London Calling

Featuring Joe Strummer on rhythm guitar and vocals, Mick Jones on guitar (with some vocals), Paul Simenon on bass (contributing vocals), and Topper Headon on drums and percussion, this group played well and played raw. Lyrics were tough and there was always a rough edge that worked well. This is possibly their best work and one of the classic rock and punk works of the past three decades.

The CD begins with a rousing anthem from The Clash--"London Calling." The song begins with an almost menacing tone, as Strummer sings:

"London calling to the faraway towns
Now that war is declared--And battle come down."

There is a mocking reference to "phony Beatlemania [biting] the dust." A great punk song, but also a great rock and roll piece. You Tube has a terrific clip of The Clash singing this, with some nice visuals involved, starting off with the clock. Take a look!

Then, "Spanish Bombs." I mention this because it is not often that one hears a song about the Spanish Civil War, an event from the 1930s. The beat is supported well by the rhythm section and there is a nice forward momentum to this song. Joe Strummer's voice produces a nice punk rock sound.

"Working for the Clampdown." The rhythm section starts this song off well. Guitars growl. Strummer sings lines such as the following:

"The judge said five to ten, but I said double that again,
I'm not working for the clampdown
No man born with a soul
Can be working for the clampdown."

Then there is the menacing "The Guns of Brixton." Raw instrumental work, supporting lines such as:

"When they kick in your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or your trigger on your gun."

An angry song on an angry album. But, despite that, this CD works well. The Clash had the anger and rawness of The Sex Pistols, but were better musicians and created a more compelling sound.

There are many other good songs, such as "Rudie Can't Fail," "Revolution Rock," "Wrong `em Boyo," "Lover's Rock," and so on. But the CD closes out with an interesting piece--"Train in Vain."

"Train in Vain" is an infectious and captivating song, incongruous in juxtaposition to "The Guns of Brixton." The guitar work is simple but effective; the rhythm section does its job well.

Any way you cut it. This is a 5-star work. This may be the pinnacle of The Clash's career (and they had some other awfully good albums), before the creative differences between Strummer and Jones blew the band apart. But what a run they had before their time ended!

Okay, so there are a million reviews for London Calling and I admit that my opinion is not in any way vital in relation to its popularity, but I pen this in the hope that some young kid--with no cultural memory of The Clash--will come across these words and be persuaded to download some of these songs or buy it in its entirety. London Calling is a work of art whose tracks are unique, transcendent, joyous, and alive. I'm not over-praising it or descending into hyperbole. I'm just being honest.

I came to the album late in life. When I was a boy the only thing I knew by The Clash was Rock the Casbah (sad but true). After college I heard about the CD by word of mouth and picked up a copy in 1996. I still listen to it today. The sound remains fresh. Out of the 19 tracks, "London Calling, Train in Vain, Rudie Can't Fail, Spanish Bombs, Lost in the Supermarket," and "Death or Glory" are my personal favorites. However, I must point out that there is not a bad song anywhere on the CD. How many releases can you say that about nowadays?

I bought this because it was in the top 10 best albums ever, and I was absolutely amazed. This is the best punk album I've ever heard.
Best Tracks: Lost in the Supermarket, Guns of Brixton, Spanish Bombs, Train in Vain

If you are curious about The Clash this is the album to start with.
London Calling is (arguably) one of the top 5 rock albums of all time. Personally, I rank it second, just behind Exile On Main Street and in front of Revolver.
The Clash are generally described as a punk band. This is a limiting tag - The Damned and the Sex Pistols were punk, The Clash were a punk-influenced rock band who secretly smoked pot. They managed, on this album, to create the greatest working-class rock album of all time.
The lyrics evoke a history that spans the Crusades through Thatcher's Britain but still seem to resonate in Bush's America.
From Spanish Bombs through Guns Of Brixton to Four Horsemen, this album is an oblique anti-fascist statement that rocks much harder than the average statement.

Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world,
Ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl.
Love 'n hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands,
Hands that slap his kids around, 'cause they don't understand how,
Death or glory, becomes just another story.

London Calling is a sprawling, ambitious, endlessly creative and unfailingly exciting record. It's full of daring ideas and musical revelations, a rockin' funhouse mirror that encompasses punk, rockabilly, folk, reggae, pop, and even elements of soul and disco, with lyrics full of apocalyptic anger and sociopolitical rage. Nearly twenty years after its initial release, it all still sounds so good. The title track is a taut, nervous punk number with a paranoid rhythm and a cruelly catchy vocal, and the lyrics are pure apocalyptic poetry. "Rudie Can't Fail" is raucous ska, and "Train In Vain" is boisterous pop. "Lost In The Supermarket" is a genuinely heartrending meditation on isolated alienation, and "Spanish Bombs" is a sweeping, hard-hitting acoustic rock anthem. "Brand New Cadillac" has a psychotic rockabilly punk edge, and "Clampdown" is a stomping, undeniably catchy rock classic... with lyrics about the evils of colonialism. "The Guns Of Brixton" is raw, defiant, bass-heavy dub reggae, and "Wrong 'Em Boyo" is a deranged double-time singalong. There is, in short, a ridiculous amount of great music here. It's a rock 'n' roll masterpiece for the punk era, a classic record if there ever was one.