Performer Notes
- Also available in a 3-pack with THE CLASH and COMBAT ROCK.
- The Clash: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals, bass); Topper Headon (drums, percussion).
- Additional personnel includes: Baker Glare (whistling); The Irish Horns (brass); Micky Gallagher (organ).
- Digitally remastered by Ray Staff & Bob Whitney (Whitfield Street Studios, London, England).
- If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breaktaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly and the group's own furious mettle. Where such a combination might have proved over-ambitious, the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache. Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldly assertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (11/89) - Ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.
Rolling Stone (11/89) - Ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.
Rolling Stone (p.100) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[The album] sounds crucial right now because of righteous blasts such as the title track."
Q (5/02 SE, p.136) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".
Q (6/00, p.90) - Ranked #4 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"
Q (12/99, pp.152-3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...19-track, filler-free double album....the best Clash album and therefore among the very best albums ever recorded..."
Q (5/02 SE, p.136) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".
Q (6/00, p.90) - Ranked #4 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"
Q (12/99, pp.152-3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...19-track, filler-free double album....the best Clash album and therefore among the very best albums ever recorded..."
Uncut (p.122) - 5 stars out of 5 - "LONDON CALLING engages soul riffs, reggae beats and vintage rock'n'roll as a band of true blood brothers define their battle-scarred universe. As remarkable now as it was 25 years ago."
Alternative Press (8/01, p.112) - Included in AP's "10 Essential '80s Albums".
Alternative Press (3/00, pp.74-5) - 4 out of 5 - "...This is a definitive album in rock's pantheon, and surely a WHITE ALBUM for the sub-generation lost between hippie idealism and MTV digitalism..."
Alternative Press (8/01, p.112) - Included in AP's "10 Essential '80s Albums".
Alternative Press (3/00, pp.74-5) - 4 out of 5 - "...This is a definitive album in rock's pantheon, and surely a WHITE ALBUM for the sub-generation lost between hippie idealism and MTV digitalism..."
Magnet (p.112) - "Big, arena-friendly anthems, infectious blue-beat winners and punch-drunk, New Orleans-style R&B workouts....[S]imply one of the era's landmark records."
Magnet (p.112) - "Big, arena-friendly anthems, infectious blue-beat winners and punch-drunk, New Orleans-style R&B workouts....[S]imply one of the era's landmark records."
CMJ (1/5/04, p.6) - Ranked #3 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1980".
CMJ (1/5/04, p.6) - Ranked #3 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1980".
Vibe (12/99, p.160) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Vibe (12/99, p.160) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #22 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...The iconic sleeve shot of a bass-shredding Paul Simonon is well matched by the music..."
Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #22 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...The iconic sleeve shot of a bass-shredding Paul Simonon is well matched by the music..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 5 stars out of 5 - "The Clash demonstrated beyond any doubt that they had grown beyond their apocalyptic but parochial West London horizons to become a world-class band with a world-wide vision."
NME (Magazine) (9/11/93, p.18) - Ranked #6 in NME's list of The Greatest Albums Of The '70s - "...To hear a group blam away so fluently is a joy..."
NME (Magazine) (9/11/93, p.18) - Ranked #6 in NME's list of The Greatest Albums Of The '70s - "...To hear a group blam away so fluently is a joy..."
