The Greatest Album Ever? (London Calling - The Clash)

Member Name: basil40

Product:	London Calling - The Clash
Date:	13/02/05 (1196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, Diverse, Killed punk

Disadvantages: Killed punk

WHO WERE THE CLASH?
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The Sex Pistols invented punk. The Clash developed it, rode it and then killed it. And thank goodness they did, otherwise we'd still all be walking around with safety pins on our jackets, green mohicans and gobbing at everyone over 25.

They were made up of MIck Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. Mick and Joe shared the vocals duties on most Clash tracks, but it's Joe who sings on their better known tracks: Bankrobber, London Calling. However, Mick does sing on their only number one (the reissued Levi's ad song Should I Stay Or Should I Go?). Paul sung a bit and played bass and Topper Headon was the drummer.

WHAT'S LONDON CALLING ALL ABOUT THEN?
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It's a 25 year old album and touted as their best album and possibly the best album ever. Originally released on double vinyl in 1979, it was re-released on CD in 1990. There will be a deluxe 25th anniversary edition coming out very soon that features another 21 tracks plus a "making of" DVD.

London Calling features a wide range of styles from 50's rockabilly and rock n roll to reggae, ska and 60s soul. The fact that there's only one real punk song on the album credits the Clash with trying a variety of styles in a time (late 70s) when that kind of thing was frowned upon. This album opened the door for ska-revivalists like the Specials, Madness and even Bad Manners to do their thing.

THE TRACKS
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The album features 19 tracks on one CD (two records if you bought the original and 2 CDs and a DVD if you buy the 25th anniversary edition). It's variety of influences and styles are thrilling.

**1. London Calling (3:23)**
Bang bang bang go the guitars and drums and teasing bass before Joe Strummer's drunken husky voice kicks in: "London calling to the faraway towns, now war is declared let battle come down". Well, that call to arms opening line pretty much sets up the whole album let alone this track. A terrific uptempo song that, 25 years later, hasn't dated one jot. Even the churning guitar solo near the end is class. Absolutely brilliant. Altogether now: "I live by the riveeeeeer!"

**2. Brand New Cadillac (2:10)**
Joe's on the vocals again and this song is very reminiscent of late 50's rock n roll. All the symbolism is there: "baby, baby", cadillacs and his yearning "she ain't coming back to me" admission. A sad, but uptempo, rock n roll song in the traditional sense.

**3. Jimmy Jazz (3:57)**
Another Joe Strummer song (he alternated vocal duties with Mick Jones on occasion). This is slower in tempo and has a more "fun" feel to it. A lovely, lazy strummed intro and smooth jazzy saxophone are at odds with the usual Clash template of raucous guitars and madhatter drums. One of their most underrated tracks, this.

**4. Hateful (2:46)**
The intro to this song sounds like a mad Friday night in an Irish pub somewhere in Kilburn. It has a definite Celtic/Irish feel and is a return to the uptempo zone of earlier tracks. "Anything I want, he gives it to me/Anything I want, he gives it but not for free" goes the catchy chorus and Joe's really on top of his game on this fine song. A success!

**5. Rudie Can't Fail (3:31)**
So we've had had rock, 50's rock and roll, summery jazz, Irish music and now it's time for a songs that mixes skiffle and ska. No really. Another uptempo track with Mick and Joe sharing the vocals, this song is very much of its time (the late 70's and early 80's saw a host of white British bands leading the ska revival) but is none the worse for that. This is a Clash feelgood song, if you will.

**6.Spanish Bombs (3:21)**
"Spanish bombs in Andalucia", sings Mick in his plaintive tones on the opening line of this uptempo song. The intro sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run as does some of the chords of the guitar bits in the middle, but the lyrics, the sentiment and the execution of the cut are the Clash's own. Top tune.

**7. The Right Profile (3:57)**
Joe's back with his yearning, tonsil-bothering singing style. The intro sounds like a 60's style pop record. Then once the horns come in, it could be a cover of a particularly excitable Motown track. "Everybody say: what's he like?" Joe cries on the outro to the track before a bluster of trumpets and sax see the song out. Not the best track on the album, but better than most songs I know, so that's a bonus!

**8. Lost In The Supermarket (3:50)**
Mick sings this track of suburban frustration over a beat and bass that are frenetic but never raucous. In fact the whole feel is deceptively chilled. It's a great jangly effort and one of the ten essential Clash songs. It features a mad hi-hat and a lovely pre-indie melody with the opening line of: "I wasn't born, so much as I fell out nobody seemed to notice me". Morrissey may have been taking notes.....

**9. Clampdown (3:52)**
The title suggests mad guitars and controlled vocal rage, and that's exactly what you get! Mick's back on vocals duties for this uptempo track of rocking perfection. Every member of the Clash is aware of their task on this track and it's a joy to listen to.

