclusion it arrives at.

Following that album up, the self-titled Clutch (1995) sees really quite impressive growth from the band, a sudden refinement not for one second tamed in spirit as drummer Jean Paul-Gastor moves from drummer to percussive conductor. Right from the opening pair of “Big News I� and “Big News II�, the clarity and focus from behind the kit brings such a push and shove to proceedings that you simply can’t help but move with it. And following that up with the hypnotic “Rock N Roll Outlaw� - a track that encircles your senses and dazzles your psyche for three minutes - leaves you 100% sold right from the off. The standard never slips here, “Spacegrass� combining the debut’s attitude to Vol4 era Sabbath, while “7 Jam� rips up the rule book as bassist Dan Maines lays it down thick and fast. Clutch the album is a potent and varied beast that truly laid down the path that Clutch the band have expanded on ever since.

Both of the aforementioned albums arrived through the East West imprint, but for the mighty The Elephant Riders Clutch found themselves on Columbia Records, before releasing Jam Room through River Road in 1999. However, for 2001’s Pure Rock Fury the band were on Atlantic, and that’s where this 4 disc affair picks up our story, Clutch now an exuberant fist of fury as “American Sleep� grasps you tight and shakes vigorously, while “Careful With That Mic…� - a real favourite in the live arena - toys with being rock-rap crossover, but with its tongue so deep in its cheek that it’s been bitten clean off, the tick-a-click timing and sharp vocal keeping you believing. “Frankenstein� heads back to early aggressive tendencies, “Sinkemlow� combines past and current, before a live howling of “Spacegrass� slithers along on sheer intoxication.

Disc four pulls together non-album tracks from the era(s) covered above, along with the loose, lithe and previously unreleased “Apache�, which proves good fun. However, it’s the forcefully laid back “Guild Of Mute Assassins� (from the Careful With That EP) and live rendition of “7 Jam� that leave the longest mark here. Something that can be said of all four discs on this welcome reissuing of three of Clutch’s less celebrated but thoroughly convincing early forays. Add in a disc of rarities and anyone unfamiliar with this time in Clutch history really should jump all over this release and wonder at what they’ve been missing out on...

Track Listing
DISC ONE: TRANSNATIONAL SPEEDWAY LEAGUE: ANTHEMS, ANECDOTES AND UNDENIABLE TRUTHS (1993)
1. A SHOGUN NAMED MARCUS
2. EL JEFE SPEAKS
3. BINGE AND PURGE
4. 12 OUNCE EPILOGUE
5. BACCHANAL
6. MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS
7. RATS
8. EARTHWORM
9. HEIRLOOM
10. WALKING IN THE GREAT SHINING PATH OF MONSTER TRUCKS
11. EFFIGY

DISC TWO: CLUTCH (1995)
1. BIG NEWS I
2. BIG NEWS II
3. ROCK N ROLL OUTLAW
4. TEXAN BOOK OF THE DEAD
5. ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON PLANET
6. SPACEGRASS
7. I HAVE THE BODY OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH
8. TIGHT LIKE THAT
9. ANIMAL FARM
10. DROID
11. THE HOUSE THAT PETERBILT
12. 7 JAM
13. TIM SULT VS. THE GREYS

DISC THREE: PURE ROCK FURY (2001)
1. AMERICAN SLEEP
2. PURE ROCK FURY
3. OPEN UP THE BORDER
4. CAREFUL WITH THAT MIC…
5. RED HORSE RAINBOW
6. THE GREAT OUTDOORS!
7. SMOKE BANSHEE
8. FRANKENSTEIN
9. SINKEMLOW
10. IMMORTAL
11. BRAZENHEAD
12. DRINK TO THE DEAD
13. SPACEGRASS (LIVE)

DISC FOUR: SONGS OF MUCH GRAVITY: SINGLES, B-SIDES, REMIXES & NON-ALBUM TRACKS (1995-2001)
1. TIGHT LIKE THAT (EDIT REMIX)
2. APACHE
3. IMMORTAL (REMIX)
4. 7 JAM (LIVE VERSION)
5. CAREFUL WITH THAT MIC… (RADIO EDIT)
6. GUILD OF MUTE ASSASSINS
7. FRANKENSTEIN (EXTENDED)

Added: June 16th 2021
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Songs Of Much Gravity @ Cherry Red
Hits: 781
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]