The Clash

Super Black Market Clash

A great collection by one of the best bands in history.

Review Score:

(10/10)
I am a The Clash fan. Have been, am, and will be forever more.

Having said that, all Clash tracks are not created equal. Some -- to put it mildly -- suck. And on this CD, you're bound to find a few you hate.

I had this CD for a few years before I had it stolen from me, along with about 200 others. Most of my punk collection has thus vanished, all except for The Clash and London Calling CDs that were chemically bonded to my eardrums.

What's this got to do with The Super Black Market Clash? Well, I plan to replace that one ASAP, because it contains some of the most ground-breaking work these lads ever recorded.

There are some familiar-sounding tracks here: 1977 sounds like the musical twin to London's Burning, and the Booker T. and the MGs cover (Time is Tight) is one of my favourites.

But there's a lot to learn on this one too: from the Rockabilly strains of 1-2 Crush on You to the laid-back beats of Kick It Over and the funk of The Mustapha Dance (which had New Yorkers confused back in the day: "What? These guys are from WHERE?"), this CD will completely change your perceptions of The Clash if all you know is Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go?

All I can say is I wish I was in the studio when they were mixing down the dub tracks: "Proletariat, schmoletariat, Joe... just shut up and pass that to the left."

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