I love the Clash's first album. It was exciting, political and brash.  The second album was more of the same. Perhaps it wasn't as exciting as the first but it was still punk rock. So when London Calling came out I was really looking forward to it. The Clash are doing a double album, yeah! I remember seeing the cover picture of Paul Simonon smashing his bass and going "All right! This is gonna rock!"  Then I heard "Train In Vain" on the radio and thought "what the F@ck! This doesn't rock at all!"  I thought well maybe thats just the sell-out song for the radio, nope.  What I got instead was a large dose of radio friendly pop-punk shlock for suburban Amerikan teen mass-consumption and I can't remember ever being as disappointed about an album before. I wanted the Clash dammit, not this crass adventure in musical dilletantism.  I don't care how many styles they attempted to play.  Whats the point, where's the energy, where's the anger?  Who f*ing cares about the lyrics when the music is lame?  Goddammit where are the guitars?!?!  Who the hell thinks that trumpets and saxophones are punk rock?!?! The cover completely belies what the album sounds like, the Clash are complete pop rock sell-outs!

Thats how I felt then, twenty some years later my opinion has changed, a bit. I realize that every band wants to grow musically, few people want to play the same music year after year. However I still think "London Calling" is overated. It covers far too many musical styles without adding anything new to any of them and most importantly its too god damned wimpy sounding to be called punk rock.  London Calling is far too self important and self-indulgent for my tastes.  "The only band that matters", yeah, right, f@ck you.

After hearing Joe Strummers' previous pub rock band the 101ers I realised that the Clash never were real punks anyway, just musicians jumping on the punk bandwagon because that was happening at the time. London Calling is too phony for me, where's the punk rock dammit?  There are just far too many songs on London Calling with shallow by the numbers leftist lyrics and no rock. "Spanish Bombs" anyone?  It's just corny. If you want to hear genuine anarchist political lyrics listen to some Crass. By comparison London Calling is lightweight pop music more interested in radio friendly sloganeering and entertainment than social change. Not that there aren't some very good songs on London Calling. "Lost in the Supermarket" ironically works as an anti-materialist screed in large part because of its friendly pop music sound.  "Waiting for the Clampdown" is simply great and is a song worthy of the Clash. I'd give the album more stars but it's not very energetic.  I much prefer the sound of live bootlegs I've heard where the band plays the entire album as though they have some balls. Now that's punk rock. I never bought another Clash album again and instead started listenining to the Dead Kennedys, The Damned, Black Flag, Minor Threat, etc. BTW, the best thing about London Calling is the cover which effectively pays homage to Elvis Presley's first album released in 1956.
I love the Clash's first album. It was exciting, political and brash. The second album was more of the same. Perhaps it wasn't as exciting as the first but it was still punk rock. So when London Calling came out I was really looking forward to it. The Clash are doing a double album, yeah! I remember seeing the cover picture of Paul Simonon smashing his bass and going "All right! This is gonna rock! "  Then I heard "Train In Vain" on the radio and thought "what the F@ck! This doesn't rock at all! "  I thought well maybe thats just the sell-out song for the radio, nope. What I got instead was a large dose of radio friendly pop-punk shlock for suburban Amerikan teen mass-consumption and I can't remember ever being as disappointed about an album before. I wanted the Clash dammit, not this crass adventure in musical dilletantism. I don't care how many styles they attempted to play. Whats the point, where's the energy, where's the anger? Who f*ing cares about the lyrics when the music is lame? Goddammit where are the guitars?! ?! Who the hell thinks that trumpets and saxophones are punk rock?! ?! The cover completely belies what the album sounds like, the Clash are complete pop rock sell-outs! Thats how I felt then, twenty some years later my opinion has changed, a bit. I realize that every band wants to grow musically, few people want to play the same music year after year. However I still think "London Calling" is overated. It covers far too many musical styles without adding anything new to any of them and most importantly its too god damned wimpy sounding to be called punk rock. London Calling is far too self important and self-indulgent for my tastes. "The only band that matters", yeah, right, f@ck you. After hearing Joe Strummers' previous pub rock band the 101ers I realised that the Clash never were real punks anyway, just musicians jumping on the punk bandwagon because that was happening at the time. London Calling is too phony for me, where's the punk rock dammit? There are just far too many songs on London Calling with shallow by the numbers leftist lyrics and no rock. "Spanish Bombs" anyone? It's just corny. If you want to hear genuine anarchist political lyrics listen to some Crass. By comparison London Calling is lightweight pop music more interested in radio friendly sloganeering and entertainment than social change. Not that there aren't some very good songs on London Calling. "Lost in the Supermarket" ironically works as an anti-materialist screed in large part because of its friendly pop music sound. "Waiting for the Clampdown" is simply great and is a song worthy of the Clash. I'd give the album more stars but it's not very energetic. I much prefer the sound of live bootlegs I've heard where the band plays the entire album as though they have some balls. Now that's punk rock. I never bought another Clash album again and instead started listenining to the Dead Kennedys, The Damned, Black Flag, Minor Threat, etc. BTW, the best thing about London Calling is the cover which effectively pays homage to Elvis Presley's first album released in 1956.