Back after a bit of an absence while we moved house and we start with a recent purchase.
Mick Jones' first work after quitting The Clash was to form Big Audio Dynamite with Clash associate Don Letts. I remember the hit single at the time, E=mc2 - I recall quite liking it but it clearly didn't drive me to investigate the band further, so nearly 40 years later let's have a listen.
My first impression was one of being underwhelmed. Medicine Show kicks off brightly enough, if a little repetitive, then Sony employs a little more speech sampling, but fails to impress. Single E=mc2 follows and it seems to come together into something coherent where the song and the sampling work together, but it's still musically reliant on a single theme. The Bottom Line is a reasonable listen, but forgotten a minute after hearing it, while A Party feels to have more of a Letts input, but once again, it's a song based on a single line. And that feels the issue with all the songs on this album - they're all very repetitive, based on a single musical phrase, and not strong enough for an infectious beat or effects to carry through. Sudden Impact! and Stone Thames are much the same, and while album closer BAD has a little more to say, with Letts more to the fore, it's only OK.
In all, a disappointing efort, which hasn't stood the test of time.
2* - One or two interesting moments here, but a long way from the greatness of The Clash
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