I had the chance to go back and revisit this one, and it was nice to see that I got a different perspective.
Artist: The Clash
Album: London Calling
Recording #120ish
Stream this album here
I guess I had heard this whole album before, as most of the songs were rated on my iPod, but I'm not sure I ever sat down and heard the whole thing consecutively. So I started the whole thing at the start, with the incredible title track, and I found out my initial impression (that this was noisy, dated music) was actually a bit off the mark. A lot of the songs on this album sound pretty fresh for the fact that they are over 30 years old. The raggae is popping, and punk is angry, and the themes are as potent today as they were back then. Are there some clunkers? Yeah, but it's a double album-- there are very few double albums that should be double albums in my opinion. Being overblown is usually part of the joy of a double album, rather than 2 full discs worth of great songs, but there's definitely enough here for 1 CD worth of 4-star songs. The great neighborhood banger "Guns of Brixton," the fun and poppy "Rudie Can't Fail," and the blistering title track are great examples of how good this band can be, even if you have to plow through some mediocre songs ("Spanish Bombs," which is a recommended track by Tom Moon, is one of my least favorites.) Anyways, glad I went back and heard it.
Buy the album here
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