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THE CLASH
RATING: 8
PLAY THESE: JANIE JONES, I'M SO BORED WITH THE USA, CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
SKIP THESE: NONE
The impressive debut album from England's most important post-60's musical export, The Clash isn't the best punk album ever recorded (that honor goes to the Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bullocks), but it is undoubtedly a close second. Incredibly, the typically conservative American division of CBS Records deemed the album unsuitable for radio airplay, and refused to distribute the album stateside. The American public responded by making The Clash the quickest selling import album of all time, proving once again just how bad the record companies are at assessing the musical tastes of their customers. In retrospect, it's easy to understand why the suits were so reluctant to take a chance with this album in 1977. The rawness of the sound is jarring, and when you juxtapose this album next to any contemporaneous album, such as the sterile Hotel California (or any other chart topper in 1977, take your pick), you're bound to be put off by The Clash - if not a little frightened.
As was previously stated, this is a punk album, and like any good punk record this one is loud, brash, in-your-face, and angry. Although the sound is very unpolished, and many of the songs sound like they're on the verge of breaking down at any second, the sheer energy of the performances - not to mention the great hooks - make this album fantastic. The band, led by main songwriters/guitarists Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, mostly rely on their brilliant original material, although there is also an oddball-but-fantastic cover of the reggae classic 'Police In Thieves' included as well. In terms of the vocals, main singer Joe Strummer has the prototypical sneering, barely intelligible punk style down pat, and although some may find his voice an acquired taste, it certainly has loads of character going for it. Jones sings less often, and has a more "pop" oriented voice, albeit one that's still pretty rough around the edges. The bassist (Paul Simonen) isn't quite as outstanding here as he would later become, but his playing is still more conspicuous (in a good way) than most other punk bassists. The drummer, whose name escapes me now, was replaced shortly after the album was released, which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He's by no means bad, but I definitely prefer the chops of his predecessor, Topper Headon.
The best songs? Well, I'm a big fan of 'Protex Blue,' a funky little sing-along tune that doesn't sound much like anything else on the album, as well as the hilarious 'Cheat' (which undoubtedly ruffled a few feathers with lines like "I get violent when I'm f***** up, I get silent when I'm drugged up." The bouncy 'Janie Jones' is a great slice of power-pop punk, while the 'Career Opportunities' sums up employment prospects for young Brits in the late 1970's (you gotta love the "so you wanna make tea at the BBC" line!). In addition, 'I'm So Bored With The USA' pretty much sums up the world's attitude towards the overbearing superpower, and it goes without saying that the song didn't help the album's chances of getting released in the States. 'London's Burning' is also another great tune - if this doesn't make you want to get out and break things, then you don't have a pulse. All in all, there really aren't any bad songs on the album. I suppose 'What's My Name' is a bit weak in terms of songwriting, but at least it sounds gutsy and real, unlike most punk today. The band would get a lot better in later years, but in terms of sheer energy and conviction The Clash would never be bettered. Buy it now.
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: SAFE EUROPEAN HOME, ENGLISH CIVIL WAR, STAY FREE
SKIP THESE: NONE
Frequently reviled by punk purists as a gutless "sell out," Give 'Em Enough Rope sees The Clash move away from their punk roots towards a more "rock" oriented sound. However, it should be pointed out that this isn't exactly mainstream rock and roll we're talking about - you can bet the Billboard Top 40 wasn't a consideration when the band wrote 'Drug Stabbing Time.' No, this isn't exactly "rock" music as you've come to expect it - it's much more interesting than that. I'm sure that the backlash from the punk community over the album was due at least in part to its superior production, as famed American hard rock producer Sandy Pearlman twiddled the knobs this time around. Pearlman did a pretty good job of it, as he was able to capture the energy of the band's performance while at the same time achieving a much cleaner sound. Admittedly, the songwriting isn't quite as consistent as it was on the first album, but the overall package is much more impressive.
The other notable aspect of this album is the stick-work of new drummer Topper Headon, whose playing elevates the band from a semi-amateur garage rock group to a professional musical powerhouse. He can play fast punk as well as anyone, but what truly makes the difference is his ability to lay down grooves. Truly impressive, and things would get only better in the future.
The best tune is undoubtedly the Mick Jones-sung 'Stay Free,' which is the easily the most interesting thing the band had done up until this point. It's got a nice, almost Lennonesque melody, and the lyrics are pretty memorable as well, especially when Jones threatens "we'll burn it f***ing down to the cinders" just before the solo. But the best part about the track is Jones' guitar work, particularly during the solo, which is definitely one of my favorite all-time guitar solos. It's aggressive-yet-melodic, and demonstrates for the first time that there was more to his abilities than simply playing sloppy punk bar chords. Next best is the 'Safe European Home,' which is catchy beyond belief, sounding for the world like the Beach Boys on speed. Nice backing vocals too. The band's arrangement of the dark traditional song 'English Civil War' is pretty memorable too, as is poppy 50's retro piece 'Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad.' I can see why hardcore punk fans would hate this one - it even features a piano solo! - but me thinks it's great. The band is showing artistic growth on this one, which is a welcome development in my books.
