With the death of frontman Joe Strummer late last year still in the collective minds of both the record buying populace and the punk rock community alike, it would seem odd and almost tacky to some that a greatest hits recording (a double disc no less!) would be released so soon. Allegedly, the record was still in the planning stages during the final month of Strummer's lifetime with him overseeing the project until his untimely death. Strummer and his motley contingents in The Clash were the quintessential band in the infamous "Spirit of '77" punk rock era. Granted, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones stole their glory and to this day are considered the forefathers of the punk genre (though the rightful owners to that title are actually bands like 60's rioters The MC5 and brats Richard Hell and Patti Smith, among others), but while The Pistols were all hype and self exploitation and the Ramones were too busy beating on brats and sniffing glue, The Clash were busy shaping music that would go far beyond the confines of what one would call punk rock. Joe Strummer was always a strong songwriter and with help from bandmates Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, the band always prided themselves on their quality and excellently crafted songs that bore not only a powerful musical punch, but a heavily relevant lyrical conscience as well.
The disc opens with tracks like "White Riot" and "London's Burning" from their infamous CBS Records self titled debut. The first half of the first disc, made up of selections such as "I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.", "Hate War" and "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" set the tone for their political fury and passion with snarling rock n' roll energy and an undeniably defiant fervor that inspired many of their counterparts ( The X-Ray Spex, The Adverts, The Slits, The Jam, etc). "Janie Jones" is one of the highlights of the first disc with Strummer's trademark gravelly voice and a pummeling bassline that carries the song along at a steady pace. The record has its more varied moments though. Case in point, "Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad" off of their "Give 'Em Enough Rope" record carries an almost blues rock beat to it with plenty of ragtime piano runs. One of their most highlighted songs, a cover of Sonny Curtis' "I Fought The Law" closes the first disc with a punch leaving a fine bridge that shows how they'll progress in future records.
The second disc in the set only builds on The Clash's musical repertoire, opening with "London Calling" and leading into the reggae fueled "Guns of Brixton." Most bands tend to let an odd influence leak into a song or two, but with The Clash, it's obvious that their love of reggae and dub music was going to be a natural step in their musical progression with songs like "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Bankrobber" being two of the most obvious culprits. Tracks like these are high on lyrical substance while laying down musical attacks paralleled only by two tone bands of the era such as The Specials and Bad Manners. "The Magnificent Seven" lays down primo disco that's a firm kick in the balls to punk purists with a grooved out bassline and an almost hiphop vocal delivery. The glitterball attack doesn't stop there though, if anything it firmly establishes itself with numbers like "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock The Casbah" (which was later sampled in a repetitively idiotic Will Smith song for gosh sake!). Don't think for a moment that The Clash have traded in their dub records for Donna Summer or their leather for polyester though, "Police On My Back" and "This Is Radio Clash" gallop and speed with enough urgency to have knocked down more than a few walls at the make shift punk parties of the time. "This Is England" and "Clampdown" proved to be rallying cries to empower every pissed off kid and dreamer living in a squat or flat due to unemployment and like just about everything else The Clash did, reeked of sincerity and anger towards a socialist culture that at the time didn't give a crap for its youth and only cared for the old sods and the Queen Mother that so ignorantly oppressed them. Perhaps that's why they were so loved, because they didn't fall into the excess and indulgent trappings that many of their punk peers did musically and lyrically. Unlike them, they managed to stay relevant from start to finish and for that, they truly were "the only band that mattered."
B+
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