Sunday, July 17, 2016

The Clash: London Calling (IAS #29)

Apologies for the delay (didn't want this one to be too much of a rushjob, though in a way it is still a rushjob). Here's a really big one, anyway:

The Clash: London Calling

11 comments:

  1. Really glad to see this (not yet read the review). Was waiting for this after listening to the album (after a years long gap). Amazed at looking on the right sidebar of this blog. You can tell which one is a leap year by just looking at the year count. And drill down to each month :-)

    You spoiled it in Dec. 2015 with an extra entry about the upcoming IAS series. Necessary, but messed up the totals.

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  2. I think it is a little bit tiresome to listen to as an album, but it has many great songs. Train In Vain is my favorite for its lost love thematics, though I've heard people say it is misogynist.

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    1. Probably because of "You say you stand by your man". What bullshit -- it's a reference to the Tammy Wynette song, and that was about sticking by the person you love in spite of his faults. If a woman was singing the song and said "You say you stand by your gal" no one would be complaining.

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    2. I remembered, it's this article: http://www.rawstory.com/2008/11/pandagon-the_under_my_thumb_memorial_douchebaggery_in_song_lyrics_poll/

      It's not such harsh criticism, but I recall being annoyed by it reading it at the time.

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    3. I'd say that the author of that article is the biggest misogynist -- acting as if those lyrics can't apply to feelings or sentiments equally-likely to be felt by men and women.

      On the other hand, I'm never one to complain when Beyonce's being trashed.

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  3. This is a great album, but it's criminal that it's ranked higher than Exile on Main St.

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  4. Any album thats better than Exile should be ranked higher than Exile.
    London calling is.

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  5. The Card Cheat is my favorite. Overall the album is a little boring. Were it 15 minutes shorter it would be better.

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  6. Personally, my favorite moment of the album is in "The Right Profile", where the vocal is transcribed in the lyrics thusly: "He said go out and get me my old movie stills/Go out and get me another roll of pills/There I go again shaking, but I ain't got the chills/ARRRGHHHGORRA BUH BHUH DO ARRRRGGGGHHHHNNNN!!!!"
    I hear a lot more ZZZs in there, but I'm not Joe.

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  7. Personally, my favorite moment of the album is in "The Right Profile", where the vocal is transcribed in the lyrics thusly: "He said go out and get me my old movie stills/Go out and get me another roll of pills/There I go again shaking, but I ain't got the chills/ARRRGHHHGORRA BUH BHUH DO ARRRRGGGGHHHHNNNN!!!!"
    I hear a lot more ZZZs in there, but I'm not Joe.

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  8. "London Calling" has loads of great lyrics, but its only around the third or fourth time you begin appreciating them, because it rocks so well all the way through. At times, it's like AC/DC meets Joe Jackson.

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