The Clash - Sandinista!

by and large an exercise in self-indulgence & excess

This album is an exercise in self-indulgence from start to finish. Spilled across three lps/2cds is a collection of songs and fragments that fall into three categories: reggae-based music that likely could have been an expectable single-disc album; rock-based material of mediocre quality and several song fragments, instrumentals and aural pastiches the appearance of which only go to prove that no one was thinking of quality when Sandinista was being produced. An album of this size (36 tracks; not all of which I consider songs) is a tough row to hoe for any band. One of the most successful multi-disc albums was Dylan's `Blonde on Blonde.' It was but two discs with an 11 odd minute opus talking most of one side of the four. The White Album, another two disc effort, is still the subject of debate and conjecture, marking as it does the early signs of group fragmentation. I have to feel that most folks will agree that The Clash were not in the same league with Dylan and The Beatles. The level of arrogance and pretension in their making a three disc product can only be seen as the aural equivalent of Michael Cimino's `Heaven's Gate."

For the band claiming the moniker "The only band that matters," one has to wonder more about the question of "what matters to them? It is not, however, the musical styles with which I have issue. Except maybe the third grouping which I felt were, at best, the sort of cuts one expects to find as additional tracks on a reissued classic album.

Instead, it is the imagery of this band that troubles me because I have no faith in it being anything more than style over substance. Wearing their fashionable political views on their fashionable clothing, these poseurs always seemed to be at ease talking the talk but never walking the walk. Always image conscious and eager to please as many as possible, The Clash apparently decided to take the approach of throwing everything they had against a wall and hoping much of it would stick; that is to say have all of the material accepted by some part of their audience. This approach is a betrayal, no; it is dishonesty IF you feel The Clash had any modicum of belief in what they were doing beyond revenue generation.

And while I understand that Barrett Strong hit the nail on the head with `Money,' I still expect folks to live by the words they use. Look at Bono or Jon Bon Jovi to see how a rock star can hold political views and live by them as well. Perhaps the only complementary thing I can saying about this work is that perhaps it was a rite of passage needed to reach `Combat Rock.'
October 20, 2008

my first clash album and still my favorite clash album

I bought the original 3 LP version of Sandinista in late 1980 / early 1981, not long after it came out. I'd never heard anything by the Clash and had only the vaguest idea of what punk was all about, but I'd been reading about how great this group was supposed to be, so I thought I'd check this album out. After all, it barely cost more than a single LP, so I figured that, if nothing else, their hearts must be in the right place.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't know what to make of this when I first listened to it. As I recall, my first reaction was, "This is punk???" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My expectations were turned upside down and inside out. I didn't know what to make of it, but I kept going back to it over and over and over. I can't say that I even liked it at first. It was more that I was fascinated by it, that I felt compelled to understand it. It was a mystery , a puzzle that I grew to love and appreciate over time as I unraveled it ... or was it unraveling me?

Looking back, more than 25 years later, I can see just how critical this album was in breaking down so much of my prior conditioning as a listener and preparing me for the great variety of new sounds I'd soon encounter and enjoy. And I still pull this out every so often (I have the 2 CD version now, vinyl is long gone, buh bye) and I become immersed in it all over again. I know it's long and it rambles and goes astray here and there, but I love it just as it is.

Having said that, I've had the feeling for a while now that, with some judicious edits, there was a killer double LP in here somewhere, at least as good and maybe even better than London Calling (which I also love, but it really begins to lose steam somewhere in that 3rd side of the original 2 LP set). So I sat down and hammered out what the 2 LP version of Sandinista would have looked like if I'd been in the producer's chair. I kept most of the original sequencing intact, with just four exceptions (Somebody Got Murdered, The Call Up, Washington Bullets, and Version City were all moved into earlier positions in the track sequence). Here's what I came up with:

Side 1
01 The Magnificent Seven
02 Junco Partner
03 The Leader
04 Something About England
05 Rebel Waltz
06 Somebody Got Murdered

Side 2
07 Look Here
08 The Crooked Beat
09 The Call Up
10 Washington Bullets
11 One More Time
12 One More Dub

Side 3
13 Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)
14 Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)
15 Corner Soul
16 Let's Go Crazy
17 If Music Could Talk
18 Version City

Side 4
19 Police on My Back
20 Midnight Log
21 The Equaliser
22 Charlie Don't Surf
23 Junkie Slip
24 Kingston Advice
25 The Street Parade

Deleted Tracks:
Hitsville U.K. - never cared for it; the only track I can absolutely do without ever hearing again
Ivan Meets G.I. Joe - amusing but sounds horribly dated now
The Sound of Sinners - not bad as gospel goes, but I'm really not into that genre
Broadway - I'm okay with this one but for me it's not essential
Lose This Skin - I actually like this one a lot but again it felt optional to me
Mensforth Hill - crazy backward track that I usually skip
Living in Fame - dub, I like it, but also not essential
Silicone on Sapphire - ditto
Version Pardner - ditto
Career Opportunities - kiddie rendition, somewhat amusing but hardly essential
Shepherds Delight - not awful but it's never really made much of an impression on me either

One of the things I like the best about the track list I put together is that it all ends with Street Parade, which has always sounded like the natural end of the album to me anyway.

