Global a Go-Go

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 24, 2001)
• Original Release Date: July 24, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hellcat Records
• ASIN: B00005M98E
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,133 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Global a Go-Go, Joe Strummer's second album with the Mescaleros following 1999's Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, mines the same concerns that have always inspired his music. "Johnny Appleseed" and "Cool 'n' Out" center on his brash eruptive guitar but hark back to his pre-punk folk busking roots, with lyrics anchored by a strong sense of indignation and social commitment. Strummer may pride himself as an original punk warlord, but he realizes punk can only thrive by rejoicing in Britain's ever-vibrant multicultural melting pot as he does on "Bhindi Bagee" and the Arabic-inflected refugee requiem "Shaktar Donetsk." His longstanding fascination with dub reggae fuels "At the Border, Guy", while the Marconi-saluting title track celebrates the power of radio to present new worlds and unite communities. On "Mondo Bongo" he dispenses with his trademark bark for a lovely ballad laced with pre-Clash accomplice Tymon Dogg's lonesome violin. This is real anger with a big warm heart; maturity suits Strummer just fine. --Gavin Martin

Product Description
Joe Strummer continues to be the only Clash principal member who remains active. Talking the world and folk influences of Rock Art and the X-Ray Style a step further, Global A Go-Go is a deep, mature piece of work by a reinvigorated artist who has more in common with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison than the Sex Pistols. 11 tracks. 2001 Hellcat/Epitaph Records release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Work from One of the Great Ones, May 14, 2004

By	Juan Mobili (Valley Cottage, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

My father, a poet and an artist on his own right, used to say that there was a "first row "and a "second row" for artists of any discipline. His theory was that, whether it's literature, sculpture or music, people will emerge who will redefine their medium, push their artistic form beyond its present atmosphere, and then there man, many more, extremely capable writers or composers whose work was important but not seminal, not worthy of the first row. I guess my dad was speaking of what B.H. Fairchild called "the difference between talent and genius." Well I think my father's notion certainly has applied, for a long time, to contemporary popular music. I grew up touched -shaped, really- by people like Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Caetano Veloso, Ellington, Joni Mitchell. This is the work of the first row, to be a lifelong catalyst for your times. Joe Strummer belongs in the same first row too. In some way, I feel that this album materializes Joe's lifelong vision bringing forth punk and world, accordions and electric guitars, politics and art, social justice and killer grooves. "Mondo Bongo" is a Strummer ballad, heartfelt, slow, perfect for Joe's mature voice. "At The Border, Guy" should be called "at the edge" with its Rock-n-Reggae. "Gamma Ray" and "Mega Bottle Ride" are precious stones, etched off Latin and Punk, like a working class Jimmy Buffet with something important to say. Global A Go-Go is immense fun but not a Disney ride, his politics just as radical but maturing into a sharper artistic edge.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A logical extension of X-Ray Style, July 25, 2001

By	punkviper (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

If you bought Rock Art & The X-Ray Style in 1999 (or even 1989's Earthquake Weather) you should know what you're getting with this CD. Take the world-music component of Strummer's recent work and diversify it a bit, with much emphasis on Middle-Eastern and Far-Eastern flavors. This time around, the songs are a little more sedate, a little more mature, with some very lush arrangements replacing the sometimes sterile sound of the previous album. More acoustic work is heard on this one, less dance-oriented material, more everything-and-the-kitchen-sink type approaches to the music. And it works like magic.

Just a warning: this is NOT the Clash. I still think that there are people who will pick this up expecting to hear Clampdown II, well you won't find it. But if you are forsaking Strummer for staking out his own territory, and continuing to push his own musical boundaries, well... I feel sorry for you. You are missing out on some of his best work.

This is powerful stuff and further solidifies the theory that Joe is simply not capable of disappointing us. He seems to really be into the songs on this album.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album is absolutely astounding., March 12, 2004

By	Gary S. Fenstermacher "gfen" (bethlehem, pa USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wanna be a Joe Strummer fan? Buy this record.

I never cared really for the Clash or Joe Strummer. Sure, I liked the token Clash songs, but that's about it.

Until a friend played this for me one night. The first half of this record is simply amazing. Every song is a winner. The second half isn't quite as good, but is still great. From "Global A Go-Go" I found myself purchasing the rest of the Joe Strummer catalogue. Repeated listening pushes me to start looking into some of the bands mentioned in the actual song "Global A Go-Go," and from there I've since discovered an entire world of quality, classic, Jamaican rocksteady, ska, and roots.

This record changed my life. No, really. Well, alright, just my record-buying life. What, you've never heard of hyperbole?

It really is that good, though.