Ivan Meets Gi Joe Lyrics
2021年1月27日Download here: http://gg.gg/o17tu
CHORUS Ivan meets G.I. Joe X4 VERSE II He tried his tricks- that Ruskie bear The United Nations said it’s all fair He did the radiation - the chemical plague But he could not win - with a cossack spin The Vostok Bomb - the Stalin strike He tried every move - he tried to hitch hike He drilled a hole - like a Russian star He made every move in. Jason Ringenberg And Kristi Rose Rock. Jason Ringenberg and Kristi Rose ’ Ivan Meet G. Joe’ Featured In. Various Artists. Top Songs By Jason Ringenberg. Bible And A Gun. Lyrics to ’Ivan Meets G.I. Joe’ by The Clash. So you’re on the floor, at fifty-four Think you can last, at the palace Does your body go, to the to and fro Tonight’s the night, or didn’t you know. Joe (The Clash) So you’re on the floor, at 54 Think you can last - at the Palace Does your body go to the to and fro? But tonight’s the night - or didn’t you know That Ivan meets G.I. He tried his tricks- that Ruskie bear The United Nations said it’s all fair He did the radiation - the chemical plague. ’Ivan Meets G.I. Joe’ So you’re on the floor, at 54 Think you can last - at the Palace Does your body go to the to and fro?Popular Right NowWriters & Publishers
from the album Essential Clash ·Copyright: Writer(s): Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Joe Strummer Lyrics Terms of UseMarquee Memories: 311 & Dirty Heads Remembers The Clash Concert
So you’re on the floor, at fifty-fourThink you can last, at the palaceDoes your body go, to the to and froTonight’s the night, or didn’t you know
That Ivan meets G. I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. Joe
He tried his tricks, that ruskie bearThe United Nations said it’s all fairHe did the radiation, he did the chemical plagueHe could not win, with a cossacks spin
The Vostok bomb, the Stalin strikeHe tried every move, he tried to hitch hikeHe drilled a hole, like a Russian starHe made every move, in his repertoireRelated
When Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. Joe
Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G I. Joe
It’s G.I. Joe’s, turn to blowHe turned it on, cool and slowHe tried a payphone call, to the PentagonA radar scan, a Leviathan
He wiped the earth, clean as a plateWhat does it take, to make a ruskie break?But the crowd are bored, and off they goOver the road, to watch China goCheck Out
Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeMain Index PageGeneral Ratings PageRock Chronology PageSong Search PageNew AdditionsMessage BoardTHE CLASH
’Nothing stands the pressure of the clash city rockers’
Class CMain Category:Punk/GrungeAlso applicable:Pop Rock, ReggaeStarting Period:The Punk/New Wave YearsAlso active in:The Divided Eighties
ALBUM REVIEWS:
*1977: The Clash
*1978: Give ’Em Enough Rope
*1979: London Calling
*1980: Sandinista!
*1982: Combat Rock
*1985: Cut The Crap
Disclaimer: this page is not written from the point of view of a Clash fanatic and is not generally intended for narrow-perspective Clash fanatics. If you are deeply offended by criticism, non-worshipping approach to your favourite artist, or opinions that do not match your own, do not read any further. If you are not, please consult the guidelines for sending your comments before doing so. For information on reviewing principles, please see the introduction. For specific non-comment-related questions, consult the message board.
For reading convenience, please open the reader comments section in a parallel browser window.