Somewhere along the way, I lost the kiddie version of "Guns of Brixton" which I actually like because it's short. I suppose I might throw that into my 2 LP sequence if I could figure out a good place for it.

One of these days, maybe I'll burn my own custom killer edited version of Sandinista. Or maybe I won't. It's a great piece of work, even with its flaws and lapses, and it still continues to blow my mind, just as it always has.

One last comment: the drumming on this thing! Good gawd! After all my years of listening, I've only recently begun to hear, really hear, Topper Headon's rhythm work. That guy could play ANYTHING and play it well. I think Topper has been sadly overlooked, not just as an essential contributor to the Clash, but as one of the finest rock/whatever drummers of his time. October 5, 2008

Very challenging as well as compelling (4.5 stars)

The Clash's fourth album, Sandinista!, may be the most eclectic rock album ever recorded. While their previous release, London Calling, was a diverse collection, Sandinista! found the band pulling out all the stops musically. Also worth noting is that while there was a joyous atmosphere around many of the songs on London Calling, the mood is very somber for most of Sandinista! And while not every track works (a nearly impossible feat in a 36 song collection), most of the tunes are very good with a few being among their best.

Disc 1 shows the band trying a little of everything whether it's rap ("The Magnificent Seven"), rockabilly ("The Leader"), disco ("Ivan Meets G.I. Joe"), funk ("Lightning Strikes"), Motown soul ("Hitsville U.K."), jazz (their cover of "Look Here"), ska ("If Music Could Talk") or gospel ("The Sound of Sinners"). However, the genres that emerge the most are new wave with "Somebody Got Murdered" and "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" and reggae with "The Crooked Beat", "Junco Partner", and "One More Time", which is also joined by a dub version appropriately titled "One More Dub." Of the two discs, Disc 1 is the stronger of the two with "The Magnificent Seven", "The Crooked Beat", "Somebody Got Murdered", and "Up in Heaven" being the best songs and "Let's Go Crazy" being the only subpar tune.

Disc 2 continues the eclecticism with a heavier emphasis on reggae and dub. This time, the band cover hard rock on the opening "Police on My Back" and attempt psychedelia on "Mensforth Hill", which is "Something About England" played backwards. The latter may have worked for the Beatles on The White Album but here it's one of a few failed experiments on the disc. We get more rockabilly on "Midnight Log" and more new wave on "Charlie Don't Surf", and three gems in the anti-war track "The Call Up", the dance tune "Version City", and the ballad "Broadway." The reggae tunes are very good with "The Equaliser" and "Washington Bullets" being the best on the album. There are a few clunkers here like "Silicone on Sapphire", "Shepherd's Delight", and an ill advised cover of their own "Career Opportunities" but fortunately they're near the end of the disc. In closing, Sandinista! is by far the most challenging release of the Clash's catalog. However, several listens and a bit of patience reveal this to be a compelling album.
August 24, 2008

Don't listen to the album unless you want to pay attention

TURN THIS UP REAL LOUD, GET HIGH, LISTEN, TUNE IN...

To those who say this is not a great album, and that you need to create your own cd from the 36 tracks: Go listen to the radio, this is not for you, this is for people who actually like the adventure and excitement of albums.

I have never been a huge fan of the clash, more of a very casual part-time listener, never really hearing more than London Calling and bits and pieces of other albums. My girlfriend has been a fan of them for many years so she played me a few other albums, and while I enjoyed their music and thought of them as much more than just a punk band, I never really knew how great they were until I finally listened to this work of mastery. I can't believe how good this is.

I think you really have to pay attention to this album to get it. You can't just put this on in the background and look for good singles or hardcore punk/rock blasts, this is a full album that needs to really be absorbed in full.

This was not a f_ck you to the record label.
This was not a treat for hardcore fans.
This was not them scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to make this so long.

This is one of the best albums ever made in the history of music, spanning almost every genre of music, bridging the past with what was going to come in the future, very big sound, amazing instrumental moments with great surprises and subtle changes that are mind-blowing. The thickness of this album will totally shock anybody who hasn't listened to it and likes bands like My Morning jacket, Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Olivia Tremor control or any other psychedelicesque music that has many, many layers of sound. The thing that really struck me the most was the layering of sound on Sandinista! I totally have to rethink of my perception of the Clash after this experience.

I just hope more people listen to this properly.
If you have ever listened to this and wished you liked it more, or if you have never even liked the Clash at all, get really stoned and put this in your stereo...enjoy.

June 27, 2008

My first love (musically)

This is the album that turned me onto music when I was a kid. Before that music was "nice" but not necessary. That aside, this is still my favourite album of all time and I can't believe I lived without it for almost a decade. Since being reunited with "Sandinista!" I have listened to it almost every single day. The best album by the best band ever. June 26, 2008

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