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08-17-2007, 08:13 AM
| | | | The Clash... Overrated????
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Is it just me or is the Clash's album London Calling a bit overrated???
I know it lacks musical ability its all about the "attitude" but to me it sounds like a bunch of snot nosed 20 year olds. |
08-17-2007, 08:48 AM
| | Pat's the best! | | Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Northern Virginia, USA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by jackcregg  Is it just me or is the Clash's album London Calling a bit overrated??? | It's just you.  |
08-17-2007, 09:00 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cornwall, UK. | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Philbiker It's just you. | +1
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08-17-2007, 09:12 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toronto, ON | | Quote:
Originally Posted by jackcregg Is it just me or is the Clash's album London Calling a bit overrated???
I know it lacks musical ability its all about the "attitude" but to me it sounds like a bunch of snot nosed 20 year olds. | Isn't being a snot nosed youngster the point of punk rock? That's why I fell in love with it in Grade 9... |
08-17-2007, 10:16 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brampton, Ontario | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sarcastro83 Isn't being a snot nosed youngster the point of punk rock? That's why I fell in love with it in Grade 9... | +1 I fell in love with them about 8 years ago, and still love it when I put on one of their records. The sheer energy they had, and the attitude that they could, and in their minds would, change the world through their music makes them one of my favorite bands of all time. It also make Joe Strummer one of the most under-ratted musicians ever. |
08-17-2007, 10:34 AM
| | | | IMO SERIOUSLY overrated..
A couple of good songs... |
08-17-2007, 12:57 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fort Atkinson, WI | | Quote:
Originally Posted by jackcregg Is it just me or is the Clash's album London Calling a bit overrated???
I know it lacks musical ability its all about the "attitude" but to me it sounds like a bunch of snot nosed 20 year olds. | Have you actually listened to the whole thing, all the way through?
I could see that comment about "snot nosed 20 year olds" regarding their first two albums, but definitely not "London Calling." That album represents a HUGE leap forward for that band, musically. There just weren't too many other bands at the time melding punk rock along with rockabilly, reggae, and other musical influences. It's not just another punk record...it's probably one of the most important rock albums of the last 30 years.
As you can probably tell, I'm a huge Clash fan, but I really think you need to re-listen to that album, the whole way through, at least once. I don't think I liked it a lot when I first got it, either, but it grew on me very quickly.
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08-17-2007, 10:03 PM
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Owner/Builder: HJC Customs USA, The Cool Lute, C G O | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Southwest Michigan | | | The Clash have their place in the annals of Rock and Punk, and always will, so Overrated is subjective to the listener. |
08-18-2007, 04:53 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia | | | I do not really think any clash stuff is extremely fantastic, just easy to listen to. BUT the bassist does have incredible skill witch i believe is used more in the good the bad and the queen. And i am sure strummer and the rest can make music far superior but would that still be the clash? |
08-18-2007, 08:16 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lancs,UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Jezz8me I do not really think any clash stuff is extremely fantastic, just easy to listen to. BUT the bassist does have incredible skill witch i believe is used more in the good the bad and the queen. And i am sure strummer and the rest can make music far superior but would that still be the clash? |
Joe Strummers music since he died is pretty bad  RIP Joe  |
08-18-2007, 08:41 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Edinburgh & Dundee, Scotland | | | The Clash arent over rated at all IMO
The Sex Pistols on the other hand, they were just gash IMO, same with the Ramones
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08-19-2007, 03:32 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada | | | It's overrated but so are many of the other "Top 100 Albums of all Time (or whatever similar list you might see).
Just listen to Pet Sounds as an example. I absolutely HATE the Beach Boys but Pet Sounds is an excellent album and I love playing the whole thing. IS it in the top 5 or 6 best albums ever made? Not even close IMO.
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08-19-2007, 04:41 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Big Sound Central | | | The Clash can not possibly be overrated. London Calling makes even Cut the Crap forgivable.
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08-19-2007, 07:43 PM
|  | Total Hyper-Elite Member | | Join Date: May 2000 Location: Groom Lake, NV | | | The Clash are still around? I haven't heard a thing since "Rock the Casbah."
