This was released in 1977, while I was still at school, sniffily looking down my nose at these scruffy punks and their noisy music, none showing the technical prowess of Yes, Genesis or ELP. By the time I saw them, a year later, at the Rock Against Racism gig in Victoria Park, Hackney, I’d woken up to the idea that technique wasn’t everything and some musicians were substituting cleverness for ideas.
At that time, I still didn’t really know this album, in fact it wasn’t until the London Calling album that I ‘got’ The Clash. So, forty years on, how does this debut stand up? Patchy is the word. A fighting start with Janie Jones, Remote Control, I’m So Bored With The USA and the album highlight, White Riot, the album then seems to run out of steam. London’s Burning manages to save the first half from sliding, followed by Career Opportunities’ lively opening to the second half. But apart from a superb interpretation of Junior Murvin’s Police And Thieves, there’s not much of the rest that stands out. Nothing bad, but White Riot apart, no classics.
3* - a solid debut, with some superb moments but a lot of filler.
Comments