Introduction
Trying to put down the Clash is just as ridiculous as putting down the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, for these guys were both the Beatles and Led Zep for the whole punk generation. Like ’em or not, they’re there; you can say ’I hate that fuckin’ Mount Everest and its stupid look’ for all you want, but unless you actually get there and cut it down with a pickaxe, nobody’s gonna be interested. Personal relationship is a different thing altogether, and I do have a hard time with unbridled Clash veneration, although definitely nowhere near as hard as I have with the Sex Pistols, but you saw that coming. The best thing about the Clash, I guess, is that these guys were BIG. Maybe more so than any other late Seventies/early Eighties band, even more than the Police (although these guys come close), they starkly refused to be pigeonholed, proving that there was still time and place for the Renaissance-like approach to music as, well, Music, not as a circular pie neatly cut into slices where you’re supposed to take one and leave the rest to somebody who knows better. They started out as more or less pure punk (although already their first album showed signs of poppiness and incorporated reggae influences as well), then moved closer to traditional hard rock, and then exploded into a gazillion of styles, combining their modernistic preoccupation with punk riffs, disco beats, and electronic pulses with a newly-found love for reggae, jazz, pop, and rockabilly. Boasting two talented songwriters (Joe Strummer and Mick Jones) and a highly professional - for a supposedly ’punk’ outfit - rhythm session, they not only did everything, but also did everything well, enough to earn their legendary status and all. Eventually, they got so big, with the triple Sandinista! album, that even the mainstream rock press thought it a bit too much (although as time goes by and ’pretentious’ starts losing some of its negative flair, Sandinista! gets progressively more and more acclaim); but the fun thing is that the Clash only really started to suck when they made a conscious attempt to pigeonhole themselves - and then they started sucking really really bad. The Clash had also a lot of social relevance, but I guess I don’t need to tell you that; in the era of early Eighties’ conservatism, they were at the forefront of the liberal movement in art, and provided the soundtrack to the life of not only socially conscious angry punks, but more or less to every sensible person with a democratic state of mind (and I don’t mean their debut record here, more like the London Calling/Sandinista! stuff). One can now start a long discussion about whether the Clash were putting on an act or not, but the important thing is that to my ear, their music sounds sincere and nowhere near contrived. Sure Joe Strummer was a middle-class kid from boarding school, but he did consciously choose to mess around with low-class ’scum’ instead, and while his lyrics, quite sophisticated for a ’punk’ (compare any random Clash song with any equally random Sex Pistols song and you’ll see what I mean), betray his education and intelligence, his tenure has always been radically anti-establishment. Yeah, even on Cut The Crap. It also amazes me how fast the band made the transition from minimalistic arrangements and melodies to an all-out celebration of complexity and sophistication - and yet managed not to betray the ’spirit’ that was already there starting right from 1977. Melodically, I couldn’t say the Clash are among the greatest of all time, but they’re in the second row for sure, with a serious knack for hooklines and captivating, emotional tunes, a knack that only grew with time (yes, I am ready to run ahead and tell you that I actually think their self-titled album is one of their weakest), at least, until they made the fatal mistake of kicking out Mick Jones and trying to grow mohawks or something. Plus, there’s the insane rate of productivity. During the ’Golden Years’ (1979-1980), they churned out five LPs worth of material - not free of filler, as far as I think, but with an awfully impressive percentage of first-class material at that; I guess they could hold a sort of personal record to be the band that has recorded the maximum number of good songs in a two-year period. In short, The Clash are a force to be reckoned with, no doubt about that. Are they overrated? Oh sure, if you mean ’General Critical Opinion’. Too much responsibility has been laid on their shoulders, more than any mortal could possibly bear, and they are, partially at least, responsible for that responsibility themselves - an album like London Calling tacitly implies that whoever did it lays claim to the title of ’Greatest Rock Band In The World’, whether he explicitly says it or not. And personally, I prefer more humble displaying of megalomania - like The White Album, for instance, whose humour, seeming disjointedness and generally unpretentious atmosphere prove that the Beatles weren’t succumbing to any delusions of grandeur at the time. Or, if we’re speaking of contemporaries, I will always cherish the Police above the Clash, too. Both bands, by the way, were quite similar: both started out with punkish backgrounds (much less evident in the case of the Police, though), both experimented with reggae, both had their sound rapidly evolving over a matter of just a few years, both became artsier and artsier as the years went by, yet neither actually betrayed their initial ’vision’, if there ever was one. Yet the Police always valued substance over style and image (at least until the beginning of Sting’s epochal ego trip on Synchronicity), whereas I couldn’t really say the same about the Clash. Still, fact is, the Clash were great. It’s pointless to deny that. Who else but an utterly great band can make five time-defining LPs in two years and then make the biggest pile of stinkin’ crap to ever come out of the hands of a seminal act? Not even Rod Stewart could boast such a double achievement.Lineup: Mick Jones - lead guitar, vocals; Joe Strummer - rhythm guitar, vocals; Paul Simonon - bass; Topper Headon - drums. Headon left, 1982, replaced by old band member Terry Chimes. Chimes left 1983, replaced by Pete Howard. Jones got kicked out of the band, late 1983, replaced by Nick Sheppard and Vince White, both on guitars. The group disbanded for good in 1985.
