Sean over at "Pod" has written an excellent post on why The Clash are so damn good, and what is missing in some of today's music. Here is a porition of what he has to say, visit him for the rest (there are also some great videos included in his post)
Double albums are tricky as you really have to vary the pace to maintain interest throughout. No such issues arise with "London Calling". The Clash take rock, pop, punk, reggae and ska, mix it up and blast it back with lyrics that touch on many themes. Lots of energy and real human beings playing the shit out of their instruments results in an urgency that reaches out of the speakers and demands to be heard.
Current popular music has many deficiencies. Most notably: 1) It's BORING 2) Most of it sounds fake. 3) Zero energy
This stuff is almost thirty years old and sounds as if it was released last week. The main reason? It didn't take them three years to record! In a matter of weeks, they hit these songs hard with a minimum amount of takes and retained an excitement that is sorely lacking in today's homogenized product.
13 comments:
I wasn't exposed to The Clash growing up. It wasn't until a fateful trip to the RRHOF that I had any exposure to their music. There are listening stations where you can listen to the most influential rock songs in pop music history... I gave a handful of songs a listen but the ones that jumped out at me and stuck with me were London Calling by The Clash and Pump it Up by Elvis Costello.
Thank you very much :) I'm flattered. I was organizing some of my records the other night and found the original 45 of London Calling (with Train In Vain as the B side) that I bought when it came out. Straight away, I was inspired to listen to the album.
Fabulous album! They totally tear it up on this one.
Interesting article, but I really don't see comparing The Clash to "popular music" of today.
Today's concept of "popular music" didn't exist back then - thankfully.
Many times; hell, most of the time, the best music does not come from passes as what is considered "popular". Top 40 radio is littered(much like a cat box) with untalented, but carefully packaged, performers(Britney, Mariah Carey, and the Pussycat Dolls, anyone?) who wouldn't know real music if it smacked them in the face.
The Clash may not have had the wide-ranging popularity that other artists had back in their day, but I'd take London Calling over anything I hear/see on MTV or Vh1 today.
Hey Perplex!!! Been thinking about you, when is that little rock and roller expected to arrive?
Sean, your welcome :)
Hi Guru!! Yep, they sure do.
SiS, Hmmm, didn't think of it that way.
Diver, Amen, brutha!
Well you know my thoughts on The Clash =)
Question for you and your Clash fan readers...ever listen to Big Audio Dynamite or the Mescaleros?
The Clash rule! One of the best, truly.
As for Starr's comment, I could give a twinkie for Big Audio, but for those who haven't heard Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, you're missing out. Last album, Streetcore, is as close to Clash as you'll get and Strummer died during the production.
See I love BAD. They are awesome club music...like the Twinkie of bands ;)
But the Mescaleros are amazing and Streetcore is a killer album. One of my all time favorites =)
Twinkie of bands, hehehe.
Yeah, Streetcore has some stuff more than worthy of the Clash catalogue. I heard it after Joe died and it resonates differently because of it. Very sad album, but very striking.
Ever hear his one off album as The Latino Rockabilly War, Hatter? Check out the album Earthquake Weather.
No, I haven't. I'll have to remember to check it out. So busy lately. I finally got the new U2 album.
I dig LRW. Someone stole my copy of it and I try to comfort myself by thinking I helped create a new fan.
I'd still shiv them if I found out who it was!
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