Like Clockwork is the sixth studio album by Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 3, 2013, on Matador Records in the UK, and on June 4 in the United States.
Self-produced by the band, it is the first Queens of the Stone Age album to feature full contributions from bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist and guitarist Dean Fertita, who both joined the band in 2007 to tour in support of the band’s fifth studio album, Era Vulgaris, and record its bonus tracks.
After several false starts and stops, the band began recording …Like Clockwork in August 2012, initially hoping that collaborator Trent Reznor would produce the album.
Following a stormy recording period, which included the departure of long-time drummer Joey Castillo, founding member Josh Homme described the album as “documenting the journey of moving forward, you know. It was a tough time and I thought, ‘I can run away from this, or I can run into it.'”
The album received critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release, reaching number two on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the Billboard 200, making it the first Queens of the Stone Age album to top the charts in the United States. The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album.
Tracklist:
- Keep Your Eyes Peeled
- I Sat by the Ocean
- The Vampyre of Time and Memory
- If I Had a Tail
- My God Is the Sun
- Kalopsia
- Fairweather Friends (Mark Lanegan)
- Smooth Sailing
- I Appear Missing
- …Like Clockwork
Queens of the Stone Age
Josh Homme: lead vocals, guitar, slide guitar (2, 9), glass (1), shakers (2), piano, Moog synthesizer, Roland SH-201 and drums (3), percussion (5), air (6), frog and looper (8), twelve-string guitar (9, 10), bass guitar (10), production (all tracks)
Troy Van Leeuwen: guitar, backing vocals, Moog synthesizer (3–5), shakers (1, 9), handclaps (2, 8), lap steel guitar (3, 6), twelve-string guitar (5, 9), drone guitar (9, 10), Korg synthesizer (3), percussion (5), acoustic guitar and twelve-string slide guitar (10)
Dean Fertita: guitar, backing vocals, piano (1–3, 6), Wurlitzer electric piano (2, 7), glass (1), slide guitar (2), Moog and Korg synthesizers (4), Rhodes piano and Korg MS-10 (6), clavinet (9)
Michael Shuman: bass guitar, backing vocals, cymbals (1), tambourine (2), twelve-string guitar (4), Moog synthesizer (6), guitar (7), claves, shakers and handclaps (8), mellotron (10)
Joey Castillo: drums and percussion (1–3, 6), handclaps (1, 2)
Additional musicians
Dave Grohl: drums and percussion (4, 5, 7–9)
Nick Oliveri: backing vocals (4)
Mark Lanegan: backing vocals (4)
Trent Reznor: co-lead vocals, kick and snare (6), backing vocals (7)
Jake Shears: backing vocals (1)
Alex Turner: backing vocals (4)
Elton John: backing vocals and piano (7)
Jon Theodore: drums and percussion (10)
Charlie May: piano (10)
Philip Sheppard: strings and arrangements (10)
James Lavelle: arrangements and production (10)
Additional personnel
Queen of the Stone Age: production (all tracks except 10)
Mark Rankin: recording, mixing
Joe Barresi: mixing (track 7)
Alain Johannes: additional engineering
Justin Smith: additional engineering
Gavin Lurssen: mastering
Boneface: design, illustrations
Liam Brazier: Animations
Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022)