General Evaluation:
Listenability: 3/5. Increase this if you’re a major punk fan OR a major dub fan.Resonance: 3/5. The golden rule is, the cleverer you are, the less emotional you are. The Clash ARE emotional, but way too clever to be TOO emotional.Originality: 2/5. Well, they did a lot of things in a lot of areas, but I wouldn’t say they actually invented any kind of sound...Adequacy: 3/5. If you learn to deal with Mr Strummer’s occasional Messiahnism, they’re all right.Diversity: 5/5. Can’t argue here. There are few things in the world the Clash hadn’t tried... uh... Mendelssohn, maybe?Overall: 3.2 = C on the general rating scale.ALBUM REVIEWSTHE CLASH
Year Of Release: 1977Record rating = 7Overall rating = 10
No immense social importance can hide the fact that this is... just... a good record. Best song: REMOTE CONTROL
Track listing: 1) Clash City Rockers; 2) I’m So Bored With The USA; 3) Remote Control; 4) Complete Control; 5) White Riot; 6) White Man In Hammersmith Palais; 7) London’s Burning; 8) I Fought The Law; 9) Janie Jones; 10) Career Opportunities; 11) What’s My Name; 12) Hate And War; 13) Police And Thieves; 14) Jail Guitar Doors; 15) Garageland.
So here it is, the most famous album from the entire punk scene, the ’one punk album to buy if you only buy one’, the indispensable Bible of every trendy critic alive and the supposedly greatest ’teen anger’ record of all time. I’ve been laying off on actually putting down a review for this sucker for a ve-e-e-ry long time because, frankly speaking, I’m absolutely not in love with it like the rest of the world, and my review will probably not please anybody. But like an enraged warhorse, I plummet on, and here is what I’ve got to say.The Clash is usually discussed with regard to both of its versions - the American one and the earlier, original, British one. The American is the one more readily available on CD, and this is the one I have: it omits a few tracks from the original in favour of a couple of the band’s more well-known singles, as was the usual practice. Not having heard the British version, I can’t really compare the two; rumours have it that the American song selection is stronger, but the album flows somewhat more poorly than the original as a result. You take it from here. Only thing I can say is it’s a wonder the Americans haven’t edited out ’I’m So Bored With The U.S.A.’ with its absolutely transparent anti-American message (of course, it’s not about the American people, rather about the American way of life, but shouldn’t that message enrage the big bosses from the record industry even further? Talk about embarrassing...) Anyway, this CD puts together fifteen prime punk rock numbers - yeah, the ones that sound all the same on first, second and third listen. I won’t speak a lot about how monotonous and samey all this stuff sounds, though, as it’s the usual punk trademark and it’s already been dealt with in the intro paragraph. Instead, just one remark: the only number that steps away from the formula is the band’s six-minute take on the reggae number ’Police And Thieves’, and ironically, the only song to seriously crash the three-minute barrier also crashes it mercilessly - as if the band thought that ’if it ain’t punk, it needs to be long’. That said, the song is quite good, with Joe Strummer’s hoarse voice perfectly suiting the ragged, blazing power chords counting out the bouncy reggae rhythm, and a nice Beatlesque solo. Otherwise, it’s just one short-lived explosion of rage and anger after another. For me, the best stuff on here can all be found on the first side, with hardly an exception. Of course the band can’t but start off the record with an obligatory reincarnation of the riff from the Who’s ’I Can’t Explain’ - the most classic punk riff of all time, recycled on probably billions of better and worse songs; this time it is used as the basis for the band’s notorious anthem, ’Clash City Rockers’, a song whose choice as ’off-kicker of things’ for the American audience was brilliant, as the band announces its arrival with a real crash-boom-bang. After the introduction, comes the backlash - ’I’m So Bored