Customer Reviews

Clash

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, there is absolutely no question that the UK version of this album is the more powerful version of the album, and since that version is now readily available from Amazon and elsewhere, it is unquestionably the version to get. What I would like to point out, however, is that even the American version is one of the most powerful albums you will ever encounter. This album was absolutely shocking when it came out. Punk bands were supposed to be crude, inept on their instruments, undisciplined, and lacking in any political vision except unfocused anarchism. The Clash was the punk antithesis to punk. They weren't calling for anarchy; they were calling for a revolution. They were politically outraged, but they were outraged in behalf of people who were actively suffering at the hands of society. And they were clever! "Career Opportunities" was about Mick Jones brief job opening mail for the prime minister in case any were letter bombs. And unlike other punk bands, they expressed a solidarity with the racially oppressed, with incredible songs like "White Man in Hammersmith Palais," or being one of the first white band ever to employ reggae in songs like "Police and Thieves." Musically, they were far out in front of all other punk bands, playing tight, disciplined, and incredibly exhilarating songs. They were the first punk band that could be favorably compared with any other band in rock history. And unlike other bands, lead guitarist Mick Jones could actually play solos!

Not all of the decisions concerning the American version were awful. Some were, in fact, brilliant, such as adding the hyperkinetic "I Fought the Law" or the extraordinary "Complete Control," possibly my favorite Clash song (one which Greil Marcus called possible the greatest hard rock song of all time--a hyperbolic claim, but one I wouldn't argue against with much passion). The song is a masterpiece of punk rebellion. The superficial subject matter--the lack of "complete control" that the record label had promised them--becomes the jumping off point for an anthem about the passion for social and economic control of the individual. It starts off as a song about the Clash, but morphs into a song about Everyman ("This is Joe Public speaking/I'm controlled in the body, controlled in the mind"). The song encapsulates not only the Clash at their best, but the entire punk movement. The number also contains some of my all time favorite rock lyrics (spoken by Joe Strummer over some lovely guitar playing by Mick Jones): "I don't trust you/Why should you trust me?\Huh?" The song after that builds and builds in passion with Jones playing passionately over the repeating chorus. Rock music doesn't' get better than this.

Except for their last album and one or two of the compilations, there is no such animal as a bad Clash album. Any music fan should own just about everything the band did. They were not merely consistently good; they were consistently great, and their total body of work constitutes one of the great achievements in rock history. More than any other band of the punk movement, they expressed the idealistic hope for a better, more just world and the outrage of economic and societal control by forces too great to comprehend. They where, in fact, great spokesmen for the highest aspirations of the human passion for utopia.

First off, I have no respectable punk credentials (is that an oxymoron?). I did buy the U.K. version on vinyl back in the late 70s, when it was the only version, but that was kind of a fluke, although I did love that record.

Anyway, personally, I like the U.S. version.

For the U.S. release, Sony replaced Deny, Cheat, Protex Blue and 48 Hours, all worthy songs, with Clash City Rockers, Complete Control, (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais, I Fought the Law and Jail Guitar Doors (yeah, they threw in an extra song).

I agree that the U.K, version hangs together better. The U.S. version soundS a little more like a collection of singles, and in fact that's what all the substituted songs were. And the U.K. version is a little more hardcore.

But to their credit Sony picked some great, in fact indispensible, songs for the U.S. version. I Fought the Law is one of the Clash's signature tracks. Complete Control, besides being a great song, was produced by reggae god Lee Perry, the Upsetter himself. And (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais is a classic, perhaps the classic, punk-reggae tune. The other two substituted songs, while great, aren't quite as historically significant.

Yeah, sure, you could buy the more authentic U.K. version and then buy the Clash collection The Singles and get all the songs that were added to the U. S. version--and more. But that collection includes a couple of the songs on this cd, so you have to ask yourself: Do you want two versions of White Riot or Remote Control? Are you interested in everything the Clash did throughout their career, including obscure B sides? How much of a scholar are you?

Or you could find the songs Sony added on the Internet, which might be the way to go if you're a completist.

