25th Anniversary Legacy Edition (London Calling - The Clash)

Member Name: mo79

Product:	London Calling - The Clash
Date:	12/10/04 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Almost flawless, 36 page booklet and lyric sheet, Nice slightly modified packaging

Disadvantages: Some immemorable songs, Non-essential extras, Pricier than the standard CD album

25yrs ago two things happened in West London: 1) me, 2) more interestingly The Clash's London Calling LP.

I had always wanted to give The Clash a good listen but never seemed to get 'round to it 'til this new 3 disc edition enticed me.

First off, those who already own this album and aren't diehard fans would probably not miss the extras here. The second disc is a bunch of meandering lost demos (The Vanilla Tapes) which would only awe long time fans (they're from hissy tapes and are aimless instrumentals - unformed), while the DVD contains a very vague making of docufilm, brief grainy studio footage and 3 promo videos (London Calling, Clampdown & Train In Vain).
The standard CD is considerably cheaper than this 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition, but if you're a Clash nut you'll ignore me and get this anyway.

I feel proud of The Clash as they're local boys (I live slap bang in the portion of London that is clearly referenced in the accompanying book [+ lyric sheet]), and they did good with this album. I don't need to emphasise the praise this album has gotten over the years, but in a brief sentence if The Sex Pistols were the PR of punk, The Clash definetly had the tunes you could go back to.

The 19 songs that make up this double-album (on a single CD) display more than just punk ferocity; there's rockabilly, reggae, jazz, surf rock, soul, Spector-ness and more - it's hard to sum up, but despite this genre playfulness the album doesn't sprawl; it has pure focus. It does have some immemorable occasions, but of 19 tracks this is allowed, and those still are in minority.

The artwork sums it completely; a kind of Elvis figured pose with a Hendrix guitar smash fused into it. It takes all rock up to that date (and still even now) and encompasses it. The lyrics in many cases are either confusing or sloganeering, but the passion of Strummer and Jones' vocals are what really matters here. You can almost smell West London from their sneers and taste it via the tunes.

London Calling is punk with brains, Jimmy Jazz is jazz that doesn't wank for itself, Lost In The Supermarket makes contemporary indie sound dated, Clampdown's intro was ripped off to form an entire Manic Street Preachers song, The Guns Of Brixton was sampled for Dub Be Good To Me (when Fatboy was Norman), Death Or Glory is ballsy, The Card Cheat is grand and sweeping and Train In Vain is moving.
...Simonon's bass rolls, Headon's drums carry the groove heavily. For over an hour you find little fault in this album.

Whereas most punk albums had a singular sound/thought, The Clash conveyed many. Though the band didn't top this album, and later disbanded, it's clear to see that The Clash's birth and life helped keep UK rock chugging along (and still does). A great and diverse punk album - perhaps one of that was pivotal in trying hard to steer punk away from being a monocultural joke...Although that still happened.

Go down Ladbroke Grove and you'll find that this album still sums up that part of London (and others) well.

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