The Clash appreciation thread
 

I love the Clash. They have changed my life. They are the ultimate punk band, no matter how much their song changed from album to album, and no matter what other music genres they incorporated in their songs. They are also a band that almost all different types of punks can agree one. From Blink-182 loving pop-punkers, to crusty Amebix freaks. I can listen to them every single day and not get bored. Please share your thoughts about The Clash. Thank you.

I've been a fan since the late 70's, great band. I wish 'Rude Boy' would get a proper DVD release in America.

#5 of my all-time fav bands/musicians. punks with serious talent. what a shame strummer had to pass.

Let me throw out a STRONG AGREEMENT to their greatness. They're in my top ten bands. I love their first four albums.

:thumbsup:

Sure, I like The Clash, just like everyone else.
I'm going to get a lot of flak for this....but I don't care.....I've always enjoyed Stiff Little Fingers more.

He's in love with rock and roll, woah
He's in love with getting stoned, woah
He's in love with Janie Jones woah
He don't like his boring job, no.

:up:

What about the Vibrators since SLF got their name from the a song by the band.

Love the Clash. Got to see PIL and BAD II tour together in the early 90s, great to see at least part of one of the greatest bands ever.

Awesome. I'm hoping Mick Jones' Carbon/Silicone comes to NY.

the song "Guns of Brixton" is one of the reasons I play drums :up:

I was listening to London Calling on the way to work today. I'm not a big fan and I actually get tired of the drunk-sounding vocals on alot of their stuff but I like London Calling pretty good. I think it is a little too long and 3-4 filler songs could be axed, but solid overall.

I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but I'm curious which songs from that album you would consider to be "filler"? There's actually one song on the album I've never liked, even though I consider the album one of my consistent favorites of the past quarter century. I won't say what the song is until you weigh in, however. ;)

My brother got me into them a couple years ago, when I was 20 or so and I must say I am a big big fan right now. Sad I got into them after Strummer's death...I knew a lot of their songs, but had no idea it was their music.

London Calling is one of the best CDs I've ever bought, and even the self-titled one is good as well. I could seriously listen to London Calling anyday all the way through

Sandinista had a lot of filler, but London Calling remains one of my all time favorite albums.

The British DVD is a great reason to get a multi-region player.

Jimmy Jazz is the first that comes to mind along with a couple of others near the end of the album (I just picked it up last week and do not know all of the song titles yet).

If I had to pick 4 songs of London Calling that I don't like AS MUCH as the others... they would probably be...

Lover's Rock
Revolution Rock
Mayyyybe....Brand New Cadillac
And....I can't think of a 4th. This album is too good.

One of the great rock bands of all time, something about the pure lo fi asthetic of that first album just can't be beat. DVD wise the WESTWAY TO THE WORLD documentary is one of the great band docs of all time, killer footage and interviews, and the disc has some cool extras including a discography with full songs. On a side note I subscribed to MOJO music mag in Feb and I am supposed to be getting the RUDE BOY dvd as a gift!

I just purchased LC and CR from yourmusic.com (remastered versions). Really looking forward to them.

Where's the love for Give 'em Enough Rope? For some reason this one always seems left out. I've recently gone back & listened to this again and I think it's probably my favorite Clash album. Listening to it in retrospect, it's a perfect bridge between their debut & LC. And far, far better than the awful Combat Rock or the mediocre Sandanista! (which would have made a decent single disc).

Anybody have 'The Story of The Clash' DVD? Lots of live stuff, some videos and 5.1 mixes!

1. <i>Combat Rock</i> isn't awful. Side 1 is the equal of anything the band did. "Car Jamming"? "Straight To Hell"? Please.

2. <i>Sandinista!</i> is a fantastic album that grows in greatness with each passing year. From the Kosmo Vinyl track "Lose This Skin" to the little kid singing "Career Opportunities", this is a rich complex album that rewards repeated listenings.

3. <i>Give 'Em Enough Rope</i> is fantastic. "Julie's In the Drug Squad" is one of Strummer's best lyrics and vocal performances.

i saw the clash in the early '80's at the asbury park convention hall (nj). great live band and a hell of a concert. still have my concert t-shirt!

Josh, hope you got London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition. Thwe DVD and the extra CD "The Vanilla Tapes" are both terrific extras.

when it comes to clash albums, combat rock is actually my favorite. the bizarre nature of it really hits a high note with me.

Yeah, who else would write a song about Errol Flynn's missing son?

Wow another Clash thread....yes we (or most) do respect them. I am little on the edge of punk though ... but would not argue against it.

Big Clash fan here too.

First time I heard Give 'Em Enough Rope I was blown away. I couldn't believe the energy, the voracity of the guitars. Holy, shit I couldn't stop listening! I bought it while the family was vacationing here in San Diego and while they were off doing stuff, I stayed at the house playing this over and over.

No need to expound on London Calling. It's one of the greatest recording in rock history.

But I must give some love to Sandinista!. Truely epic with some amazing recordings. Understandably underappreciated, but I thought it was genuis.

Damn, I haven't listend to The Vibrators in a while. Thanks to your message, I just popped Pure Mania in my CD player.

I have to agree that there's a fair amount of filler on just about every Clash album after the first release (unlike, say, the first few SLF albums -wink-). And I'm allowed to say this due to my ownership of Cut The Crap.

Every Clash fan out there needs to pick up a copy of The Ruts - The Crack. It's almost like finding a lost Clash album circa 1979 (which would make since...The Crack was released in 1979).
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The same group of musicians who would write a song about Montgomery Cliff ;)

It seems that they were HUGE movie fans: quoting Taxi Driver, writing songs about Montgomery Clift and Sean Flynn as well as titling one of there songs The Magnificent Seven.

"Nembutal numbs it all, but I prefer alcohol."

Anyone bitching about "Combat Rock" or "Sandinista" hasn't heard "Cut the Crap". Woah.

Clash = timeless greatness.

I asked a friend that knows about all original punk and he said this:



The Ruts are similar to the Clash becase they use some reggae
rhythms with their punk and they're equaly political...but I don't
think they sound like the Clash. Still, THE CRACK is pretty great, one
of the classic punk albums. I like an album called GRIN AND BEAR IT
even better--it's a compilation of non-LP singles and a few live versions
of songs from THE CRACK.

new Clash fan here.

i've been thinking about buying the "Clash On Broadway" boxset. when i searched the Amazon.com site, i noticed that there are two versions currently available. one is a remastered version released in 2000, and the other is a more-expensive remastered version released in 2004. does anyone have an idea what the difference is between those two? is the packaging the same? is the sound quality the same? should i go for the older, cheaper version?

i would appreciate any help i can get. thanks!

They remastered all the original albums and did that at the same time. I compared London Calling and it did sound much better.

Can't help about the versions but it's a decent set. I picked it up at the swap meet for $15. It was in pristine condition. Looked the guy only took off the wrapping.

The new version is fully remastered and I think comes in longbox packaging instead of just a jewel case.

Actually, I think it's just the opposite. I bought the original release when it first came out & it's in a sturdy longox. The later versions I've seen are in the jewel box case.

Has anyone heard of an live album called "Chaos in New York"? I found this recently on allofmp3 and it's quite good. Great sound quality/performance of a Sandanista! era show.

It's a bootleg. There's tons of live Clash bootlegs out there.

Yep, they only released one official live album: "Live: From Here to Eternity."