But you're a cheap lazy sod and just want one version of the Clash's first CD, I would hesitantly recommend the U.S. version.

The original Clash album was released in April 1977. It had the louder and heavier version of 'White Riot', not the lamer single version included here. It also had the rough edged melody of 'Deny', the Mick Jones tale of sex on the London Underground 'Protex Blue', a great manifesto of punk attitude 'Cheat' and Joe Strummer's rant about a bored weekend '48 Hours'. This American version includes the single 'Complete Control' released months after the original album. 'Clash City Rockers', 'Jail Guitar Doors' and 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' were all released as or on singles in 1978 and 'I Fought The Law' wasn't released until 1979, two years after the original album!! Don't get me wrong, all of these post April '77 songs are great in their rightful place, but this packaging makes this US version essentialey a compilation album. For the true Clash sound of 76-77 get the UK original.

I can see why someone would find this album disappointing, especially if they were looking to Rock the Casbah as some sort of crowning achievement of the band. But this album is an absolutely brilliant and perfect document of a certain cultural era: the tower tenements and back alleys of London's desperate teenagers in the mid-to-late 1970s. Unlike Never Mind the Bollocks, this doesn't sound absurdly dated today; instead, it's still angry, still seething, still raw, still crude - all in the best way. There are a few weak numbers (on both the UK and US versions) but also some absolute Clash classics: I'm So Bored with the USA, White Riot, Career Opportunities, and the stunning assimilation of reggae on the cover of Police and Thieves. If you're talking about the US version, you've also got White Man in Hammersmith Palais, one of the best things the band ever recorded. An album that speaks for an era.

Also, just a note in regard to one of the previous reviewer's comments about the "weak" lyrics on Garagaland: again, context is very important here. This song was written as a direct response to a review of their Screen on the Green performance, in which the reviewer commented that they were a "garage band who should be swiftly returned to the garage, preferably with the motor left running". Thus it was a sarcastic celebration of the garage band aesthetic and a way of throwing the review back in its writer's face. Also, it contains one of the Clash's most signature lines: "the truth is only known by guttersnipes."

Indeed...

The Clash were among the topmost important punk groups, having the power and the passion in spades, and a sincerely egalitarian ethos in the lyrics of Joe Strummer, who perhaps even more than John Lydon embodied the spirit of 1977. Their first album snarled into the shops in April 1977 in the UK and Canada, but was not available in America for over two years except on import, and was then released in a revised format, five tracks being replaced by various singles.

Out went White Riot (the later single version was substituted, replete with police siren, smashing glass and alarm effects), Deny, Cheat, Protex Blue and 48 Hours. In their place were added the singles Clash City Rockers (1977), Complete Control (co-produced with mad reggae genius Lee Perry)(1977), (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (1978), I Fought The Law (1979) and Jail Guitar Doors (the B-side of Clash City Rockers), making it almost ten minutes longer than the original album. The tracking order was also completely re-sequenced.

I Fought The Law, an old Crickets number that the Clash had learned from the Bobby Fuller Four hit version found on a San Francisco jukebox, had just been released as the band's first US single, with (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais on the other side. If you own the 3CD Clash overview The Clash on Broadway then you already own the four missing songs. Joe Strummer actually approved of the revised album, telling a music journalist some years later, "It makes a good collection. If you've never heard the group before, it's a good bunch of tunes."

The original album [The Clash] was produced by their regular sound man Mickey Foote and engineered by Simon Humphrey at CBS Studio 3 in Whitfield Street, London over three weekends during February 1977. The regular Clash line-up of Joe Strummer (vocal, rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocal) and Paul Simonon (bass guitar) was augmented by Terry Chimes, yet to become a full-time member at the time of recording, on drums. He had left the band by the time of Clash City Rockers and Nicky 'Topper' Headon plays on all the added US tracks apart from White Riot. The single White Riot (and its B-side, 1977) had been recorded at Whitfield Street on 28 January 1977.

There are some classic Clash songs that were to remain in their repertoire throughout, and that stand up today. Indeed live versions of London's Burning, What's My Name and Career opportunities appear on the album From Here to Eternity: Live, recorded between 1978 and 1982. It also has live versions of added songs Complete Control, Clash City Rockers, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, Capital Radio and I Fought The Law.

