As the party line goes, on "Sandinista," the Clash experimented with reggae, dub, rap, world music, jazz, rockabilly and disco.

Everything but good songs.

Which is what has made this album - originally released as a three-LP set - one of the great enigmas in rock. Somehow, because it was made by a band whose earlier work had earned justifiably high praise, "Sandinista" is commonly accepted to be a sort of masterpiece in its own right. Seldom has critical opinion been so alarmingly off the mark.

For while the great early work of the Clash (the first three albums) commanded the attention of the listener and crackled with energy and passion, "Sandinista" just sits there. The roar, the power, even the pop smarts of the Clash's great work - the things that made you love this band in the first place - are nowhere to be found.

But "Sandinista" is not merely a bad album. It's also a cynical, arrogant album. It's the sound of a band believing its own press. A band so blinded by adulation that it utterly forgot what made it great in the first place. Just lend an ear to such clinkers as "Hitsville U.K.," "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe," and the kiddie-song remake of "Career Opportunities." Could Jones, Strummer and crew possibly have thought these were good ideas...or were they so convinced of their own importance that they believed ANYTHING they put out was inherently great?

So, with this very long album, the Clash showed us what a bore it can be when a stellar band just flat runs out of steam. It's been lauded for its breadth of style but, curiously, seldom called on the carpet for being chock-full of truly terrible songs. But for all its sprawl and incoherence, "Sandinista" does beg an interesting question: Because we love a band's early, GREAT work, are we somehow obliged to like or defend its later AWFUL work? The answer, of course, is no.
As the party line goes, on "Sandinista," the Clash experimented with reggae, dub, rap, world music, jazz, rockabilly and disco. Everything but good songs. Which is what has made this album - originally released as a three-LP set - one of the great enigmas in rock. Somehow, because it was made by a band whose earlier work had earned justifiably high praise, "Sandinista" is commonly accepted to be a sort of masterpiece in its own right. Seldom has critical opinion been so alarmingly off the mark. For while the great early work of the Clash (the first three albums) commanded the attention of the listener and crackled with energy and passion, "Sandinista" just sits there. The roar, the power, even the pop smarts of the Clash's great work - the things that made you love this band in the first place - are nowhere to be found. But "Sandinista" is not merely a bad album. It's also a cynical, arrogant album. It's the sound of a band believing its own press. A band so blinded by adulation that it utterly forgot what made it great in the first place. Just lend an ear to such clinkers as "Hitsville U. K.," "Ivan Meets G. I. Joe," and the kiddie-song remake of "Career Opportunities. " Could Jones, Strummer and crew possibly have thought these were good ideas... or were they so convinced of their own importance that they believed ANYTHING they put out was inherently great? So, with this very long album, the Clash showed us what a bore it can be when a stellar band just flat runs out of steam. It's been lauded for its breadth of style but, curiously, seldom called on the carpet for being chock-full of truly terrible songs. But for all its sprawl and incoherence, "Sandinista" does beg an interesting question: Because we love a band's early, GREAT work, are we somehow obliged to like or defend its later AWFUL work? The answer, of course, is no.