Cutting to the chase, I rate London Calling as the best album I have ever heard. So let's break it down:
Surely opening with such a classic song as London Calling is raising the bar impossibly high for the rest of the album? It's a gutsy move, but this album pulls it off with aplomb. The song itself is rock perfection; with a catchy groove throughout and inspired lyrics, this song is pure bliss for me.
Brand New Cadillac is a great grunty rock version of the Vince Taylor blues song. It wonderfully oscillates between overflowing passion and cool restrained style.
In isolation, Jimmy Jazz probably isn't much to write home about. But it fits in perfectly on the album, to add another dimension in this series of landscapes of late 1970s London. Towards the end, it does feel like it could use some more lyrics and that it is a bit drawn out. As a wierd soul/jazz/punk hybrid, Hateful somehow works brilliantly. While it is quite eclectic, it is held together nicely by the chorus.
As a modern interpretation on the ska classic A Message to You Rudie, the song Rude Can't Fail works well to combine reggae and soul with the gritty Clash feel. The Right Profile is similar, with a strong connection to Madness, however I feel it isn't as cohesive as Rudy Can't Fail.
Said gritty feel is toned down for the gentle interlude that is Spanish Bombs. The soft folk-rock instrumentals contrast nicely with Strummer's bitter lyrics. And the Spanish lyrics in chorus are a great touch.
Lost in the Supermarket has a great infectious motif throughout the song and sounds like a big influence for the band Pulp. The poetic storytelling is also fantastic, such as the start of the first verse: "I wasn't born, so much as I fell out".
Clampdown sees a return to a gritty rock rock feel. I really like the staccato style, with snappy offbeat hits. The start of the bridge doesn't really fit, however the end of the bridge leads perfectly into the following verse. Death or Glory is quite similar, and features a fantastic singalong chorus. Interestingly, the bridge of Death or Glory has the same strengths and weaknesses as Clampdown.
Kola Kola is also a similar style. While Kola Kola doesn't fit together as well as the other two songs, the contrast of Strummer's bitter vocal style with the Beatles-esque backing vocals is fantastic. Like any good punk band, The Clash weren't afraid to cause a stir with some obsceneties! However, the different is that their is more thoughtfulness behind it than usual. The following line must have raised some eyebrows back in 1979:
He who fucks nuns
Will later join the church
The Guns of Brixton brings in the reggae influence to create a gritty reggae-rock masterpiece. The false opening of Wrong 'Em Boyo is a nice lighthearted touch. Once Stagger Lee has wound up, the restart brings a fantastic happy bouncing ska tune.
Things get very serious and intense again with The Card Cheat. This song has an incredible sense of scale, interesting chords and a great bassline holding it all together. The piano and trumpet parts are not tacky addons, actually they are perfectly integrated and add to the drama.
Lover's Rock is horrid. A messy cruise-ship song with funk influences and terribly banal lyrics. And Revolution Rock seems to me like uninspired generic reggae. Train in Vain does a much better job at a non-punk pop song, although I must admit that I prefer The Clash when they have some spit in their eye. I'm Not Down is such a song- a great mashup of funk, soul and rock.
Four Horsemen is a great throwback to the style of their earlier albums, although the ending is a complete mess.
You may have noticed I've spared this album a lecture on recording quality. In short, it's definitely adequate... and audiophile-quality recordings would give a punk-rock album zero credibility...
No comments:
Post a Comment