clash, the (1977) - the clash: epic records 1979 US release, PE-36060

By the mid 70's music was suffering from a bit of a personality crisis (get it?).  Rock music was being suffocated by corporate mega-bands, while its sibling pillow of disco was smothering funk and r&b.

Something had to happen in order to save music from the suits.

As it turned out, something did happen.  Disco was confronted with rap, while corporate rock got kicked in the nuts by punk.

Although punk has its genesis in American bands like the NY Dolls and The Ramones, it was the British (much like in the 60's), who managed to take the flag and launch the assault.  The vanguard of which was The Sex Pistols, who unfortunately gained notoriety more for the antics and calculated PR stunts of creator Malcolm MacLaren than for their music.  But the band that really gave punk the gravitas needed to be taken seriously was The Clash.

Side 1: Clash City Rockers I'm So Bored With The USA Remote Control Complete Control White Riot White Man In The Hammersmith Palais London's Burning I Fought The Law
Side 2: Janie Jones Career Opportunities What's My Name Hate And War Police And Thieves Jail Guitar Doors Garageland

The Clash is the 1977 self-titled debut for The Clash, but it wasn't released in the USA because, in a perfect illustration of the total head-in-rectum dysfunction of the American music business at the time, the label was afraid that they would be too controversial and not "radio friendly" enough to warrant actually releasing their first album.  However, after the UK version became the best-selling import of the year, and Give 'Em Enough Rope  was voted the 1978 Album of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine, The Clash was finally released in America in 1979 - only with a different, more marketing determined track list. 

The songs are filled with raw energy, passion, and intensity.  The guitars mount a full-frontal audio assault on every song, while the lyrics display a sophisticated dissection of just how messed up the world was at that time.  For example, I'm So Bored With The USA features some pretty in-your-face critique of the ugly image America had around the world:

Yankee dollar talk / To the dictators of the world
In fact it's giving orders / An' they can't afford to miss a word

I'm so bored with the USA / But what can I do?

While White Man In The Hammersmith Palais brings about a pretty scathing condemnation of the malaise and cynicism of things going on in Merry Old England:

Punk rockers in the UK / They won't notice anyway
They're all too busy fighting / For a good place under the lighting
The new groups are not concerned / With what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny / Turning rebellion into money
All over people changing their votes / Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler flew in today / They'd send a limousine anyway

Listening to these songs it's clear why one journalist called The Clash "The Only Band That Matters."  That was true then, and in light of the sort of so-called music that's around at the moment, it is even more true today.

What stands out in the songs on this album, now almost 40 years later, is just how mature they are both musically and lyrically, and how even though the band were transitioning from original drummer Terry Chimes (who appears on all but five tracks) to new drummer Topper Headon, there is no drop in either intensity or consistency.  In fact, they would only get more intense as they went on.

But back in the late 70's when this album came out it was nothing less than getting hit square in the face with a shovel.  The lack of slick production, the genuine power of the lyrics, and the raw honesty of the music made people take notice.  Especially the suits in their offices promoting the mega bands.  Change was in the air whether they were ready for it or not, and it was riding a horse of grinding guitars and gravelly voices.

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