The downside of this album is the filler in the second half, and although very little of it is truly offensive, it definitely kills the album's momentum. 'Guns On The Roof' is a barely disguised re-write of the band's single 'Clash City Rockers,' which itself was actually a rip off of The Who's 'I Can't Explain.' Also weak is the botched sing-along 'All The Young Punks,' which appears to be a misguided answer to Bowie's 'All The Young Dudes.' For obvious reasons, it just doesn't work - the song sounds forced, and pales in comparison to the glam classic, which has more than enough punk attitude of its own, thank you very much. In summary, the album is still a good one, and probably deserves more respect than it has gotten over the years. A high seven out of ten.
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE: (WHITE MAN) IN HAMMERSMITH PALAIS, I FOUGHT THE LAW, JAIL GUITAR DOORS
SKIP THESE: NONE
The belated American release of the band's debut album, The Clash features a slightly different track listing in comparison to its more revered British counterpart. Although most punk purists may take issue with the fact that the original release has been tinkered with, on the whole the American version is actually a much stronger album, featuring several great singles that had never before seen release on a full length Clash album. Four songs from the British album ('Deny,' 'Cheat,' 'Protex Blue,' and '48 Hours') have been axed here, but since the new additions are all stronger than the original tracks the change is for the better (although I still think 'Protex Blue' is great). 'Clash City Rockers,' which shamelessly lifts the riff from 'I Can't Explain,' is good clean fun, while the raucous cover of the reggae standard 'I Fought The Law' is reason enough to seek out this album. The fantastically catchy 'Hammersmith Palais' is one of the defining moments of the band's career, a sunny slice of speed-fueled surf rock that just might be the best single The Clash ever released. The melodic 'Jail Guitar Doors' is similar in style, and nearly as good as well. All in all, The US version of The Clash is a great semi-compilation that effectively summarizes the greatness of the early Clash for an American audience just starting to discover the English quartet.
RATING: 10+
PLAY THESE: PLAY THESE: LONDON CALLING, BRAND NEW CADILLAC, RUDIE CAN'T FAIL, SPANISH BOMBS, CLAMPDOWN, GUNS OF BRIXTON, DEATH OR GLORY, TRAIN IN VAIN
SKIP THESE: NONE
Wow. I mean, the first two Clash albums were really good, but this...this...it's just unbelievable - a true classic. And it's a double album to boot! Nineteen tracks with nary a stinker in sight. No filler whatsoever. The band has certainly changed its style since Give 'Em Enough Rope, which was sort of a punk album with arena rock production qualities. London Calling sees The Clash take reggae rhythms as a starting point, and then proceed to tackle nearly every style of popular music imaginable, from lounge ('Jimmy Jazz,') to rockabilly ('Brand New Cadillac'); from ska ('Revolution Rock') to hard rock ('London Calling'); from 1950's rock 'n roll ('Wrong 'Em Boyo') to reggae ('Rudie Can't Fail'); and from pop ('Train In Vain') to disco ('Lost In The Supermarket'). Heck, there's even some old school punk thrown into the mix ('Four Horsemen,' etc.). Such diversity!
While the album's diversity is in large part due to Strummer and Jones' improved songwriting (and willingness to take musical risks), the other thing that really stands out about this album is the prominence of the rhythm section. Drummer Topper Headen and bassist Paul Simonen really cook on this album, and it is their fantastic playing that enables the band to branch out into different styles. Just listen to dub/hip-hop hybrid 'Guns Of Brixton' (which was written by Simonen), and be prepared to be blown away by the rhythm track, and how the bass really locks into the drums. Very cool. These guys were really, really good.
There really are some amazing songs on this album. There have been several occasions when I've played this album at parties and have been asked if this is a greatest hits record, which is understandable considering the fact that there are so many great tunes here. Everyone's heard the menacing 'London Calling' a million times before, but not many people have heard 'Rudie Can't Fail,' a great reggae tune about the archetypical Jamaican rude boy character who "drinks brew for breakfast.' Mick Jones' nostalgic 'Lost In The Supermarket' is also a classic, it's disco beat pointing in the direction of Sandinista, but with punk attitude and great guitar work. Of course, the catchy 'Train In Vain' is just about as perfect a pop song as you'll ever hear, with great lyrics, a simple-yet-ear grabbing guitar riff, and a cool harmonica line.