The original album's one cover version, added at the end of the sessions as a make-weight, was their tribute to Lee Perry, the Junior Murvin single Police And Thieves, to which they bring their own inimitable style very successfully. It led to the Lee Perry-produced single and to Bob Marley subsequently name-checking them on Punky Reggae Party. Other Clash favourites included Remote Control (later extracted as the second UK single), Janie Jones, I'm So Bored With The USA, Garageland, and, of course, White Riot.

The version of White Riot heard on the UK version of The Clash is not the version released as their first UK single and is the sole track on the album not to have been recorded at Whitfield Street. Inspired by the Notting Hill Riots of 1976, it had been in their repertoire since September 1976, usually played considerably faster than either of the recorded versions, and had been demoed for Polydor in November before they signed with CBS. The LP version predates the single and was recorded in Beaconsfield at the National Film and Television School using some freebie time they'd wangled via Julian Temple in January 1977, with Mickey Foote making his debut in the producer's chair. The US album and all future compilations seem to have preferred the single version of White Riot, so it appears the Beaconsfield version is only to be found on the original The Clash album.

Early copies of the US album came with a free single containing Groovy Times and Gates Of The West. Along with I Fought The Law and a new recording of Capital Radio, these had comprised the UK release in May 1979 of The Cost Of Living EP. It would have been a nice touch if the three tracks not on the US album had been added as bonus tracks, but all three can be found on Super Black Market Clash, and the freebie single is on The Clash on Broadway.

The UK and US versions serve slightly different purposes, the US version being a useful collection of tunes whilst the UK version is the authentic original album, a snapshot statement of the band conceived at a crucial moment in their history. Take your pick.

I'm going to admit my bias up front: I'm a diehard Clash fan. Now that's off my chest I would like to take issue with Amazon.com annointing this album with the title of "essential."

Indeed, The Clash's debut album is a must-have. No doubt about it - the fury, the energy, the amphetamine-laced vitriol and stungun guitar chops all heralding the dawn of a brand new era in UK music. However, the US version is nothing more than a poorly arranged substitute for the UK version. The latter contains better sequencing and, most-importantly, a few better songs. Some might argue that the inclusion of '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' on this version makes it superior and that's a good point, but the song is not strong enough on its own merits to call this version the essential one. This is missing 'Cheat,' 'Protex Blue' and 'Deny.' While not as egregious as perhaps leaving off 'White Riot,' 'Career Opportunites' or 'London's Burning' it's still an oversight and misrepresents the spirit, intent and tone of the original UK release. For a band as mythological as The Clash this is a critical point.

At any rate, The Clash stands as one of the cornerstones of any punk rock collection regardless of which version you own. It deserves its place alongside Nevermind the Bollocks, The Stooges and The Ramones as a defining moment in music history.

These incredible blokes first came to my attention when I was lucky enough to see them live in concert in 1982 during their "Combat Rock" tour. My high school friends and I were blown away by the opening chords of "London Calling" which led straight into "What's My Name." And the rest for me is history.

The Green Album (as we refered to it back in the early 80s) will forever be known as the first Clash album. This was the record that introduced the U.S. to the power chords, intense energy and fierce howling of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. A part of the late 1970s punk movement (including The Ramones and, of course, The Sex Pistols), The Clash in many ways outgrew these historic beginnings with later albums (most notably "London Calling") as they began to experiment with reggae, rockabilly and even funk. But their self-titled debut is where it all began, and it must go down as one of the finest and most intense rock albums of all time.

While The Sex Pistols may have begun a movement, The Clash propelled it forward into the political awareness realm with lyrics (mainly written by frontman Joe Strummer) raving against racism, poverty and war. While The Sex Pistols performed traditional rock power riffs behind the amazing voice of Johnny Rotten, The Clash combined the screeching lead of Joe Strummer with the raw buzzsaw guitar licks of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon.