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08-19-2007, 08:53 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Shirley, MA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Munjibunga The Clash are still around? I haven't heard a thing since "Rock the Casbah." | No, The Clash as everyone remembers them was basically done not long after Combat Rock (the album that had "Rock the Casbah" on it) came out. Topper Headon got booted out of the band shortly after they finished that album due to his worsening heroin addiction. Mick Jones and Joe Strummer weren't getting along terribly well by that point, and Jones got canned as well. There was one more Clash album after that (the aforementioned Cut the Crap), but aside from Strummer's vocals, much of the playing on that album was done by session musicians.
Joe Strummer died of an undiagnosed heart defect in 2002, effectively ending any hope for a Clash reunion. Just prior to that, he had been playing with his new band, The Mescaleros (the three albums he did with this band are really good, I definitely recommend them). Mick Jones even joined them on stage once during a benefit for striking firefighters for a couple of Clash songs. |
08-19-2007, 09:12 PM
| | | | Ha, Paul Simonon doesnt have 'amazing' skills. I believe im just a tad technically better than him. But he wrote some great lines which drive the songs like London calling and Guns of brixton.
He does hav incredible presence and dance moves tho |
08-19-2007, 09:19 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edinboro, PA | | | Overrated? You're joking?! I mean, the thing you have to take into account: They were the first band to sound like the Clash. You may consider what they've done generic, but that's probably because... well your profile age is blank, but I'm guessing you are youngish, if that's the case, you have to take INFLUENCE into account.
The Clash paved a lot of musical ground, some genre mashing that didn't exist in punk/rock in general. Take into account WHEN London Calling was released, then maybe rethink what you've said... or maybe not, it's all your opinion vs. others.
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08-19-2007, 09:29 PM
| | | | I was a HUGE Clash fan. It all started with my hearing Paul Simonon playing the bassline on the title track "London Calling". Damn! That guy can play bass! The great thumpy Fender Precisions were his axes of choice and he really played them with great power and accuracy.
I then did as we all do and go back into the catalog. I quickly realized that the 1st and 2nd albums were much better. Sure, "London Calling" has some great songs, but they were starting to push the limits away from what they did best, straight ahead punk rock. "Sandinista" was a further adventure into the Clash's "creative" side, but there was a lot of songs that I forced myself to like only because, after all, they were the only band that mattered. But, that wore off soon and I became very bored with the album. The next one, "Combat Rock", was a disappointment to say the least.
Do I think the Clash in over-rated? No. They certainly were an original band with original ideas and an original sound. Joe Strummer was an excellent frontman. I saw the band a few times live and Joe always connected with the audience. Mick Jones proved that lead guitar doesn't have to be complicated to be interesting. Paul Simonon was right up there with the best bass players of the punk/new wave movement (Bruce Thomas, Graham Maby, to name a couple). Topper Headon was a great drummer that brought much more than a simple 4/4 beat to the punk sound. Terry Chimes also was great on drums.
The eclectic nature of their later albums can be hard to follow. Instead of the machine gun hit of punk riffs like on the first self-title album and the 2nd "Give 'Em Enough Rope", the later albums drift into creativity to a point that can leave many cold.
Okay, flame away if you disagree... |
08-20-2007, 08:02 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fort Atkinson, WI | | | On "Sandinista"...that was a three record album...six sides of music. There's a lot of stuff on there that, frankly, probably should not have been released, or at least reworked. That album was basically just the band going into a studio and being as experimental as possible. I recall reading an interview with Joe Strummer years later, where he said it probably should have just been a double album, or a single album, or even an EP. There's some real gems on there though, like "Up In Heaven", "Someone Got Murdered", "Police on My Back", "Hitsville UK", etc.
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08-20-2007, 08:19 AM
| | Pat's the best! | | Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Northern Virginia, USA | | | I love Sandinista. It's the Punk Rock "White Album", "Revolution 9" (Mensforth Hill) and all.
Every album by the original line up of The Clash is fantastic in my book. | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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