My personal favorite at the moment is 'Spanish Bombs, an emotive song about the Spanish Civil War that has hooks galore. The mighty Who show up as an influence on 'The Clampdown' in the form of power-chording, and 'Death Or Glory' sounds like a lost song from the My Generation album sessions - pretty catchy stuff, I might add. I also like that 'Koka Kola' song, although I have this nagging feeling that the song might not be about the popular soda pop, if you catch my drift....
I could list every other song on the album as well, but it would be much easier to tell you to get off your duff and get this album. It's truly one of the best rock albums in existence, and the fact that it is a double album makes it all the more special. In addition, the music actually means something. At this point The Clash were fiery idealists, left-leaning revolutionaries who aimed to turn both the musical and the political landscapes upside down. This is the type of music that sounds like it could change the world. And, for a moment at least, it did.
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, SOMEONE GOT MURDERED, LIGHTNING STRIKES (NOT ONCE BUT TWICE), UP IN HEAVEN (NOT ONLY HERE), THE SOUND OF SINNERS, POLICE ON MY BACK, THE CALL UP, WASHINGTON BULLETS, CHARLIE DON'T SURF
SKIP THESE: HITSVILLE UK, LOOK HERE, ONE MORE DUB, BROADWAY, MENSFORTH HILL, JUNKIE SLIP, THE STREET PARADE, SILICONE ON SAFFIRE, LOSE THIS SKIN
There seems to be an unwritten commandment in rockdome that states "the follow-up to a double album shall be crap." When a band uses up its back catalog of songs to piece together a double album, in most cases the next album generally seems to suffer as a result. If you want proof just take a listen to Led Zeppelin's ghastly Presence, which followed the double album Physical Graffiti, or The Stones' Goat Head Soup, which was a rather uneven follow-up to Exile On Main Street. Heck, even The Beatles faltered a bit after the White Album, recording the sub-par Let It Be when the group was low on material. All of this makes the fact that The Clash followed-up the excellent double album London Calling with something other than poop on a stick even more astonishing. Not only that, but Sandinista is a TRIPLE ALBUM! Amazing! Sure, there are really only two - or arguably one - album's worth of great material here, but to even ATTEMPT to release a triple album ONE YEAR after London Calling is an outstanding achievement, to say the least. I mean, this album has 36 songs. Thirty-six!!! That's almost enough for a quadruple album. Very prolific these Clash City Rockers were....
What does Sandinista! sound like? Well, The Clash have taken their Jamaican obsession to the extreme, as nearly every song on the album has at least some element of reggae or dub. Whereas London Calling was reggae-influenced but still rocked like a son-of-a-gun, Sandinista is a stoned, laid back affair. Seriously, you can SMELL the marijuana smoke wafting from your speakers as you listen to this album. That being said, The Clash tackle even more musical styles than on the last record, adding sprinklings of punk, pop, reggae, dub, gospel, jazz, marimba, rock, rap, children's choirs, backwards recordings, funk, and retro 50's rock to the mix. Some of these are real songs, others are experimental tracks, and a few are instrumentals. Naturally, this makes Sandinista a rather bumpy, unpredictable listening experience, but the album's eclecticism makes things more interesting. Please don't expect to fall in love with the album right away - even if you think you love The Clash. The album's amazing stylistic diversity and sheer length is a lot to take in right away, but the album's gems will reveal themselves with repeated listening. Don't give up - it's worth the time and effort.
Oh, and I suppose it goes without saying that any album named Sandinista is highly political in nature. The Clash take their left-wing politics even further here, taking the American government to task on the inflammatory 'Washington Bullets,' and taking on the Cold War with the hilarious-yet-frightening 'Ivan Meets GI Joe.' Good stuff, and still relevant today. Much of the album's message still resonates today, and the album remains relevant because of it.
As for the best songs, my personal favorite is the band's pop-rock take on the reggae standard 'Police On My Back,' which is one of the few tracks on the album (other than than the peppy 'Up In Heaven') that really rocks out. It's darn catchy too - an unfairly forgotten classic, I dare say. 'The Magnificent Seven' is a semi-rap tune with a great bass line, and the disco-infused 'Someone Got Murdered' is a great Mick Jones tune with some memorably morbid lyrics. The drugged-up 'Charlie Don't Surf' nice hook, and 'The Call Up' is classic Clash - fantastic is the only word to describe it. In terms of filler, there's a lot of it. Most of it is inoffensive, but The Clash must be severely reprimanded for the existence of the stupid children sing-along 'Hitsville UK,' as well as 'Look Here,' which is annoying frutty jazz with gay barbershop harmonies. But worst of all is the strange 'Lose Your Skin,' which features a guest vocalist with a high, squeaky voice who screeches just like Geddy Lee in a Japanese bathhouse. According to the liner notes, it's not Geddy, but it's awful close - and just as annoying. The song itself isn't that bad, and may even have been a highlight if Joe had sung it instead, but the vocals ruin things for me, and the stupid fiddle doesn't help things either.