With The USA’, with its classic poppy bounce (it’s essentially poppy, indeed, with a punk arrangement) and raging anti-Yankee pathos. And then, just to show that the Clash weren’t completely anti-melodic or something, they surprise the listener with ’Remote Control’, a song whose melody borrows quite a lot from Kinkish Brit-pop: just listening to Joe Strummer chant ’whoooo neeeds... remote control... from the Civic Ha-aall...’ makes it apparent which country the band are from - they did spend quite a few time listening to Ray Davies, after all. The immaculate interweaving of these sly, gentle intonations with the usual grittiness of the three-chord formula makes up for objectively the most interesting song on the album. I guess. Pretty catchy can also be called ’White Riot’, ’London Burning’ (the titles speak for themselves), and the band’s hilarious take on the very appropriately selected traditional tune ’I Fought The Law’ (’..and the... LAW WON!’). But then things start getting rougher - the monotonousness starts getting on your nerves, and it sure doesn’t help that they had placed the most solidly written tunes in the first half. Apart from ’Police And Thieves’, the melodies of just about everything on the second side escape me completely, which is only natural, as with such a highly formulaic sound you’d have to struggle like mad in order to get your melodies distinct and highly different from each other. No such struggle here. Of course, it goes without question that if you’re an eighteen (or fifteen, or twenty) years old young dude with your heart on fire and your conscience exploding, these songs will speak to you like nothing else. But you might have noticed that I never even mentioned the lyrics off this album, apart from in relation to music. Why? Because they’re kinda obvious. Strummer and Jones never barked out anything that the other punks didn’t - he just did it in a slightly more subtle and polished way, using certain metaphors and images that the other punkheads simply didn’t have enough brains for. But subtle or no, he’s certainly no Bob Dylan, and he ain’t even no John Lennon; and essentially it’s just the same old messages of anger and hate - anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-Yankee, anti-big bosses, anti-industry, anti-everything. The Clash is not a serious artistic statement: it is, naturally, a call to arms, and thus, can interest all those who are interested in calls to arms. But I’m not interested in calls to arms; I’m more interested in finding out this album’s musical value. And the results? Sure, this album does have musical value; I would be the biggest fool on Earth if I ever tried to deny it. All of the above-mentioned songs are definitely good - well-written and catchy, even if some of them are based on riffs and ideas ripped off of their British predecessors (oh well, the punks never denied that themselves). But this certainly is not the basis according to which the record is usually put on its pedestal. Without the lyrics, the atmosphere and - most importantly - the happy time when the album was recorded, it wouldn’t even have made the top ten thousand records in any classification imaginable. On any site that rates the records according to their social importance (similar to Brian Burks’ ’Creative Noise’, for instance - I’m not putting the site down, but it does have a heavy penchant in the direction of the working class problems), The Clash would definitely rate as a great album. But I rate it according to the melodical side, and in this respect, it only scores a ’good one’ from me (ten out of fifteen). And even so, only after repeated listenings.GIVE ’EM ENOUGH ROPE
Year Of Release: 1978Record rating = 8Overall rating = 11
More music, less revolution. Less importance, more hooks. Still rather monotonous, tho’.Ivan Meets Gi Joe Song Best song: LAST GANG IN TOWN
Track listing: 1) Safe European Home; 2) English Civil War; 3) Tommy Gun; 4) Julie’s In The Drug Squad; 5) Last Gang In Town; 6) Guns On The Roof; 7) Drug-Stabbing Time; 8) Stay Free; 9) Cheapskates; 10) All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts).