There's really not a single bad song off of this album, with such popular anthems as "Clash City Rockers," "I'm So Bored With The USA, "White Riot" and their cover of "I Fought The Law" promoting fist pumping and head knocking. But their epic tunes which build to a crescendo such as "Complete Control," "London's Burning" and the reggae influenced "Police and Thieves" are the true staples of this extraordinary CD.

A true touchstone of rock music, The Clash Green Album will forever define a movement that spit into the face of studio rock (Yes, Genesis, Aerosmith and even Led Zepplin), returning the music to the realm of a beer-can littered garage located on the wrong side of the tracks. Suddenly, and with surprising satisfaction, arena rock bands were as cool as golf caddies. Some folks listen to The Beatles and cry for the memory of a new musical form that defined their generation (and rightfully so).

With the unexpected death of the great Joe Strummer, I now listen to The Green Album with a new, saddened perspective. This is the music of My Generation. This is the music that defines My Youth. And this is the music we will now, regretfully, never hear again.

This is one of the greatest rock and roll albums ever made. But nevermind.

I bought the original CD version of this album when it was first issued in the late eighties. Most of it sounded great, but some of the singles that were added to make the U.S. version sounded a little dim, especially the muddy, muffled "Clash City Rockers" and the grainy-sounding "Complete Control" (which may be their finest song).

So, when this remastered version was released, I quickly purchased it, with the anticipation that those songs would sound brighter and crisper and carry more force. I was severely disappointed to hear that they sounded just the same as the original CD issue.

But I gave Columbia the benefit of the doubt, granting that maybe this is as good as these recordings can sound. Not so. A few months later I happened upon the original CD of The Story of The Clash Vol. One, which was released in 1988, many years before the remastering/repackaging craze.

I was both amazed and frustrated to discover that "Clash City Rockers," "Complete Control" and "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" all sounded significantly better on this old 1988 CD than on the new so-called remasters. This is proof that better masters exist, so why weren't they used?

How is this possible? Twelve years of technological advancements still do not guarantee the best possible master getting used. What is the point? Buyer beware!

And yes, that does mean that I still take Never Mind The Bollocks over The Clash debut, yet it is close. However, what is not close is the difference in quality between the U.S. version of this album and the U.K. version (even if I do love "Janie Jones" opening the album, just like High Fidelity's Rob Gordon). The reason there is no competition between the two versions is simple, "Complete Control". The greatest song from The Clash and also the greatest punk anthem ever, and I do mean ever. That one song kicks "God Save The Queen", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Los Angeles", and "Ever Fallen In Love" all to the curb, and it is The Clash's greatest moment despite the brilliance of "London Calling".

If that song weren't enough, quite a few of the weak numbers from the U.K. version are gone, and instead you get "Clash City Rockers" in addition to "Complete Control", and even "WHITE MAN In HAMMERSMITH PALAIS"! While the U.K. version may have a few good numbers in "Janie Jones", "Hate And War", "I'm So Bored With The USA", and "White Riot" (Probably their second best song in my opinion), the U.S. version has all those songs plus the three I just mentioned, PLUS The Clash's version of "I Fought The Law". The choice is incredibly easy, get this album now and it is more than enough of an antidote for the horrible music of today, this is the kind of music that can change your life. Not to mention it rocks like a steamroller.

If I was a teacher of a class in which it was fitting to play music for my students and show off what the categorical style of rock n' roll is supposed to be like, I would play the original version of I fought the Law and I would say, 'this is good, this is good.' Then I would pull out this cd and I would play the Clash's version and I would say, 'this is great, this is great!' Hopefully, the students would catch on and would then go off and digest the differences.

I wonder how many of the students would come back the next day with much feedback. I would hope so.
This music is creatively ensembled with a lot of heart and smartness. It may be a tad bit lenghty, like maybe there should be 14 1/2 songs instead of 15, but outside of that, I guess you could say it's nearing rock n' roll completion. I am not a really big fan of reggae but I'm not against it either, and White Man ... is such a great rock tune (which is overtoned to the gills with great reggae).

Career Opportunities is like an idol of insight to my poor mortal career-laden body, and it's radically desirable to the ears.

I would fetch this album out of a burning house.