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The Clash - combat rock (bear's box) (1982)

Track listing:
  1. This Is Radio Clash - Single 4:12
  2. Radio Clash - Single 4:10
  3. Midnight to Stevens 4:39
  4. Know Your Rights - Combat Rock 3:44
  5. car jamming 4:01
  6. Should I Stay Or Should I Go - Combat Rock 3:09
  7. Rock The Casbah - Combat Rock
  8. red angel dragnet 3:46
  9. Straight To Hell - Unedited Version 6:57
  10. overpowered by funk 4:53
  11. Atom Tan - Combat Rock 2:30
  12. sean flynn 4:33
  13. ghetto defendant 4:45
  14. Inoculated City - Combat Rock 2:15
  15. Death Is a Star 3:11
  16. Cool Confusion - Single 3:15
  17. Every Little Bit Hurts - Combat Rock Outtake 4:37
  18. First Night Back in London 2:59
  19. Long Time Jerk - Single 2:57
  20. The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too - Combat Rock Outtake 3:41
  21. Kill Time - Combat Rock Outtake 5:06
  22. Mustapha Dance - Combat Rock Single Remix 4:27
  23. Red Angel Dragnet - Edited Version 3:25
  24. Straight To Hell - Edited Version
  25. Ghetto Defendant - Edited Version 4:16
  26. Rock The Casbah - Hot Tracks Remix 6:34
  27. Rock the Casbah 6:52
  28. House Of The Ju-ju Queen 3:12
  29. This Is England - Clash 2 Single 3:50

Notes


On the surface of things, Combat Rock appears to be a retreat from the sprawling stylistic explorations of London Calling and Sandinista! The pounding arena-rock of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" makes the Clash sound like an arena rock band, and much of the album boasts a muscular, heavy sound courtesy of producer Glyn Johns. But things aren't quite that simple. Combat Rock contains heavy flirtations with rap, funk and reggae, and it even has a cameo by poet Allen Ginsberg — if this album is, as it has often been claimed, the Clash's sell-out effort, it's a very strange way to sell-out. Even with the infectious, dance-inflected New Wave pop of "Rock the Casbah" leading the way, there aren't many overt attempts at crossover success, mainly because the group is tearing in two separate directions. Mick Jones wants the Clash to inherit the Who's righteous arena rock stance and Joe Strummer wants to forge ahead into Black music. The result is an album that is nearly as inconsistent as Sandinista!, even though its finest moments — "Should I Stay or Should I Go," "Rock the Casbah," "Straight to Hell" — illustrate why the Clash were able to reach a larger audience than ever before with the record. [In 2000 Columbia/Legacy reissued and remastered Combat Rock.]