Customer Reviews

Rock Art & X-Ray Style

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is Joe singing, playing, and writing at the height of his considerable powers. Unlike Paul Simon and others who've delved into certain ethnic-musical stylings and come off like someone doing just that, Joe moves thru world-beat polyrhythms and folky sounds and straight R&R in a way that makes the sounds wholly his own, as if they've been absorbed thru his skin like, as he says, the rays of the morning sun. I saw Joe just a couple months ago and the new stuff, the stuff from this album, came off extremely well. The Mescaleros are a top-notch band, aiding and abetting Joe as he fought the law, lived by the river, and went straight to hell with as much grace and power as they do on the Xray material. Yalla Yalla was downright hypnotic, causing the entire packed club to bob and nod like one big neon-lit protoplasmic entity. Nitcomb is so pensively sweet and Willesden so purely evocative, I have to say that there are few others - Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and of course Bob Dylan, come to mind - who can compete on Joe's level. The thing I like most about this album tho, is the way it grows on you. I played it and liked a couple things. Played it again and thought it was alright. Played it again and started smiling, and a week later my jaw was aching with the never-ending grin of near-musical orgasm. This is the best thing I've heard this year, and it would make the top 5 of almost any year I can recall. Joe's the man.

There is beautiful music on this disk. It is one of my favorite records, praise I would not hand out frivolously. Joe's music here is rich, textured, subtle, worldly, gentle, introspective... but it is also catchy, energetic and charged. Like the Clash catalog, this album is a progression forward with musical exploration. Clash records didn't always strike gold, but you can't accuse Joe of recording the same album twice. The music on X-Ray achieves power without over using the typical "punk" techniques of loud volume, machine-gun drums (sorry Topper) or excessive angst. It's like sitting down with an older wise man and letting his experience and insightfulness dazzle you gently without explosions or exaggeration to hold your attention. There is a toned muscular confidence on this album that keeps the listener there. The music is solid. There is no shortage of ideas or over used ones like the case with Sandinista. Each song has it's own clear identity. This is the 80's album Robert Plant wishes he could have made when he was pretentiously toiling in World music and coming up dull and duller.

Put this disk in the car stereo and go for a drive. By the time "Diggin' the New" and "Forbidden City" kick in, you will already be in a great state of mind.

I bought this 1999 album about a year ago -- at the same time as Global A Go-Go -- and I'm still asking myself why I waited so long to get it. Apparently picking up where the Clash's Combat Rock (1982) left off, with its cohesive mix of world-beat ("Straight to Hell") and radio-friendly pop ("Rock the Casbah"), ex-Clash frontman Joe Strummer works similar magic on Rock Art And The X-Ray Style (only his second solo album since his 1989 debut Earthquake Weather). He expands his world-music horizons on "Sandpaper Blues" and "Yalla Yalla," rocks out on "Forbidden City," and has a nice punk-funk thing going on with "Techno D-Day" (about cops threatening to shut down a rave) and the surreal travelogue "Tony Adams." Plus, his trademark rasp sounds as great as ever.

I love his lyrics, too. In "The Road to Rock 'n' Roll" (my favorite track, featuring both a mournful pedal steel and a D.J.'s "scratching"), Joe waxes poetic: "On the road to rock 'n' roll, the lonely sing a soulful song, leave a little light in the wilderness for somebody to come upon." The folk-based "X-Ray Style" shows his thoughtful side, with lines like, "I'm counting the stars and the telegraph poles, and each one represents the hopes of a soul." In the lush, pretty "Willesden to Cricklewood," the middle-aged punk tells us, "How I would love to speak to everybody on the street / Just for once, to break the rules, I know it would be so cool."

Oddly enough, the two most generic-sounding tracks have the most remarkable lyrics. In the arena-rocker "Diggin' the New," Strummer shares with us some obvious but important advice: Better to live in the here and now ("Crashing head-on into the future, it won't even leave a dent / Just walk in like you own it, remember it ain't set in cement") than to keep dwelling on the past ("I got no time for the Luddites always lookin' back down the track, saying 'Can you spot one more detail, Jack?'"). The pop ballad "Nitcomb" is the most touching, as Joe truly sounds like a guy on the verge of a major professional and/or personal comeback: "It's gonna take a nitcomb to get rid of me, 'cause I just realized that it was meant to be / And I'm standing at a sale for the shoes of bankrupt men, and I just had to buy a pair to show that life can live again." If this album is any indication, Strummer is a mature punk who still has a lot left to say.

Though it's definitely far from Joe's snarling and yelping style in the Clash (see songs Clash City Rockers, London Calling, Garageland, White Riot, etc...), I think that any fan of Joe Strummer's voice and particular musical stylings can appreciate this album as one of his biggest contributions to the musical world.
Parts of Rock Art and the X Ray Style almost remind me of Paul Simon's Graceland, and more specifically, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's contributions to that album. Other parts have twinges of Joe's Clash style music, mostly that of his later period of funk inspired music. The political messages are still a major part of his songs. The lyrics are still very rebellious and inspiring. To me, Joe Strummer's words have always communicated the sense that anyone can do the things he has done, it's only a matter of trying hard to achieve your goals.
The song X Ray Style has a lyric that runs sad shivers down my spine in light of Joe's passing in December 2002: "I wanna live and I wanna dance a while." This song is my favorite on the album, mostly due to the vocals. At parts of the song they are gentle and soothing, and at other parts, harsh and accusatory. It is a musical and lyrical achievement equal to anything on any of the Clash's amazing albums.
These ten surprising songs are a great thing for any fan of Joe Strummer. His voice still rings true.

