at a glance...

Hometown: London, England
Formed: 1975

Members:
Joe Strummer -vocals, guitar, songwriting
Mick Jones -vocals, guitar, songwriting
Paul Simonon -bass, vocals, songwriting
Nicky "Topper" Headon -drums

Bands in the family :
Mikey Dread, Big Audio Dynamite, Big Audio Dynamite II, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Allen Ginsberg, Ellen Foley

Let's be honest: this isn't The Clash's best album. This is the one everyone forgets about, and when you remind them about it they say, "Oh, yeah, I never listen to that," and I guess if you have to space one this is the one to space on. But it's not fair, because this is the group's big step away from punk orthodoxy, away from simple ranting, and towards the monoliths to come later in their brief and thrilling career. And it's actually really good.

The band was roundly denounced for this album before it even came out because it was produced by Sandy Pearlman of Blue Öyster Cult fame. What the 'ell is the bloody Clash doin' havin' a producer at all? Oi! But it's quite simple - they're a guitar band and they wanted their guitars to sound huge and massive like the Chinese army. And when you hear the rimshot and that first riff (transcription: "ba na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na na na") from "Safe European Home," your pulse cannot do other than race, your fists must clench in rock attitude. Then Strummer, the human epiglottis, starts shouting: "Well I just got back! aaan I wish I never leave now!" and the band shouts back: "Where'd you go?" and it's all so stadium-ready and rockish! And that's what freaks people out about this record-just when you think you had 'em pigeonholed, they sneak up on yer and POW."

But if you're more concerned with music than image, then this is a truly superior album. "Julie's In the Drug Squad" contains the first recorded humor by the boys from Camden Town, "Drug Stabbing Time" is a great rave-up with a reggae title and Elvis sensibilities, and "Last Gang in Town" serves as the first notice anywhere that there are sneaky fiddle-playing Cajun gangstas in the slums of London. But for me it's the last three songs that make the disc. Mick Jones' "Stay Free" is a really rather touching ode to a formerly incarcerated friend ("I'll never forget the smile on my face when I heard that you were free/And if you're in the Crown tonight/Have a drink on me"); "Cheapskates" announces that no matter how much money the guys have made or are alleged to have made, they're still just louts who like to hear a tune after all; and "All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" pretty much obliterates the entire punk scene-again-for being an arena for careerist posers. Three better songs have never closed an album.

If this record wasn't only 37 minutes long, and if you could hear the vocals a bit better, it'd be considered one of the greats. But expectations weigh a ton, and this is a group that didn't mind weighing themselves down sometimes. You really need to hear this one right now.

If you like The Clash, check out:
The Clash The Clash
The Clash Live: From Here To Eternity
The Clash London Calling
The Clash ¡Sandinista!
The Clash Super Black Market Clash
The Clash Combat Rock
Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town
The Minutemen Double Nickels on the Dime
Blondie Parallel Lines

-- Matt Cibula