Train In Vain

The Clash | Format: MP3 Download
From the Album London Calling

Product Details

• Original Release Date: January 25, 2000
• Label: Epic
• Copyright: (P) 1979 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
• Duration: 3:09 minutes
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00137IH04
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,738 Paid in MP3 Songs (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Songs)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Punk Door Swings Wide, March 16, 2011

By 

Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Train In Vain (MP3 Download)

This was the song that introduced me to The Clash. It was 1979 on KSHE 95 in St. Louis ("real rock radio, for all the people"), and this was in heavy rotation. So I went out and got the double album, looking for this track. It wasn't on the album's track list owing to its late addition to the album, but it was a great inadvertent gimmick, calling it a "secret track" (presaging the overused and abused CD "hidden track").

And pop radio and spandex culture--Elton John, disco, lame 3-chord gloprock like .38 Special, Molly Hatchet] and Judas Priest--evaporated instantly, and the world of The Clash and punk opened before me. This song led the way, but it was London Calling's "Brand New Cadillac," "I'm Not Down," and the intellectual and historically detailed "Spanish Bombs" that hooked me, along with the album's title track, one of the most iconic punk/new wave songs of all time.

From there, it was all of The Clash releases, even the truly awful Cut the Crap. I still listen to their work every single day. I have to admit, though, that seeing them live in St. Louis 1984 was a massive letdown; they truly sucked.

Number 292 on Rolling Stone's Greatest Songs of All Time.