Strange Cousins from the West

Strange Cousins From the West
Studio album by Clutch
Released July 14, 2009
Recorded March - April 2009
Genre Hard rock, stoner rock, blues rock, alternative metal
Length 48:41
Label Weathermaker Music
Producer J. Robbins
Clutch chronology

Full Fathom Five
(2008)		 Strange Cousins From the West
(2009)		 Earth Rocker
(2013)

Strange Cousins from the West is the ninth full-length studio album by rock band Clutch. The album was released on July 14, 2009.[1] It was produced by J. Robbins who previously worked with the band on Robot Hive/Exodus.[2] The album debuted at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 the week following its release with sales of 13,000 copies making it the band's highest debuting album.

On May 13, 2009 the first single, "50,000 Unstoppable Watts" was released online. A video for this song was made available online on July 24, 2009. "Abraham Lincoln" can be listened to on the band's Ultimate Guitar profile.

In discussing the album's first single, singer Neil Fallon said "The song is more or less about where we rehearsed in Frederick, MD, next to an army base, Fort Detrick, where they do a lot of the chemical weapons manufacturing and testing. So, when I’m saying Anthrax, I’m talking about Anthrax, the chemical weapon, not the band. And there is a lot of ham radio operators, well, old ham towers there. And one morning I was going, well one morning, oh Jesus, one afternoon I was going to the liquor store and the lyrics just popped into my head after practice."

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
NME (7/10)[4]
PopMatters (7/10)[5]
Thatdoesntsoundright Positive[6]

Initial critical response to Strange Cousins from the West was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 72, based on five reviews.[7]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Motherless Child"   4:15
2. "Struck Down"   4:23
3. "50,000 Unstoppable Watts"   3:48
4. "Abraham Lincoln"   5:58
5. "Minotaur"   4:52
6. "The Amazing Kreskin"   4:37
7. "Witchdoctor"   4:11
8. "Let a Poor Man Be"   5:31
9. "Freakonomics"   3:21
10. "Algo Ha Cambiado"   4:09
11. "Sleestak Lightning"   3:47


All written by Clutch, except "Algo Ha Cambiado" By Norberto Aníbal Napolitano (Pappo) from de Argentine band "Pappo's Blues".
The track "Metroliner Special" is also available as a bonus track on some editions of the CD, and is available via special online merchandise orders. It is also available for free at http://www.pro-rock.com/freesongweathermaker/

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Metal Hammer Website - Clutch Announce New Album Details
  2. ↑ "Clutch | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  3. ↑ Lymangrover, Jason. "Strange Cousins from the West : Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  4. ↑ McFee, Edwin (July 2, 2009). "Clutch- Album review: Clutch - 'Strange Cousins from the West' :Album Reviews:NME". NME. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  5. ↑ Begrand, Adrien (July 31, 2009). "Clutch:Strange Cousins from the West : Reviews:PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Strange Cousins from the West – CLUTCH – 2009 « thatdoesntsoundright". Thatdoesntsoundright.wordpress.com. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  7. ↑ "Strange Cousins from the West reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved August 26, 2009.

External links