I’m definitely the only guy around who likes the Clash’s second record not any less and maybe even more than the first one, although it’s still not at all great and it took me a longer time to appreciate it. But let me explain. At the time of release, Give ’Em Enough Rope was somewhat ridiculized by many fans and critics alike - the problem was that the Clash got slower, and their songs got longer, which was definitely not the kind of thing that true punk rockers were supposed to do. Some, in fact, put the label of ’heavy metal’ on this record, which is even more ridiculous; these songs have nothing to do with heavy metal, even if the album was produced by Sandy Pearlman of Blue Oyster Cult. It’s just slowed-down punk rock; essentially, the guitar tones, the song structures, the riffage, everything is left intact, it’s just that somebody seems
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CHORUS Ivan meets G.I. Joe X4 VERSE II He tried his tricks- that Ruskie bear The United Nations said it’s all fair He did the radiation - the chemical plague But he could not win - with a cossack spin The Vostok Bomb - the Stalin strike He tried every move - he tried to hitch hike He drilled a hole - like a Russian star He made every move in. Jason Ringenberg And Kristi Rose Rock. Jason Ringenberg and Kristi Rose ’ Ivan Meet G. Joe’ Featured In. Various Artists. Top Songs By Jason Ringenberg. Bible And A Gun. Lyrics to ’Ivan Meets G.I. Joe’ by The Clash. So you’re on the floor, at fifty-four Think you can last, at the palace Does your body go, to the to and fro Tonight’s the night, or didn’t you know. Joe (The Clash) So you’re on the floor, at 54 Think you can last - at the Palace Does your body go to the to and fro? But tonight’s the night - or didn’t you know That Ivan meets G.I. He tried his tricks- that Ruskie bear The United Nations said it’s all fair He did the radiation - the chemical plague. ’Ivan Meets G.I. Joe’ So you’re on the floor, at 54 Think you can last - at the Palace Does your body go to the to and fro?Popular Right NowWriters & Publishers
from the album Essential Clash ·Copyright: Writer(s): Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Joe Strummer Lyrics Terms of UseMarquee Memories: 311 & Dirty Heads Remembers The Clash Concert
So you’re on the floor, at fifty-fourThink you can last, at the palaceDoes your body go, to the to and froTonight’s the night, or didn’t you know
That Ivan meets G. I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. Joe
He tried his tricks, that ruskie bearThe United Nations said it’s all fairHe did the radiation, he did the chemical plagueHe could not win, with a cossacks spin
The Vostok bomb, the Stalin strikeHe tried every move, he tried to hitch hikeHe drilled a hole, like a Russian starHe made every move, in his repertoireRelated
When Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. Joe
Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G I. Joe
It’s G.I. Joe’s, turn to blowHe turned it on, cool and slowHe tried a payphone call, to the PentagonA radar scan, a Leviathan
He wiped the earth, clean as a plateWhat does it take, to make a ruskie break?But the crowd are bored, and off they goOver the road, to watch China goCheck Out
Ivan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeIvan meets G.I. JoeMain Index PageGeneral Ratings PageRock Chronology PageSong Search PageNew AdditionsMessage BoardTHE CLASH
’Nothing stands the pressure of the clash city rockers’
Class CMain Category:Punk/GrungeAlso applicable:Pop Rock, ReggaeStarting Period:The Punk/New Wave YearsAlso active in:The Divided Eighties
ALBUM REVIEWS:
*1977: The Clash
*1978: Give ’Em Enough Rope
*1979: London Calling
*1980: Sandinista!
*1982: Combat Rock
*1985: Cut The Crap
Disclaimer: this page is not written from the point of view of a Clash fanatic and is not generally intended for narrow-perspective Clash fanatics. If you are deeply offended by criticism, non-worshipping approach to your favourite artist, or opinions that do not match your own, do not read any further. If you are not, please consult the guidelines for sending your comments before doing so. For information on reviewing principles, please see the introduction. For specific non-comment-related questions, consult the message board.
For reading convenience, please open the reader comments section in a parallel browser window.
