2022 Charity Shop Purchases 25 - The Clash - Combat Rock
Combat Rock the fifth and the last worth having album by the Clash turned 40 on Saturday.
As is the way of these things a 40th anniversary issue called Combat Rock/The People's Hall is scheduled for release on Friday
It contains an additional 12 tracks with the two collaborations with the late Ranking Roger the most interesting.
Again as is the way of these things a vinyl copy of the album will cost you in the region of £45 to £50 quid. That is a bit too steep for me. I did, however, somewhat coincidentally last Friday fork out a quid in a charity shop for a CD copy of the album to accompany the vinyl copy which I got when it was released.
You will all be aware of the three big singles from the album but the other nine tracks are also pretty damn good. Here are a couple of them.
The Ranking Roger collaborations are only available on a stand alone 7" single, which is incredibly irritating considering that the final side of The People's Hall is blank. Even more irritating was the lack of an anniversary issue for Sandinista! a couple of years ago. Swiss Adam and I are still pretty darned miffed by that.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that Swede.The single sounds more appealing than the album re-issue.A bit of a marketing ploy there
DeleteMaybe not that appealing.They are looking for £11 for it.For a single!
DeleteI know, it's crazy right?
DeleteSwede sums it up for me. I'm gambling that in a few months there will be piles of unsold vinyl editions at knockdown (or at least reduced) prices.
ReplyDeleteI know it sold by the bucket load, especially in the US, but I'm not sure it's that great. It pales next to the debut, Give Em Enough Rope and London Calling.
ReplyDeleteBut it's the last proper work of the band, and is still better than Cut The Crap. When it's good it's very good, but it's a bit 50/50 (maybe 60/40).
Other opinions are available (but they may not be correct)
To be fair RD most albums pale against those you listed
ReplyDeleteIt's sad, and pathetic, how the record labels are ripping-off fans. I'd like to have a copy of that single, but I'm not paying anything like the asking price.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere recently, the view that buying records these days is as irrelevant to music appreciation as stamp collecting is to posting your Christmas cards. It's a view I agree with as the market is ever increasingly about attracting collectors and not folk who want to listen.