**10. The Guns Of Brixton (3:13)**
Remember Beats International's "Dub Be Good To Me"? This is where they got the bassline. It's another reggae track and with the crazed echoey, reverbed guitars in the background remains the evil, sinister cousin of the Specials' Ghost Town. It's a fantastic track commentating on the racial relationships of late 70s London. "When they kick at your front door, how you gonna come? With your hands upon your head or on the trigger of your gun?" Sadly, these lines - and the track in full - are still relevant today.

**11. Wrong 'Em Boyo (3:13)**
I don't like this track. It sounds like a cross between a Madness bside, the theme tune to Bottom and a speeded up version of the Beatles' Ob-la-di Ob-la-da! Joe's vocals are spot on as usual and they music is exceptionally well-played, it's just that it's quite annoying! The weakest track here.

**12. Death Or Glory (3:57)**
The bassy intro sounds like the beginning of Australia by the Manic Street Preachers. Which, bearing in mind this album is 25 years old is a compliment to the Clash. A guitars rock agreeably and Joe comes in and sings his lungs out: "death or glory becomes just another story". This songs attains God-like status for the immortal line:

I believe in this and it's been tested by research
That he who fucks nuns will later join the church

**13. Koka Kola (1:49)**
A song rallying against the advertising policies of multi-nationals. It starts with a "ding" of an elevator and the opening line: "in the gleaming corridor of the 51st floor/the money can be made if you really want some more". By looking at the lyrics sheet on the ablum, this song features the most words but is the shortest on the album. Strange

**14. The Card Cheat (3:40)**
Pianos! This sounds like a Meatloaf song, only 1000 times better - it's got that rock-opera feel to it. Apparently all the parts were recorded twice and this gives it that epic edge. Mick Jones sings this one and for anybody who knows their track, Bankrobber, the way the words are sung is very similar. Great stuff and an underrated tune.

**15. Lover's Rock (4:05)**
Not the radio-friendly brand of reggae but a song about drug smuggling. A piercing guitar motif resonates throughout and MIck and Joe sounds almost sugar-sweet on this song. It speeds up a bit towards the end as the title is repeatedly sung until it fades out.

**16. Four Horsemen (2:57)**
The most punk-rock like song on the album so far. For a band who were at the pinnacle of punk only two years earlier, its a testament to their development that all that remains of those days is just this one track out of 19. But even this hasn't realy got that punk attitude: no sneer or heav heavy chords, just a bit of shouting and some firey bass with a few squaelin guitars. Joe's goes bonkers at the end, mind you!

**17. I'm Not Down (3:07)**
A real positive anthem, this. "I've beat up, I've been thrown out, but I'm not down", sings Mick over some brilliant guitar riffs and Animal-from-the-Muppets drumming. In fact, take away the vocals and this could be a quality Who track, its that good.

**18. Revolution Rock (5:37)**
Reggae again! Boy do the Clash do reggae fantastically! This is akin to 70's dub reggae with echoey rhythms and deep bass with some ska brass. Joe's pisshead slur works brilliantly with this track and must have fitted right in the the pork pie hat brigade of the late 70s. A superb track.

**19. Train In Vain (3:11)**
The beat fades in on this song and the three note riff sounds like a 60's soul song. Mick sings this one and really camps it up on the quivery Elvis type vocals and overexaggeration of the words. "You can stand by me or not at all"< he instructs. This is too funky to be a Clash song!

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
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A triple album entitled Sandinista was released to mixed critical reaction. Then in 1982 they released Should I Stay Or Should I Go? which nine years later would make number one on the strength of a Levi's Jeans advert. Mick Jones left soon after to form the hip-hop influenced Big Audio Dynamite and score a couple of hits in 1986, most notably with E=MC2.

In 2002, Joe Strummer died of a heart attack but not before his second album of world music was released with his new backing band The Mescaleroes.

CLASH DISCOGRAPHY
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Clash Apr 1977
Give 'Em Enough Rope Nov 1978
London Calling Dec 1979
Sandinista Dec 1980
Combat Rock May 1982
Cut The Crap Nov 1985
The Story Of The Clash - Volume 1 Apr 1988
From Here To Eternity Oct 1999
The Essential Clash Mar 2003

WAYNE'S RECOMMENDATION
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For a wider view of Clash's music, I suggest the best of called The Story Of The Clash because it's got Bankrobber and Should I Stay Or Should I Go on it as well as the best tracks from London Calling. Result!

OVERALL
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Is it the best album ever? Who knows. A truly great album to me is one that you dislike instantly, but after repeated plays it winds it way into your psyche and you end up loving it. London Calling, for me, is one such album.

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