Introduction
Trying to put down the Clash is just as ridiculous as putting down the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, for these guys were both the Beatles and Led Zep for the whole punk generation. Like ’em or not, they’re there; you can say ’I hate that fuckin’ Mount Everest and its stupid look’ for all you want, but unless you actually get there and cut it down with a pickaxe, nobody’s gonna be interested. Personal relationship is a different thing altogether, and I do have a hard time with unbridled Clash veneration, although definitely nowhere near as hard as I have with the Sex Pistols, but you saw that coming. The best thing about the Clash, I guess, is that these guys were BIG. Maybe more so than any other late Seventies/early Eighties band, even more than the Police (although these guys come close), they starkly refused to be pigeonholed, proving that there was still time and place for the Renaissance-like approach to music as, well, Music, not as a circular pie neatly cut into slices where you’re supposed to take one and leave the rest to somebody who knows better. They started out as more or less pure punk (although already their first album showed signs of poppiness and incorporated reggae influences as well), then moved closer to traditional hard rock, and then exploded into a gazillion of styles, combining their modernistic preoccupation with punk riffs, disco beats, and electronic pulses with a newly-found love for reggae, jazz, pop, and rockabilly. Boasting two talented songwriters (Joe Strummer and Mick Jones) and a highly professional - for a supposedly ’punk’ outfit - rhythm session, they not only did everything, but also did everything well, enough to earn their legendary status and all. Eventually, they got so big, with the triple Sandinista! album, that even the mainstream rock press thought it a bit too much (although as time goes by and ’pretentious’ starts losing some of its negative flair, Sandinista! gets progressively more and more acclaim); but the fun thing is that the Clash only really started to suck when they made a conscious attempt to pigeonhole themselves - and then they started sucking really really bad. The Clash had also a lot of social relevance, but I guess I don’t need to tell you that; in the era of early Eighties’ conservatism, they were at the forefront of the liberal movement in art, and provided the soundtrack to the life of not only socially conscious angry punks, but more or less to every sensible person with a democratic state of mind (and I don’t mean their debut record here, more like the London Calling/Sandinista! stuff). One can now start a long discussion about whether the Clash were putting on an act or not, but the important thing is that to my ear, their music sounds sincere and nowhere near contrived. Sure Joe Strummer was a middle-class kid from boarding school, but he did consciously choose to mess around with low-class ’scum’ instead, and while his lyrics, quite sophisticated for a ’punk’ (compare any random Clash song with any equally random Sex Pistols song and you’ll see what I mean), betray his education and intelligence, his tenure has always been radically anti-establishment. Yeah, even on Cut The Crap. It also amazes me how fast the band made the transition from minimalistic arrangements and melodies to an all-out celebration of complexity and sophistication - and yet managed not to betray the ’spirit’ that was already there starting right from 1977. Melodically, I couldn’t say the Clash are among the greatest of all time, but they’re in the second row for sure, with a serious knack for hooklines and captivating, emotional tunes, a knack that only grew with time (yes, I am ready to run ahead and tell you that I actually think their self-titled album is one of their weakest), at least, until they made the fatal mistake of kicking out Mick Jones and trying to grow mohawks or something. Plus, there’s the insane rate of productivity. During the ’Golden Years’ (1979-1980), they churned out five LPs worth of material - not free of filler, as far as I think, but with an awfully impressive percentage of first-class material at that; I guess they could hold a sort of personal record to be the band that has recorded the maximum number of good songs in a two-year period. In short, The Clash are a force to be reckoned with, no doubt about that. Are they overrated? Oh sure, if you mean ’General Critical Opinion’. Too much responsibility has been laid on their shoulders, more than any mortal could possibly bear, and they are, partially at least, responsible for that responsibility themselves - an album like London Calling tacitly implies that whoever did it lays claim to the title of ’Greatest Rock Band In The World’, whether he explicitly says it or not. And personally, I prefer more humble displaying of megalomania - like The White Album, for instance, whose humour, seeming disjointedness and generally unpretentious atmosphere prove that the Beatles weren’t succumbing to any delusions of grandeur at the time. Or, if we’re speaking of contemporaries, I will always cherish the Police above the Clash, too. Both bands, by the way, were quite similar: both started out with punkish backgrounds (much less evident in the case of the Police, though), both experimented with reggae, both had their sound rapidly evolving over a matter of just a few years, both became artsier and artsier as the years went by, yet neither actually betrayed their initial ’vision’, if there ever was one. Yet the Police always valued substance over style and image (at least until the beginning of Sting’s epochal ego trip on Synchronicity), whereas I couldn’t really say the same about the Clash. Still, fact is, the Clash were great. It’s pointless to deny that. Who else but an utterly great band can make five time-defining LPs in two years and then make the biggest pile of stinkin’ crap to ever come out of the hands of a seminal act? Not even Rod Stewart could boast such a double achievement.Lineup: Mick Jones - lead guitar, vocals; Joe Strummer - rhythm guitar, vocals; Paul Simonon - bass; Topper Headon - drums. Headon left, 1982, replaced by old band member Terry Chimes. Chimes left 1983, replaced by Pete Howard. Jones got kicked out of the band, late 1983, replaced by Nick Sheppard and Vince White, both on guitars. The group disbanded for good in 1985.
