Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Clash - London Calling


3.2/10
.
Boy, is that album cover ever decieving.
.
The way The Clash combine so-called "punk," white reggae, and rockabilly is pretty different and unique, I'll grant you that. But a horseradish and jelly sandwich is different and unique, too. Just don't expect to see me having one for lunch anytime soon.
.
There are some songs that I really don't mind. "London Calling" actually gets my hopes up every time I play the album because it makes me think the album has grown some balls since the last time I heard it. "Brand New Cadillac" doesn't do much to sway my hopes, either. And "Train in Vain" is a pretty good song, and ends the album on a good note. But in between it's all downhill from here. I absolutely cannot stand "Jimmy Jazz." "Rudie Can't Fail"," "Spanish Bombs," and especially "The Right Profile" all feature the most annoying vocals from one of my most dispised frontmen of all time, Joe Strummer, with his whiny croons and yelps. I mean, what on earth is happening to Joe at the 3:07 mark on "The Right Profile?" Somebody get the man some medical attention. Actually, nah, just let him suffer. Instead, get me a paper bag to puke in.
.
To top it off, it doesn't help that he has bright and cheery horns backing him up like he's some Las Vegas showman or something.
.
An album with "Wrong 'Em Boyo" is supposed to be a punk album? Are you kidding me?
.
To these ears, London Calling is nothing more than a really bad experiment gone awry.

2 comments:

  1. I'm blown away. Truely. A Joe Strummer hater?

    I'll give it to you that some of the songs on London Calling aren't top-notch, but you've got to experiment and fail in order to succeed sometimes, right? I like to view the bad songs as precursers to future revolutionary sounds and songs.

    I'd love to hear your thoughts on their self-titled record or The Singles: Volume One-both some of the great musical achievements in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I agree you gotta expirament, but I just can't stand this album, sorry man. I'm not a huge fan of their other work, but then again I probably haven't given it a fair chance either. I'm very selective when it comes to punk, and The Clash just doesn't do it for me.

    ReplyDelete