London Calling [Remaster] (CD - 1979)

The Clash: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals, bass); Topper Headon (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel includes: Baker Glare (whistling); The Irish Horns (brass); Micky Gallagher (organ).

Digitally remastered by Ray Staff & Bob Whitney (Whitfield Street Studios, London, England).

Personnel: Mick Jones (vocals, guitar, piano); Joe Strummer (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals); Irish Horns (brass); M. Jones (piano); Mick Gallagher (organ); Topper Headon (drums, snare drum, percussion).

Audio Remasterers: Ray Staff; Bob Whitney.

Recording information: Wessex Studios, London, England (1979).

Photographer: Pennie Smith.

Give 'Em Enough Rope, for all of its many attributes, was essentially a holding pattern for the Clash, but the double-album London Calling is a remarkable leap forward, incorporating the punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music. Before, the Clash had experimented with reggae, but that was no preparation for the dizzying array of styles on London Calling. There's punk and reggae, but there's also rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock; and while the record isn't tied together by a specific theme, its eclecticism and anthemic punk function as a rallying call. While many of the songs -- particularly "London Calling," "Spanish Bombs," and "The Guns of Brixton" -- are explicitly political, by acknowledging no boundaries the music itself is political and revolutionary. But it is also invigorating, rocking harder and with more purpose than most albums, let alone double albums. Over the course of the record, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (and Paul Simonon, who wrote "The Guns of Brixton") explore their familiar themes of working-class rebellion and antiestablishment rants, but they also tie them in to old rock & roll traditions and myths, whether it's rockabilly greasers or "Stagger Lee," as well as mavericks like doomed actor Montgomery Clift. The result is a stunning statement of purpose and one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever recorded. [In 2000 Columbia/Legacy reissued and remastered London Calling.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breathtaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly, and the group's own furious mettle. Such a combination might seem over-ambitious, but the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache. Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldly assertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless.

If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breaktaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly and the group's own furious mettle. Where such a combination might have proved over-ambitious, the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache. Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldly assertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless. minimize