General Evaluation:
Listenability: 3/5. Increase this if you’re a major punk fan OR a major dub fan.Resonance: 3/5. The golden rule is, the cleverer you are, the less emotional you are. The Clash ARE emotional, but way too clever to be TOO emotional.Originality: 2/5. Well, they did a lot of things in a lot of areas, but I wouldn’t say they actually invented any kind of sound...Adequacy: 3/5. If you learn to deal with Mr Strummer’s occasional Messiahnism, they’re all right.Diversity: 5/5. Can’t argue here. There are few things in the world the Clash hadn’t tried... uh... Mendelssohn, maybe?Overall: 3.2 = C on the general rating scale.ALBUM REVIEWSTHE CLASH
Year Of Release: 1977Record rating = 7Overall rating = 10
No immense social importance can hide the fact that this is... just... a good record. Best song: REMOTE CONTROL
Track listing: 1) Clash City Rockers; 2) I’m So Bored With The USA; 3) Remote Control; 4) Complete Control; 5) White Riot; 6) White Man In Hammersmith Palais; 7) London’s Burning; 8) I Fought The Law; 9) Janie Jones; 10) Career Opportunities; 11) What’s My Name; 12) Hate And War; 13) Police And Thieves; 14) Jail Guitar Doors; 15) Garageland.
So here it is, the most famous album from the entire punk scene, the ’one punk album to buy if you only buy one’, the indispensable Bible of every trendy critic alive and the supposedly greatest ’teen anger’ record of all time. I’ve been laying off on actually putting down a review for this sucker for a ve-e-e-ry long time because, frankly speaking, I’m absolutely not in love with it like the rest of the world, and my review will probably not please anybody. But like an enraged warhorse, I plummet on, and here is what I’ve got to say.The Clash is usually discussed with regard to both of its versions - the American one and the earlier, original, British one. The American is the one more readily available on CD, and this is the one I have: it omits a few tracks from the original in favour of a couple of the band’s more well-known singles, as was the usual practice. Not having heard the British version, I can’t really compare the two; rumours have it that the American song selection is stronger, but the album flows somewhat more poorly than the original as a result. You take it from here. Only thing I can say is it’s a wonder the Americans haven’t edited out ’I’m So Bored With The U.S.A.’ with its absolutely transparent anti-American message (of course, it’s not about the American people, rather about the American way of life, but shouldn’t that message enrage the big bosses from the record industry even further? Talk about embarrassing...) Anyway, this CD puts together fifteen prime punk rock numbers - yeah, the ones that sound all the same on first, second and third listen. I won’t speak a lot about how monotonous and samey all this stuff sounds, though, as it’s the usual punk trademark and it’s already been dealt with in the intro paragraph. Instead, just one remark: the only number that steps away from the formula is the band’s six-minute take on the reggae number ’Police And Thieves’, and ironically, the only song to seriously crash the three-minute barrier also crashes it mercilessly - as if the band thought that ’if it ain’t punk, it needs to be long’. That said, the song is quite good, with Joe Strummer’s hoarse voice perfectly suiting the ragged, blazing power chords counting out the bouncy reggae rhythm, and a nice Beatlesque solo. Otherwise, it’s just one short-lived explosion of rage and anger after another. For me, the best stuff on here can all be found on the first side, with hardly an exception. Of course the band can’t but start off the record with an obligatory reincarnation of the riff from the Who’s ’I Can’t Explain’ - the most classic punk riff of all time, recycled on probably billions of better and worse songs; this time it is used as the basis for the band’s notorious anthem, ’Clash City Rockers’, a song whose choice as ’off-kicker of things’ for the American audience was brilliant, as the band announces its arrival with a real crash-boom-bang. After the introduction, comes the backlash - ’I’m So Bored With The USA’, with its classic poppy bounce (it’s essentially poppy, indeed, with a punk arrangement) and raging anti-Yankee pathos. And then, just to show that the Clash weren’t completely anti-melodic or something, they surprise the listener with ’Remote Control’, a song whose melody borrows quite a lot from Kinkish Brit-pop: just listening to Joe Strummer chant ’whoooo neeeds... remote control... from the Civic Ha-aall...’ makes it apparent which