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Anyone like The Clash here? - Page 3

post #31 of 41
7/29/09 at 11:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laokid18 View Post
Aside from their more "punk" beginnings, I think that's what made them "punk" - not because they conformed to what everyone wanted to call punk at the time, but just doing it themselves the way they wanted no matter what anyone else was doing or wanted to call it.

That is exactly what I was trying to explain to fuseboxx earlier in this thread, and the reason The Clash were and are still great.
Ideologically speaking, it is punk... but as far as musical style goes, it's like a double negative: The "positive" is the status quo for music at the time, then here comes punk to negate/go against that status quo... and then what your saying is like The Clash negated that negation, which ends up as what? Positive again.

The idea of not conforming even to the non-conformists does seem radically punk; but musically, it doesn't seem to translate.

Anyway... I bet I'm not making sense to a lot of people
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post #32 of 41
7/30/09 at 8:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuseboxx View Post
Ideologically speaking, it is punk... but as far as musical style goes, it's like a double negative: The "positive" is the status quo for music at the time, then here comes punk to negate/go against that status quo... and then what your saying is like The Clash negated that negation, which ends up as what? Positive again.

The idea of not conforming even to the non-conformists does seem radically punk; but musically, it doesn't seem to translate.

Anyway... I bet I'm not making sense to a lot of people
No, you're making perfect sense to everyone, you just fail to get the point.

What you've termed non-conformity is better described as artistic freedom. The Clash weren't just doing something different to do something different, they were just making music that they wanted to make. Okay? They obviously had a love for all different kinds of music, and tried a little bit of all of it.

And you are entitled to your opinion, but this approach obviously translates very well to music, if the millions of albums they've sold and the critical acclaim that is heaped on them for records like "London Calling" can be used as any sort of barometer. (and if it can't, I'd like to know what can)

Again, I'm sorry you don't like them, because you're missing out on one of the true greats.
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post #33 of 41
7/30/09 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qonmus View Post
No, you're making perfect sense to everyone, you just fail to get the point.

What you've termed non-conformity is better described as artistic freedom. The Clash weren't just doing something different to do something different, they were just making music that they wanted to make. Okay? They obviously had a love for all different kinds of music, and tried a little bit of all of it.
+1

I don't think the Clash really cared if they were "punk" or not, they were just doing what they wanted musically and otherwise. Punk is just some name other people made up and were using on them, or that they wanted to label them as, rightly or wrongly. Who cares? Labels suck. It's about the music.
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post #34 of 41
7/30/09 at 8:49am
No, never liked them.
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post #35 of 41
7/30/09 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuseboxx View Post
I have yet to listen to their debut though, so I guess I should go and try that soon. I just don't like "London Calling" because it's in equal parts Reggae, Ska & Rockabilly as much as it is Punk, which for me sounds like it's all over the place. Very much a crossover record.
Quote:
But more than people liking or not liking them, my main concern was why they're called punk anyway.
if you haven't even listened to The Clash's first album, then -- respectfully -- you honestly have no business questioning whether they're "punk" or not.

i would say that their first release is a contender for the best "punk" album of all time, while London Calling is up there for best rock album of all time.

what qualifies as "punk" is obviously a completely different thread, and only if you maintain the strictest definition would The Clash be excluded. sure, they expanded beyond punk, but all the best punk bands did.

Quote:
Just for kicks though, if LC were a much shorter album with the following format and track list, it might be interesting:

Side A
London Calling
Brand New Cadillac
Rudie Can't Fail
Spanish Bombs
Lost in the Supermarket

Side B
Clampdown
The Guns of Brixton
Death or Glory
I'm Not Down
Train in Vain

33 minutes and much tighter It should make for an interesting listening experience.
the album of material you left off would be just as good... "Hateful," "Koka Kola," "The Card Cheat," "Revolution Rock"... in fact, i think the closest thing to a throwaway track on London Calling is "Train in Vain."
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post #36 of 41
7/30/09 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by VicAjax View Post
the album of material you left off would be just as good... "Hateful," "Koka Kola," "The Card Cheat," "Revolution Rock"... in fact, i think the closest thing to a throwaway track on London Calling is "Train in Vain."
I love Train in Vain.
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post #37 of 41
7/30/09 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I also love Train in Vain, its much better than Should I stay or should I go.
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post #38 of 41
7/30/09 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by userlander View Post
I love Train in Vain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laokid18 View Post
I also love Train in Vain, its much better than Should I stay or should I go.
don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly bouncy, cool song. But it was a last-minute add on to the album and not even included on the track listing until London Calling was released on CD. They wrote the song in one day.

So in the strictest sense of the term... it was a throwaway track.
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post #39 of 41
7/30/09 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by VicAjax View Post
don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly bouncy, cool song. But it was a last-minute add on to the album and not even included on the track listing until London Calling was released on CD. They wrote the song in one day.

So in the strictest sense of the term... it was a throwaway track.
I almost feel like the song is poking fun at pop music a little bit. Its so simple and silly, yet still distinctly Clash -- it's like at that point they were just showing off how awesome they were by writing this totally awesome pop song.
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post #40 of 41
7/30/09 at 11:08pm
All this talk of The Clash made me listen to "The Clash On Broadway" today. What an awesome band!
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post #41 of 41
8/2/09 at 7:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DLeeWebb View Post
All this talk of The Clash made me listen to "The Clash On Broadway" today. What an awesome band!
Yep! I have not even been listening to there albums lately, frankly because there albums suck compared to there live shows.It just seems they really toned down there sound in the studio compared to there lives.
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