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.
[12] 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.
"[13] 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.
"[16] However, in 2013, Homme noted, "I was hoping that playing the first record would really inspire me and make me fall in love with music again.
Homme explained to Rolling Stone magazine: "We'd have these great victories and then something would go south for a bit, and we'd go, 'It's like clockwork!'
In addition to Grohl, other former members contributing to the album include former bassists Nick Oliveri[20] and Alain Johannes[21] as well as vocalist Mark Lanegan.
[22] A number of collaborations from different musicians were also present for the new album, including Trent Reznor,[23] Jake Shears,[24] Alex Turner, James Lavelle, Brody Dalle,[21] and Elton John.
[25] John ended up on the album after surprising Homme with a phone call, telling him he needed an "actual queen" on the record.
"[28] During the recording process, longtime drummer Joey Castillo left the band, and former contributor Dave Grohl stepped in to play drums on the rest of the album.
"[15] Former bass guitarist Nick Oliveri, who was fired by Josh Homme in 2004, provided backing vocals on "If I Had a Tail", and upon hearing that drummer Dave Grohl was returning to Queens of the Stone Age to assist in the recording process, Oliveri asked Homme if he too could return on bass guitar.
"[29] Homme ultimately chose current bassist Michael Shuman, who joined the band in 2007 upon Era Vulgaris' release.
[33] In March 2013, the band announced that the new album, titled ...Like Clockwork, would be released in June 2013 on Matador Records.
The studio version of "My God Is the Sun" premiered on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show on April 8, 2013.
The same day, the band performed "If I Had a Tail" and "My God Is the Sun" on the Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door.
[40] Giving the album five stars out of five, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented that "'...Like Clockwork' is unusually focused for a Queens of the Stone Age record, containing all of the group's hallmarks — namely volume and crunch, but also a tantalizing sense of danger, finding seduction within the darkness.
"[41] At Alternative Press, Dan Slessor wrote that "surrendering to its strange charms could be one of the smartest decisions you make this year.
Queens of the Stone Age received a third nomination for the song "My God Is the Sun" in the category Best Rock Performance.
[52] 17 music journalists of the Polish media company Agora SA (Gazeta Wyborcza, Gazeta.pl, TOK FM) placed ...Like Clockwork at number four in their ranking of 10 Best Foreign Albums of 2013, behind Arcade Fire's Reflektor, Arctic Monkeys' AM and Push the Sky Away by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
In 2014 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[57] which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.