country the band are from - they did spend quite a few time listening to Ray Davies, after all. The immaculate interweaving of these sly, gentle intonations with the usual grittiness of the three-chord formula makes up for objectively the most interesting song on the album. I guess. Pretty catchy can also be called ’White Riot’, ’London Burning’ (the titles speak for themselves), and the band’s hilarious take on the very appropriately selected traditional tune ’I Fought The Law’ (’..and the... LAW WON!’). But then things start getting rougher - the monotonousness starts getting on your nerves, and it sure doesn’t help that they had placed the most solidly written tunes in the first half. Apart from ’Police And Thieves’, the melodies of just about everything on the second side escape me completely, which is only natural, as with such a highly formulaic sound you’d have to struggle like mad in order to get your melodies distinct and highly different from each other. No such struggle here. Of course, it goes without question that if you’re an eighteen (or fifteen, or twenty) years old young dude with your heart on fire and your conscience exploding, these songs will speak to you like nothing else. But you might have noticed that I never even mentioned the lyrics off this album, apart from in relation to music. Why? Because they’re kinda obvious. Strummer and Jones never barked out anything that the other punks didn’t - he just did it in a slightly more subtle and polished way, using certain metaphors and images that the other punkheads simply didn’t have enough brains for. But subtle or no, he’s certainly no Bob Dylan, and he ain’t even no John Lennon; and essentially it’s just the same old messages of anger and hate - anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-Yankee, anti-big bosses, anti-industry, anti-everything. The Clash is not a serious artistic statement: it is, naturally, a call to arms, and thus, can interest all those who are interested in calls to arms. But I’m not interested in calls to arms; I’m more interested in finding out this album’s musical value. And the results? Sure, this album does have musical value; I would be the biggest fool on Earth if I ever tried to deny it. All of the above-mentioned songs are definitely good - well-written and catchy, even if some of them are based on riffs and ideas ripped off of their British predecessors (oh well, the punks never denied that themselves). But this certainly is not the basis according to which the record is usually put on its pedestal. Without the lyrics, the atmosphere and - most importantly - the happy time when the album was recorded, it wouldn’t even have made the top ten thousand records in any classification imaginable. On any site that rates the records according to their social importance (similar to Brian Burks’ ’Creative Noise’, for instance - I’m not putting the site down, but it does have a heavy penchant in the direction of the working class problems), The Clash would definitely rate as a great album. But I rate it according to the melodical side, and in this respect, it only scores a ’good one’ from me (ten out of fifteen). And even so, only after repeated listenings.GIVE ’EM ENOUGH ROPE
Year Of Release: 1978Record rating = 8Overall rating = 11
More music, less revolution. Less importance, more hooks. Still rather monotonous, tho’.Ivan Meets Gi Joe Song Best song: LAST GANG IN TOWN
Track listing: 1) Safe European Home; 2) English Civil War; 3) Tommy Gun; 4) Julie’s In The Drug Squad; 5) Last Gang In Town; 6) Guns On The Roof; 7) Drug-Stabbing Time; 8) Stay Free; 9) Cheapskates; 10) All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts).
I’m definitely the only guy around who likes the Clash’s second record not any less and maybe even more than the first one, although it’s still not at all great and it took me a longer time to appreciate it. But let me explain. At the time of release, Give ’Em Enough Rope was somewhat ridiculized by many fans and critics alike - the problem was that the Clash got slower, and their songs got longer, which was definitely not the kind of thing that true punk rockers were supposed to do. Some, in fact, put the label of ’heavy metal’ on this record, which is even more ridiculous; these songs have nothing to do with heavy metal, even if the album was produced by Sandy Pearlman of Blue Oyster Cult. It’s just slowed-down punk rock; essentially, the guitar tones, the song structures, the riffage, everything is left intact, it’s just that somebody seems
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