Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	A−
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
NME	9/10
Pitchfork Media	7.3/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	8/10

...Like Clockwork is the sixth studio album by American rock band 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 tumultuous 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.

In 2011, frontman Josh Homme was hospitalized for thirteen days, and subsequently bedridden for four months, following complications during a routine surgical procedure on his knee. Homme noted, "I woke up and there was a doctor going, ‘Shit, we lost you.' I couldn’t get up for four months. When I did, I hadn’t got a clue what was going on." During this time, Homme sank into a deep depression, noting "I would never say, 'I'm probably not gonna make it out of here.' But back then, I would definitely think it." The remaining members of Queens of the Stone Age — guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, drummer Joey Castillo, bassist Michael Shuman and guitarist and keyboardist Dean Fertita – encouraged Homme to return to the band to begin work on a sixth studio album. Homme noted, "I had to ask them 'If you want to make a record with me right now, in the state I’m in, come into the fog. It's the only chance you got.' It brought us much closer, because you never really know someone till everything goes wrong."

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