I bought this cd along with The Clash (UK Version), and Combat Rock. After listening to both Clash cds, I popped in Rock Art and the X-Ray Style. As I listened, I was in total awe. I knew who Joe Strummer was. And I knew he was an excellent musician and songwriter, but this put me in shock. There is not ONE bad song on this cd. What really struck me about this album was the music. It's all incredibly different, but it fits together perfectly. Mind you, I'm a 14 year old, but I'm a 14 year old who knows good music when she hears it.
My favorite songs are Tony Adams, Techno D-Day, Diggin' the New, and Forbidden City. I'm very glad that Joe Strummer continued making music after The Clash. Some say that Rock Art is one of the latest Clash cds. I tend to disagree.... It ain't The Clash, but hey! It's got Joe, what more could you ask for?

RIP JOE, 1952-2002

i've been listening to the clash since i was 5 years old (thanks to having older siblings) so i'm a readymade joe strummer fan. the first solo album 'earthquake weather' makes me so happy. i distinctly remember traveling the longest highway to reach the record store and the best drive home on the day that album came out. i remember the weather, the light, the smell of the day. suffice it to say, i was extremely pleased with that album and still am. having said that, i've had mixed feelings about every joe strummer solo album since then. i have little patience for 'ethnic experimentation' as per the likes of paul simon and peter gabriel, mostly because they don't seem sincere. that cannot be said of this album. at first listen, i had the same knee-jerk reaction to the afro-cuban-reggae beats, but darn it if joe didn't pull it off with the sincerity of a teenage groom. i continue to be impressed with this man's intelligence and sensitivity. strummer maintains a career long consistency that is easy to trace - from London Calling, through Sandanista to this solo release.

Joe Strummer has always had a wide range of musical influences, but, unlike most artists, Joe doesn't just play music he likes--he plays music he understands. That's why Joe has never sounded like some dumb white guy lamely trying to play reggae, funk and other ethnic music--he always just sounds like Joe Strummer. He's just one of the most sincere, passionate artists out there, and every track on this album rings with heart and authenticity. The depth of emotion Joe puts into his work hasn't really changed since his days with the Clash, but now there's less anger and a little more melancholy, wisdom, wistfulness and humility. And, the songwriting here is top-notch--very melodic, well crafted and well balanced. I saw his Boston show on this tour, and it's so great to see someone just doing what he was put here to do. I, too, hope the Clash doesn't reform. Mick has done great stuff with BAD, Joe's doing great stuff, and apparently they're all friends again. I wouldn't mind seeing the guys collaborate on more stuff, but don't call it the Clash. Dig the New, man.

Anyone who has followed the Clash before and beyond "Rock the Casba", knows that Joe Strummer consistently demonstrates a songwriting talent that goes well beyond "punk rock". Strummer's lyrics are dense and visual. His musical sound is broad and eclectic but rings with the sincerety of a legitimate artist. He's not trying to cash in on some world-beat sound just to show he is diverse. Strummer's solo work is not an attempt at Clash nostalgia. In fact, the CD sounds nothing like The Clash. Strummer is too complex for that. This is a true effort by Strummer to enter new musical territory, and he pulls it off. Check this CD out and definitely try to find "Earthquake Weather", one of the best CD's to come out of the 80's (it sounds nothing like an 80's release). Strummer has never taken the easy way of fun, easy-listening pop music. His lyrics are as hard-hitting and more poetic than ever. Joe never went away. He's still crankin' out some of the boldest, yet sadly obscure and underrated, music around. Put your thinking cap on with this one and be glad there are still true rockers out there that defy categories and shine out as true musicians in a sea of wimpy, pre-packaged, corporate rock bands.

To start off, I've been a huge Clash fan since i was like 7. Not only are they one of my favorite bands (up there with the Beatles, Violent Femmes, and non-swing Cherry Poppin' Daddies), they were one of the most intelligent and genre-bending. As everyone knows, they disbanded in the mid-80s, and it's great to see that half of the driving force behind the band hasn't lost his musical prowess. Strummer's new album, while very un-Clash (with the exception of their slower numbers, a la Straight to Hell, et al), is a poignant, subtle album filled with his obvious penchant for electronica (as seen on the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack). I'm tempted to compare this album to my all time favorite, Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind. Both albums are by men who have experienced quite a full life and may be getting older, but by no means rustier.

This may not the be the best piece of music Joe Strummer has ever created--London Calling will forever be remembered as one of the most important records ever produced, and the other two Mescaleros albums are just as good--but this is my favorite.

I began as a Clash fan. They were my favorite band and London Calling was my favorite album for years. I own everything they ever made except Combat Rock, which, at first, I didn't buy because I thought it was a "sell-out" album, and by the time I realized how stupid that was I didn't really care anymore. But if I can blaspheme for a moment, I like everything the Mescaleros have done better than anything by the Clash. In fact, I like it A LOT better. That's partly because my tastes have mellowed out some, but, regardless, this is a fantastic album, as are Global A Go-Go and Streetcore.

Once you get past the opener "Tony Adams," which almost sounds like a natural next step for the clash, with its yelling Joe on vocals, the first thing you'll be shocked by is the African/world-beat sounds of "Sandpaper Blues" and really the whole album. The second thing you'll notice, especially towards the end of the album, is how much Joe softened as he aged. Songs like "Nitcomb" and "Willesden to Cricklewood" are much mellower than any Clash creation. Of course, Rock Art still has plenty of fury, which the later Mescaleros albums have a little less of, on tracks like "Tony Adams" and "Techno D-Day."

Really, Rock Art has a little of everything. It's at points angry, introspective, furious, soft, and always eclectic and always entertaining. Highly reccomended.