I got through this next album in a single drive home - proof that for every seventies album with long, drawn out rock tracks, there was a seventies album like this one, delivering quality - but with greater brevity.
Disc 227 is...Give 'Em Enough Rope
Artist: The Clash
Year of Release: 1978
What’s Up With The Cover?: It looks like a style crossover, with titles done like a Japanese adventure movie, and a classic American western scene of death and murder. These two genres are similar in many ways, so that's not a stretch. Given the flatness of the landscape, I'd say the guy in the foreground didn't die by hanging himself with too much rope, but rather by being shot in the back. The big patch of blood on his shirt is also a giveaway.
How I Came To Know It: I've known The Clash since high school, but only liked recently. This particular album was introduced to me by my wife, Sheila who brought it home one day many years back - I think from the old A&B sound that has since closed.
How It Stacks Up: We have five Clash albums, which I think is all of them. All of them are good, so "Give 'Em Enough Rope" apologists should forgive me when I put this one 4th. It'll make you feel better when you hear which one I put 5th, so trust me for now.
Rating: 3 stars.
"Give 'Em Enough Rope" is the Clash's second album, so it is early in their career. The reggae and funk elements that will show up in later work haven't really invaded the sound yet, and at times I found myself missing that dynamic.
Instead, I picked up some distinct 60s pop sounds, cleverly buried down under angry guitars and punk vocals. I can't decide if I liked that addition - I think I do, but maybe that's just me feeling clever for noticing. But I digress...
One thing this record does a great job is keeping the energy up. It makes you want to pump your fist, and put your hair into a spiked mohawk, and in so doing passes the basic test of a punk record. As ever, The Clash insist on playing their instruments with considerable skill - a fact I enjoy, but that is decidedly not a punk sensibility).
In terms of individual tracks, while I like the way "Safe European Home" launches the album with a bang, I prefer tracks buried deeper on the record ('side two' fare from the original release.
Among these, "Guns on the Roof" has to be one of my all-time favourite Clash songs, from its opening guitar riff, to the addition of the rolling drum through to Joe Strummer's ominous opening promise: "I swear by almighty God to tell the whole truth". It is a political indictment of state-sponsored violence - or an angry response to a police raid in Camden Market - depending on what you believe. I decided to stick with my Modernist sensibilities, and just enjoy the tune.
I also enjoy "Stay Free" which tells the tale of young punks getting in trouble while trying to make it big. Like so many great Clash songs, amidst the talk of getting drunk, 'nicking' things, and getting arrested is a carefully nuanced portrait of rebellious youth with a limited future. Adding to this painting is a top notch bass line, and a fade out featuring a surprisingly straight forward and beautiful guitar solo. I took away marks on my last review for excess use of fade out, but "Stay Free" shows it can be done right.
I don't put "Give 'Em Enough Rope" on rotation very often - I think because I just don't know it that well, and tend to gravitate to other Clash albums I know better, but I like it every time I hear it. It is an album where the Clash are still forming a sound that would go on to help form the future face of rock and roll.
Best tracks: Julie's Been Working For the Drug Squad, Guns on The Roof, Drug Stabbing Time, Stay Free, All The Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)
Disc 227 is...Give 'Em Enough Rope
Artist: The ClashYear of Release: 1978
What’s Up With The Cover?: It looks like a style crossover, with titles done like a Japanese adventure movie, and a classic American western scene of death and murder. These two genres are similar in many ways, so that's not a stretch. Given the flatness of the landscape, I'd say the guy in the foreground didn't die by hanging himself with too much rope, but rather by being shot in the back. The big patch of blood on his shirt is also a giveaway.
How I Came To Know It: I've known The Clash since high school, but only liked recently. This particular album was introduced to me by my wife, Sheila who brought it home one day many years back - I think from the old A&B sound that has since closed.
How It Stacks Up: We have five Clash albums, which I think is all of them. All of them are good, so "Give 'Em Enough Rope" apologists should forgive me when I put this one 4th. It'll make you feel better when you hear which one I put 5th, so trust me for now.
Rating: 3 stars.
"Give 'Em Enough Rope" is the Clash's second album, so it is early in their career. The reggae and funk elements that will show up in later work haven't really invaded the sound yet, and at times I found myself missing that dynamic.
Instead, I picked up some distinct 60s pop sounds, cleverly buried down under angry guitars and punk vocals. I can't decide if I liked that addition - I think I do, but maybe that's just me feeling clever for noticing. But I digress...
One thing this record does a great job is keeping the energy up. It makes you want to pump your fist, and put your hair into a spiked mohawk, and in so doing passes the basic test of a punk record. As ever, The Clash insist on playing their instruments with considerable skill - a fact I enjoy, but that is decidedly not a punk sensibility).
In terms of individual tracks, while I like the way "Safe European Home" launches the album with a bang, I prefer tracks buried deeper on the record ('side two' fare from the original release.
Among these, "Guns on the Roof" has to be one of my all-time favourite Clash songs, from its opening guitar riff, to the addition of the rolling drum through to Joe Strummer's ominous opening promise: "I swear by almighty God to tell the whole truth". It is a political indictment of state-sponsored violence - or an angry response to a police raid in Camden Market - depending on what you believe. I decided to stick with my Modernist sensibilities, and just enjoy the tune.
I also enjoy "Stay Free" which tells the tale of young punks getting in trouble while trying to make it big. Like so many great Clash songs, amidst the talk of getting drunk, 'nicking' things, and getting arrested is a carefully nuanced portrait of rebellious youth with a limited future. Adding to this painting is a top notch bass line, and a fade out featuring a surprisingly straight forward and beautiful guitar solo. I took away marks on my last review for excess use of fade out, but "Stay Free" shows it can be done right.
I don't put "Give 'Em Enough Rope" on rotation very often - I think because I just don't know it that well, and tend to gravitate to other Clash albums I know better, but I like it every time I hear it. It is an album where the Clash are still forming a sound that would go on to help form the future face of rock and roll.
Best tracks: Julie's Been Working For the Drug Squad, Guns on The Roof, Drug Stabbing Time, Stay Free, All The Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)
1 comment:
I originally owned this album on cassette tape, when I was at university back in 1985-6. I listened to it over and over - I just love it.
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