SLOW HOLE TO CHINA: RARE AND RE-RELEASED

Unexpectedly superb. I have been a long-time Clutch fan, ever since I witnessed Beavis and Butthead virtually climaxing over the video to `A Shogun Named Marcus' (deservedly so, mind you.) However, the last few keyboards-added records, from `Robot Hive / Exodus' to `Strange Cousins...', have failed to capture my attention in quite the same way as the rest of the back catalogue up to the zenith of `Pure Rock Fury'. That said, for what is ostensibly an odds-and-sods collection, `Slow Hole To China' contains tracks that are the equal of those on any studio album up until that hallowed point. Yup, I said it and I meant it. Tracks like `Rising Son' in particular are as good as anything on any Clutch cd: in fact, this is probably one of THE great Clutch tracks, given an added lift through its explicit referencing of Captain Beyond's `Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air)'. Who knew those guys were an influence? That's some serious 70s cred points for Fallon and co. Of course, that would mean nothing if the song in question wasn't Clutch encapsulated: musically skilful, catchy-yet-complex and lyrically dextrous. And that's just one song... so it goes for the rest of the disc. I swear, Clutch's inspired fusion of American arcana and classical myth remains some of the sharpest and still most under-sung wordplay in modern rock. Simply put, this is a superb record, not just for completists but for anyone who loves the riffs, the passion, the consistency and the all-round genius of these titans. This is emphatically not just a `b-sides' record: if you love Clutch, you'll love this like you loved the eponymous record or `Elephant Riders'. Go consume product... if you adore Clutch for their esotericism, their musical genius and all-round pure rockin' fury, this cd will not disappoint.

As befits a compilation album, there's a real mixture of songs on here. Clutch have evolved quite a bit over the years so which songs you'll like really depends when you became a fan. Point is though, whichever tunes hit your wavelength will blow you away: when Clutch are good, they're really very, very good indeed. So for me, the highlights are "Nickel Dime", "Sea of Destruction" and in particular "Willie Nelson", which has to be one of the most awesome songs of all time. Honestly, it's well worth the CD price for that alone. But if your tastes are different, no matter, there will still be something on here that you will love. Yeah, it's a patchy album, but buy it anyway. There's something here for any rock or metal fan.

Hey, you - Clutch fan. You should get this. This is AWESOME. Seriously. Previously only available in the US, from the band's website, Slow Hole to China is chock full of classic Clutch cuts dating back to Elephant Riders-era. Some of these tracks are as good as anything on their nine other 'proper' albums; highlights include 'Guild of Mute Assassins', 'Easy Breeze', 'Nickel Dime' and 'Hoodoo Operator'... in fact, there is not a duff number on here. Regardless of what you think of their more recent stuff, this is guaranteed to get your booty shaking and remind you of why fell in love with the groove-monsters from Maryland in the first place.Matt Pucci

This is essentially a collection of Clutch's B Sides or songs that don't appear on any of their other albums (bar another version of 'Ship Of Gold' which is on here). For the majority of the songs you have to feel sorry for them as a lot of them are more than good enough to be on the 'proper' albums. They must not have fit into Clutch's grand plan for the particiular album / period that they wrote it. Rising Son, Willie Nelson, Hoodoo Operator, King Of Arizona, Slow Hole To China, Sea Of Destruction are riff heavy Clutch Classics and my highlights of the album.There also an instrumental cover in 'Equinox' and some very different Clutch songs such as 'Guild Of Mute Assassins' which are different enough to keep longtime fans interested and intrigued too.Curiously though there are other B-Side songs not featured here such as 'Apache' and 'Big News III', hopefully they'll come to light some other day...But as far as this album goes if you're a Clutch fan - GET IT! You're very unlikely to regret it. If you're new to Clutch then it's best to try their more celebrated albums such as 'Clutch', 'Elephant Riders' and 'Blast Tyrant,' but this album definetley beats 'Jam Room' as a starting point. A great collection of Clutch songs which somehow manages to be an awesome album as well!!

Bought for sons birthday. Well received. Happy with packing and delivery. He seems very happy!

An album of studio outakes that would put most artists main releases to shame,quality stuff from a quality band.who wants to rock?!

The studio mix on this album (along with Blast Tyrant) breaks new ground and helps propel Clutch up to a new strata of rock. There isn't a poor track in there with a good handful being of masterpiece standard.

great band, say no more

excellent

Jedes Lied auf dieser CD ist es absolut wert gehört zu werden!!! Clutch in Reinform!

There was always something off kilter and weird about this album - the songs were a little "out there" even for Clutch. Well I'm glad the remaster/reissue got me to give this album a fresh look because it had been a few years since I'd given the disc a full spin- usually just listening to a few favorite tracks ("Willie Nelson", "Easy Breeze" and "Sea of Destruction"- the most straightforward of the bunch). What I've found is that I was missing out- there are some real gems here and the three new tracks add to the cool vibe of this album. The musicianship as always is top notch, and there is a lot of diversity in style, yet it all somehow ends up sounding like Clutch. Some Clutch fans view this as their favorite - I never quite understood this, but on my recent revisit to Slow Hole I now get it. The weirdness makes sense ("Day of the Jackalope", "Equinox", "Oregon"). Clutch have been around for more than twenty years and continue to surprise me and get me excited with every new release. Definitely would not recommend as a first foray into Clutch for the uninitiated, but for the believers it is essential. For any diehards looking for more Clutch related stuff I recommend checking out The Company Band featuring Neil on vocals.

Yes, it's true. This rerelease has only 3 new tracks compared to the original version. If that's all you care about, then just download the new mp3's at $0.99 each and skip buying the whole album.But a very important fact that no one else has yet to mention is that this release is digitally remastered. If you have a half-way decent stereo and the original version, then you already know that the original release is very poor quality. If you don't have a half-way decent stereo, then you haven't really heard Clutch at their full power.So my suggestion? Get this rereleased version if you have a good stereo. If you don't have a good stereo, then get a new stereo and then get this rerelease. You'll thank me later.

I love this album. I wasn't expecting it to be playing on repeat after first hearing it, but I can't stop. I can tell they had a blast recording this one, and I'd personally put this album on the top-3 of their entire repertoire. I own all of the other albums, and this one was far better than I expected it to be. If you thought Transnational Speedway League was the best Clutch album, then this one's probably not going to do it for you. This one's way more composed, refined, produced, and melodic. If you like funky time signatures and powerful lyrics & guitar, well... then you WILL like this one. A lot!