Fretplay.com Clutch CD reviews Clutch guitar tabs Clutch CD reviews Clutch tabs The Elephant Riders


Clutch - The Elephant Riders Audio CD

A fair review of the Clutch "The Elephant Riders" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Clutch reviews here, or go back to the Clutch tabs.

Clutch Band: Clutch
Title: The Elephant Riders
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-04-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Elephant Riders 2: Ship of Gold 3: Eight Times over Miss October 4: Soapmakers 5: Yeti 6: Muchas Veces 7: Green Buckets 8: Wishbone 9: Cracker Jack 10: Dragonfly

Awesome As Always
I got into Pure Rock Fury first, then I started listening to a lot of this cd along with some Blast Tyrant and S/T as well. It's interesting reading some of the negative reviews for this cd. Maybe it was because I didn't have expectations of what Clutch 'should' sound like when I was getting into this cd that allowed me to love the hell out of it.

I can't believe some reviewers were talking like this is a big sell-out type of cd where Clutch changed their sound and didn't rock as hard or whatever. I get that it's a different sound but the sound is still freakin' exceptional. The guitar riffs here are amazing and I could (and have, many many times) listen to this cd all the way through, multiple times in a row. It's definitely not a bad thing to say the band took a different direction when the result is this good. I'm thinking like 'Recipe For Hate' by Bad Religion. If the music is still 100% greatness then why complain?

Anyways. . . yeah, I love this cd to death. I'm not sure I would say this is my favorite Clutch cd just for the fact that each one is quite different and special in its own way though.


Clutch Rocks
My original copy had a bad scratch in it. I recently re-bought this CD. Needless to say I was bummed since this is probably Clutch's most solid release. The first three songs alone make this purchase worth it (which just so happens to be where the bad scratch was). Since I have repurchased this CD, I have been listening to it nonstop. I almost forgot how good it was.

The first song is Elephant Riders, which is probably the most straight forward, bad-a$$ song on the CD. How could you not like a song which has the line "On the way to Washington, where work is done by men with gavels. . . "? This is just an example of Neil Fallon's quirky sense of humor in his lyrics, which is present in pretty much all their songs. The chorus to Ship of Gold just gets me pumped! I can hardly keep my self from not grooving while listening to this song.

All in all, there are not any bad songs on this CD. It is a straight up hard rock CD that will have. If you are new to Clutch, this is a great CD to start off with. Other CD's worth checking out would be the band's self titled CD and Blast Tyrant.


Super Good
Rich groove-oriented compositions, entertaining lyrics, and excellent musicianship, make this an album worth listening to hundreds of times. One of the best, if not THE best Clutch album.


Best Clutch Album
If you are are Clutch fan and haven't heard this album you are missing out on some great Clutch music. This is the best Clutch album and has some super awesome songs like Ship of Gold, The Elephant Riders, and The Dragonfly.


Their flagship record
And the crazy thing is, it's true. I was almost going to say that Elephant Riders is Clutch's greatest record, but then I say that about almost all their records.
Rock and roll hasn't seen a band this good since Led Zeppelin. And I'm hard pressed to think of any other band that fuses together the sheer power and physicality of heavy metal with the soulfulness and honesty of American blues music.
Zeppelin sounded like Zeppelin, and no other band sounded like Zeppelin. You know a Zeppelin song with the immediacy and utter certainty with which you know an Alvin and the Chipmunks song. Clutch is such a band. And like Zeppelin, they've been astoundingly succesful within their own special niche. They always sound like Clutch, but they've explored a vast amount of space and covered much ground as songwriters and musicians.
If you can imagine Greg Allman and Jimmy Page on guitars, with a singer whose voice echoes Muddy Waters and Max Cavalera, then throw in an absolutely crushing, dynamite rhythm section, and finally add lyrics by Mark Twain, you'll get an idea of what Elephant Riders is all about. Maybe not. You're best to just listen.
So maybe I'm not contradicting myself to call this Clutch's best record. Even if all their other albums are also their best, this one's also their best too.


.


You can see a complete list of all Clutch discography, or go back to the Clutch tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]