So, on the heels of a great three disc Legacy series reissue and a 5 star review in the new Rolling Stone (of the reissue), I pose the question: do you think London Calling is as good as its reputation, or is it overrated?

While I love the first Clash record dearly, listening to the reissue, I'm struck by how good this album is as a whole. Any album with "Train in Vain," "Clampdown," "London Calling," "Lost in the Supermarket," and (my fave) "Death or Glory" on it has got to be good. This might be one of the best in my ample collection. I've seen it place #1 as the best of the 70's on many lists, and I might have to agree. Tell me I'm right, or tell me why I'm wrong.

And, if you care, pick up the reissue. It's worth your money. It sounds great, the second disc (The Vanilla Tapes) are good historical pieces, and what I've seen of the DVD is really pretty cool.

It's also one of the coolest album covers ever. That photo of Topper Headon smashing his bass perfectly captures the spirit of 1979, and the faux-Elvis font is wonderfully blasphemous.

The music within ain't too shabby, either. I can't imagine any current band pulling off a double album than nails so many different styles perfectly.

I'm one of the few who just doesn't get it, I guess. I grew up on "Combat Rock" myself - Rock the Casbah, Should I Stay or Should I Go - those were the big hits during my junior high dances... I'm sure true Clash fans would consider that to be the "sell-out" or "commercial" record, but London Calling doesn't have catchy tunes liket those. Even the title track - London Calling - doesn't seem all that special.

I remember when Rolling Stone picked the Top 20 albums of all time for their 20th anniversary, and they selected "Never Mind the Bullocks" at #2 which turned a lot of heads. But I totally got that one. Every track on that album is brilliant, and it influenced so many punk bands in the UK and US.

My favorite Clash is the first one. When "Combat Rock" came out, there was a "girl" (young woman) whose pants I wanted to get into, and she amazingly loved that whole album, so it means something to me (never got into her pants which was probably a good thing; I wouldn't want to be divorced.) But yeah, that album's songs were on KROQ for years afterwards. "London Calling" and "Give 'em Enough Rope" were good, but disappointing to me at the time. Sure, I played each one 30-40 times, and I truly believe disc one of "London Calling" ranks with all-time Clash, but somehow disc 2 always sounded a little too-"filler-ish." I have my vinyl in plain sight, so maybe I'll play it tonight while I watch the Dodgers game. I'll check back if I change my mind.

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Originally posted by Lola:
It's also one of the coolest album covers ever. That photo of Topper Headon smashing his bass perfectly captures the spirit of 1979, and the faux-Elvis font is wonderfully blasphemous.

The music within ain't too shabby, either. I can't imagine any current band pulling off a double album than nails so many different styles perfectly.

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I'm with you on the cover, Lola. Except for one thing...it's Paul Simonon smashing his bass, not Topper.

The smashed bass is one of the exhibits in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I must admit...I got chills when I saw it.

RayRay...I think I'm one of the few who doesn't get the Pistols. I've never been a big fan of "Bollocks" and I just don't identify with the band or the music that much. There are a few songs on it I like, but it doesn't really feel authentic to me. Knowing what I know about how McLaren "assembled" the band, I tend to think of it as more by the numbers punk than heartfelt. But I'm also swayed by how the band has acted in the recent past, treating its fans like crap on its cash-in reunion tour, and so forth...

But, as I've said recently to friends, it is a touchstone record. For many, it was the first "piss off your parents by owning it" record. For sheer cultural impact, I think the Pistols belong in the RnR Hall of Fame, joining fellow first wave punks The Clash and Elvis and the Attractions...

Although the Clash had long been no more when I discovered them, I have to say London Calling does stand out as the best album after hearing them all.

Shouldn't this be on the top albums list now? It has enough reviews. I really don't like Led Zeppelin being the best rated disc.

Punk please.

I think we talked about this a little in the punk thread, but is London Calling the Clash at their best? I love it, but I don't think it's my favorite anymore. I'm kinda partial to their debut. It does have my favorite Clash song, "Lost In a Supermarket."

There's not much doubt in my mind that London Calling deserves very high praise. I don't personally enjoy it as much as it's reputation might suggest, but half of the tracks are extremely good. Just having "Rudie Can't Fail", "Spanish Bombs", "London Calling" and "The Card Cheat" makes it a worthwhile record to own. I just can't shake the idea that cutting it down by three or four songs would've yielded a better result, though. The last half seems a little boring at times. Of course as Sandinista! would show later, brevity wasn't always one their strong points.

No offense intended MJ, but I'm surprised that "Lost In The Supermarket" would be anyone's favorite Clash song. It's the only song on London Calling that I flat out don't like. Just something about it annoys me.

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Originally posted by less_succexecutioner:
No offense intended MJ, but I'm surprised that "Lost In The Supermarket" would be anyone's favorite Clash song. It's the only song on London Calling that I flat out don't like. Just something about it annoys me.

None taken. I've been listening to London Calling since Junior High. I only recently came to the realization that I loved "Lost in the Supermarket." I can't tell you how many times I listened to it without paying it much attention. A couple of years ago when I was listening to the new remastered version, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. The little guitar flourishes that start the song are just beautiful. Strummer's voice really shines. And, to me, it's got to be one of the catchiest melodies he ever wrote.

I enjoy "Lost in the Supermarket" and Mick Jones' vocals.

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Originally posted by mark frankenstein:
I enjoy "Lost in the Supermarket" and Mick Jones' vocals.

I'm an idiot. That's Mick and Joe's on background vocals.

"Lost in the Supermarket" is one of my favorites as well. It's possibly more responsible than any other song for getting me into the Clash in the first place.

"I wasn't born, so much as I fell out."

I like that song about Montgomery Clift. The rest I could do without. Seriously, I prefer Tusk.

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Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
I only recently came to the realization that I loved "Lost in the Supermarket." I can't tell you how many times I listened to it without paying it much attention. A couple of years ago when I was listening to the new remastered version, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. The little guitar flourishes that start the song are just beautiful.

I was going to say almost the exact same thing. I only really fell in love with "Lost In The Supermarket" recently, but I'd now rank it among my favorite Clash songs.

Because Jones sings lead on it, most people assume it's one of his compositions, but in an interview I read recently, Strummer apparently wrote the whole thing with Jones in mind as the lead vocalist.

while I could think of songs that could be cut from Sandinista i can't think of a song to drop from London Calling. I think its a major step forward for the band, in terms of musicianship, music styles, I think it destroyed the pre conceptions of what punk music meant also bridged the gap between the different music scenes where there was an element of elitism, I think Sandinista was more daring and sadly it was too sprawling and unfocused, you had to search to pick out the gems.