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Rating:
For many purists, the U.K. version is better, but in my opinion, this U.S. reissue of "The Clash", the debut album of the namesake band, represents the real masterpiece. This is not to undermine the seminal English version, one of the first punk records that gained significant media attention and also had great social engagement. Four pure garage-punk songs from the first album, the respectable yet forgettable "Cheat", "Deny", "Protex blue" and "48 hours" are replaced by four other great songs that were initially released as singles, including two masterpieces, but let's go in order. The album opens with one of these four songs, "Clash City Rockers", still extremely punk in style but absolutely more substantial and energetic than any of the four "British" tracks. After the hysterical strumming and the early politically-charged jabs of "I'm so Bored with the U.S.A" and the excellent "Remote Control", comes another burst of pure energy; "Complete Control" is a relentless, pounding song, with a drumbeat you can't help but keep up with, commendable backing vocals and a Strummer in a state of grace. "This is Joe public speaking!", and that's all I have to say. After one of the band's absolute masterpieces, "White Riot", which condenses a unique anger in barely two minutes, we move on to another masterpiece, which breaks away from the norms of the genre and is one of the first signs of the band's desire and ability to delve into styles and especially make them coexist in a single song. "White man in Hammersmith Palais" is a bit punk, a bit reggae, a bit rockabilly; it has an irresistible bass line, a scathing guitar, and at the same time, you are catapulted for four minutes into a unique groove. Not to mention another grand performance by Strummer in both the lyric composition and the singing. We immediately return "in line" with another angry protest anthem; "London's Burning", but with boredom, as the lyrics state. And here comes another masterpiece that encapsulates the very essence of punk; "I Fought the Law" is nothing but the punk cover of a classic song, a blend that in my opinion eclipses the original; I really felt the return to the essential that punk somehow championed. The album flows with at least four more classic punk songs, it's impossible not to mention at least "Career Opportunities" and "Hate and War", further spokesmen of the social malaise of the time, yet always applicable. Stop, another break from the norm: in "Police and Thieves", the punk-reggae-rockabilly combination returns, this time more oriented towards the first genre and less driving and powerful than "White man...". It ends with the weakest of the four replacements, "Jail guitar doors" and the raw "Garageland". It is known, Clash will remain pure punk for just a little while longer, but with this album, they rightfully entered the history of the genre and the hearts of a lot of music enthusiasts like me.
"Nothing stands the pressure of the clash city rockers!"
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