Just as the Rolling Stones
in the 60’s always had something to prove
to the Beatles, The Clash were seen to
be snapping at the heels of the Sex Pistols
and were obliged in the early part of
their career to pull off something exceptional
time after time. And that’s just what
they did, more or less defining punks
agenda in broadening 70’s angst into the
world of mainstream and revolutionary
politics.
Busting at the seams with creative energy,
The Clash’s stunning 1979 double album
“London Calling”, digitally remastered
from the original production tape, puts
both vinyl albums on one C.D. This reissue
of the band’s 3rd album features all the
original artwork and all nineteen of the
original tracks including the hidden hit
single “Train In Vain (stand by me)”,
their first U.S. single to chart (it reached
No. 23 on the Billboard at the time).
“London Calling” more than made up for
the artistic and commercial disappointment
of its predecessor, 1978’s tried-too-hard
heavy metal bluster of “Give’Em Enough
Rope”. With ex-Mott the Hoople producer
Guy Stevens harnessing their sound like
no one had ever done before giving them
that vital fresh in your face sound, that
gave them the sound of the days youth,
which still sounds alive now. The band
served up what proved to be the best work
of their short lived career (the band
finally split in disarray in 1985, but
were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll hall
of fame in 2001. How punk is that?)
The tracks bouncing from the brutal hard
rock of the one cover song (Vince Taylor’s
“Brand New Cadillac”), to the rockabilly
of “Revolution Rock”, to Reggae in “Rudy
Can’t Fail”, and to the apocalyptic vision
of the title track with the immortal opening
lines of
“London
Calling to the Faraway Towns,
Now that war is declared - and battle
come down,
London Calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, all you
boys and girls”. |
The Clash knocked down all
the musical walls, being to punk what
Santana have come to mainstream rock,
in being able to take on any style and
in the process ended the argument over
punk’s viability.
Too many tracks to mention in one review,
but in summery, The Clash really deserve
their “only band that matters” credo (of
course given to them by their record company
not themselves) because they don’t try
too hard to stay punk like their previous
two albums, but instead surrender to the
atmospheres of the other genres round
them, and make it accessible to all different
types of people.
London Calling was couched in the language
of revolutionary desperadoes. Influenced
by reggae and ska, augmented by Irish
Horns, the result was one of the most
heady, celebratory Rock ‘n’ Roll records
to have come out of the punk movement.
For every traditional rabble rouser like
“Death Or Glory” there was a starker truth
to London Calling like “Guns of Brixton”
that confirmed The Clash’s ideological
importance to a generation. Seldom, if
ever, has punk sounded so gloriously righteous
or so right.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
