The Clash was one of the first and most important British punk bands. In the 1970s, they were the Beatles to the Sex Pistols' Stones, and went on to incorporate elements from all the roots music they loved--reggae, rockabilly, soul, blues--without ever straying too far from their punk roots and their political commitment. Their landmark 1979 double album, LONDON CALLING, stands as one of the finest achievements of rock's post-Beatles era. Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Joe Strummer all went on to other projects after the Clash (Big Audio Dynamite, Havana 3 AM, Strummer's solo albums). Plans to reunite for their induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were pre-empted by the passing of Joe Strummer in December of 2002.
Digitally remastered from the original production master tapes, this a reissue of the 1982 & fifth album by 'the only band that matters'. Features the original artwork and all 12 of the original tracks, including the top 50 hit 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and the top 10 smash 'Rock The Casbah'. 'Combat Rock' was the English new/ punk rock group's biggest album in the U.S., reaching #7 at the time. The booklet folds out with the lyrics on one side & the full color poster of the group drinking Asian bottle of Coca-Cola that was included with
Product Notes
The final album by the Clash's original Strummer/Jones incarnation is also their most inconsistent. There were musical and ideological rifts developing within the band, and it shows: the experimentation is almost as wild as Sandanista!'s (and the biggest experiment is heading away from their punk shiftiness and into a commercial rock sound), but they seem to be enjoying it less. The band's stabs at funk and poetry aren't terribly successful, but it all came together for two massive hits: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" has the biggest, stupidest, most perfect riff this side of "Louie Louie," and "Rock the Casbah" pulls the band's politics, fine-honed sarcasm, and saw-toothed guitar sound into the service of a dance-floor beat. --Douglas Wolk
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