Artist: "The Clash"
Album: "London Calling"
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Epic

Reviewer: Protoclown
Posted: 1/11/2008

Review: London Calling is the best album ever recorded, and if you don't agree with that, send me a letter describing what it feels like to be so wrong, because I'm actually kind of curious. You see, it's a fact that London Calling is the greatest album of all time because I can go on Wikipedia anytime and make it so, but I totally don't have to.

I remember when I first heard the album, I wasn't blown away by it. I was just getting into punk so I checked out some older stuff that was listed everywhere as "required listening", and upon hearing it I thought "this doesn't sound very punk to me". The songs were all over the place and there were so damn many of them I couldn't even keep track of them all. I had trouble remembering which song was which, and after a few listens I decided it was okay and put it on the shelf.

Apparently this is the kind of album you need to slowly digest for a while, because a few months later I pulled it out for a couple more listens, and suddenly it was as if a beam of light shone down from the heavens and the plugs were removed from my ears. Yes, this album is all over the place, and therein lies its sheer brilliance. You've got your punk, ska, reggae, lounge, rockabilly--you name it, it's probably in there somewhere. With this album The Clash set out to prove that they were more than simple punk rockers, and prove that they did, for this is one of the most versatile albums you will ever hear. With this release The Clash established themselves as serious musicians who transcended genre, as from here on out they were "punk" only in so far as their attitude was concerned; their music went way beyond punk rock's borders, and outside those borders is where they spent most of their time from that point on, occasionally making brief visits back to their old home turf.

And there are a lot of songs to keep track of, nineteen in all, because The Clash decided to give their fans a double album for the price of one after tricking the record label into agreeing to let them do it. But once you've given it a few listens, the different songs' personalities will start making themselves known to you and they'll get inside your head. The length of the album is just right with absolutely none of the filler you find on most double (or even long) albums. There's not a bad (or remotely close to) song in the set, but for my money it doesn't get any better than "Spanish Bombs" and "Lost in the Supermarket".

Give this album a chance if you've never heard it before, and if you haven't heard it in a while, blow the dust off and listen to it with fresh ears. If it doesn't sound like greatness to you, you're listening to it wrong.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)