UMUR "From Beale Street to Oblivion" is the 8th full-length studio album by US hard rock act Clutch. The album was released through DRT Entertainment in March 2007.

The music on the album continues the warm bluesy hard rock of "Robot Hive/Exodus (2005)". "From Beale Street to Oblivion" is the second album to feature Mick Schauer on Hammond Organ, Hohner Clavinet, and Wurlitzer Electric Piano, and his contributions to the overall sound are welcome and pleasant sounding. However the basis in the music is still hard rocking bluesy guitar riffs, a great playing rhythm section, and the strong deep end vocals by Neil Fallon. The lyrics are as always subtly humourous which is also emphasized by songtitles like "When Vegans Attack" and "Mr. Shiny Cadillackness". Clutch both know how to rock out like they do on the two opening tracks "You Can't Stop Progress" and "Power Player", but they also play slower and more mellow at times and even crossover to more regular blues territory on a couple of tracks. Tracks like "Electric Worry" and "Mr. Shiny Cadillackness" which feature harmonica playing by Eric Oblander of Five Horse Johnson represent the latter style.

I generally have lots of praise for "From Beale Street to Oblivion". Excellent musicianship, a warm and organic sound production, and catchy and clever songwriting. However "From Beale Street to Oblivion" do suffer some of the same flaws as quite a few other Clutch albums also do. While the songwriting is of high quality there are still a couple of tracks featured on the album that I consider to be filler material. Especially the latter part of the 12 track, 48:18 minutes long album features a couple of tracks that don´t stand out enough. "From Beale Street to Oblivion" is overall a very enjoyable album though and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Clutch released their eighth studio outing From Beale Street To Oblivion in 2007, an album which saw the band include a lot more of the blues influences which were slowly creeping into the band’s overall sound.

For those who don’t know, Clutch play rock music sounding somewhere between stoner and classic rock with a curious mixture of loose jam-band vibes and ultra tight precision performances. This album in particular sees the band adopt a stronger blues influence as well, for an even more diverse mixture of styles.

Singer Neil Fallon has an amazing voice which helps him come across as a crazed gospel singer one minute, a ragged blues man the next and then a hard rock front man at a moment’s notice. The man’s eclectic appeal is one of the band’s primary selling points.

The lyrics are truly spectacular; some really unique observations are made, complex historical and political references sit beside surrealist imagery and large doses of humor all mixed together on each album and often within each song. As well as the vocals and lyrics; the individual musicians are incredible, from the astounding rock solid drummer J.P Gastor to the subtle and interesting bassist and guitarist Dan Maines and Tim Sult, both of whom are ridiculously talented individuals.

Beale Street’ is a strong and consistent album; opening up with that fast and powerful double-punch of ‘You Can’t Stop Progress,’ and ‘Power Player,’ the album rarely lets up, and is one of the band’s most instant releases. The music on the album is a lot more simple and direct than on previous albums, although the record keeps the inclusion of keyboards by Mick Schauer as well, which were introduced on the band’s previous album.

Highlights include the lyrically brilliant ‘The Devil And Me,’ the bluesy ‘Electric Worry’ (which features Eric Oblander of Five Horse Johnson on harmonica) and the gigantic album closer ‘Mr. Shiny Cadillackness,’ all of which are fantastic songs, on an already strong album.

Overall, From Beale Street To Oblivion to is a great release from an excellent band and I’d highly recommend that you check it out, although with caveat that the band have strayed very far away from their earlier sound. If you don’t like the blues influences and would prefer something more similar to the band’s oldest albums, maybe reconsider. For everyone else who just wants some amazing rock music, make sure to get yourself a copy. Newer editions even feature a nine track live disc as bonus content, so what’s not to like ?