The Clash
London Calling

THE REVIEW

Guys, come on guys, we're talking about HISTORY OF MUSIC here, this is my second review and I've gone from the Post-Punk of "Boy" (U2) to the Punk of "London Calling" (The Clash), as you can see I haven't changed much in genre. Obviously, the relevance of the albums changes, both fantastic, of course, but not even comparable (I'll leave that to you to understand). This is serious stuff, guys, made by people who truly rocked the instruments (the cover speaks for itself), people with nerves of steel, people like the Clash. "London Calling" is the fiery soul of Punk, the main album of the genre, which contains (like every respectable masterpiece) infiltrations ranging from Ska to Rock and Roll, from Reggae to Jazz. The album consists of 19 legendary tracks that stylistically vary from one another but are united by a single thread, that of rebellion and subversion, an extremely evident factor in the lyrics. For some reason unknown to us mere mortals, it maintains an incredible harmony managing to combine and bring together completely different genres as mentioned above while still maintaining a dark Punk background. This is thanks to the group's desire to challenge themselves, to experiment, to change, to be open to every genre:

"There was a great openness to everything. I remember Mick playing country songs. Mick liked to warm up by playing Topper's drums. They enjoyed swapping instruments: something they had never done before." (Johnny Green, the group's assistant during the recording sessions)

"We did crazy stuff like slowly ripping the Velcro off the chairs in the studio and recording the noise it made. For overdubs, we always went to the bathroom because there was an echo effect. We pounded on the pipes"

The track that kicks off the album is "London Calling," paving the way for a succession of unbeatable, original, transgressive, aggressive, energetic, powerful, muscular, legendary tracks that made history. It moves from the subversive charge of the title track to the 70's Rock of "Brand New Cadillac." Also interesting are the Rock-Reggae hybrid of "Revolution Rock" (too many rocks) and the JAZZ/FUNK/SWING of "Jimmy Jazz." Another important track is "Spanish Bomb," which takes us back to the Spanish Civil War, not to mention the melancholic "Lost In The Supermarket" and the masterpiece "Clampdown." Everything concludes superbly with a true gem "Train In Vain." THAT SAID, YOU HAVE THE DUTY TO LISTEN TO IT.