So what's the final verdict? Well, Sandinista would make a fantastic single album, or even an excellent double album, but in the end such musings miss the point. I like the album just the way it is, and so should you. Admittedly, it has a lot of filler, and by all accounts the album should get a 6 rating, but I have to bump up the score to a 7 because any band who makes a triple album deserves respect. Unless they suck ass, that is. Like Keane.
RATING: 8
PLAY THESE: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO
SKIP THESE: SEAN FLYNN
What? Only a single album? These Clash City Rockers are really starting to slack off here....lazy sods. Seriously though, the fact that Combat Rock is only a single album does make it look a bit slight in comparison to their other records. Not that it's a weak effort - it's perceptibly more consistent than the scattershot Sandinista!, and also has much better production, courtesy of big-shot producer Glynn Johns. Some critics have suggested that Combat Rock is the group's sell-out record, pointing to the inclusion of arena rock hit singles 'Should I Stay' and 'Rock The Casbah' as evidence, but I say that's pure nonsense. Any album that contains opium-infused, Oriental-flavored tracks like the chilling non-song 'Straight To Hell' is not a "sell-out" in any sense of the word. In truth, there are no more commercially accessible songs on Combat Rock than on any other Clash album, it's just that the States finally woke up and embraced the band around this time. That's not the band's fault, so why hold them accountable for it?
Combat Rock finds the band at their most political, with the Marxist manifesto 'Know Your Rights' kicking things off in a highly confrontational style. It's a catchy tune, quite powerful, and Strummer bellows with the conviction of a Jacobin high priest on this one - good stuff. Also great is the singalong 'Car Jamming,' while 'Ghetto Defendant' features beat poet Allan Ginsberg pontificating over a an extremely inflammatory leftist diatribe that finds common ground between American black urban plight and the communist Paris Commune of 1873. Take it to the streets, brother! Revolution rock!
Of course, you'll also be acquainted with the seemingly anti-Arab novelty single 'Rock The Casbah,' the style of which is hard to describe in words but rocks hard all the same. The AC/DC rip-off 'Should I Say Or Should I Go' is a perfect pop song, and rightfully became a monster hit in America. Good hook, nice tempo shifts, and good lyrics - it's a fantastic all around. Long, successful musical careers have been built on lesser songs - there's nothing to be ashamed of here, folks. All in all, this is a great album, and a bittersweet end to the band's illustrious but all-too-short-career. Get it now.
RATING: 2
PLAY THESE: THIS IS ENGLAND
SKIP THESE: too many to list here......
Beware of the dog! I've just heard Cut The Crap for the first time, and I can assure you it's every bit as bad as it's been described over the years. Maybe even worse, if that's even possible. I know that it says "The Clash" on the album sleeve, but this is blatant false advertising on the record company's part. Of the original members, only singer/guitarist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonen remain on board, with Mick Jones flying the coup after the mammoth Combat Rock tour (drummer Topper Headen left the group due to drug problems before the tour). As such, this is more of a Joe Strummer solo album than a Clash record, although it must be said that the music in no way resembles the mighty Clash of old.
I will also say this: whoever produced this album needs to be tortured, shot, and dismembered - it's typical mid-80's hard rock production, with too-loud reverb-drenched drums and wimpy guitar tones a la Jefferson Starship (another rock dinosaur act trying to keep up with the times). From what I understand, Mick Jones was fired (or quit) because he wanted The Clash to become an arena rock act, and Strummer felt that he was a sell-out and desired a return to the band's punk roots, but this album is the biggest sell-out I've ever heard. The other big problem is the songwriting. The only half-way decent song is the somewhat ballsy 'This Is England,' although it's certainly nothing to get up and cheer about.
If this negative review has dissuaded even a single reader from buying this album, than my job has been done. Of all of the embarrassing so-called "comeback" albums in rock history, this just might be the worst. Bah!
STORY
OF THE CLASH: VOLUME ONE (1998)
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE:
SKIP THESE:
I'm only going to review one Clash compilation, so I guess this is the one. The Story of The Clash was my first introduction to The Clash, and as you may have noticed, it has cast upon me a sort of unexpected Clash obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which forced me to listen to the schizophrenic triple album Sandinista more times than I would care to admit. Anyways, this compilation is a very good introduction to the band, and basically contains most essential tracks for the casual fan. Apart from ignoring the glorious 'Police On My Back' (as well as much of Sandinista, truth be told), there are precious few glaring omissions, and the remastering job is amazing. I'm not sure what the "Volume One" thing is trying to get at - were they planning to reform before Stummer kicked the bucket and put an end to any reunion plans? - but I guess we can still be thankful that "the only band that matters" gave these great songs to the world. RIP, Joe.