Go Straight to Hell Boys...

Sorry, it's not something personal against the band whose appear on this tribute but...I can't believe they had the courage to do this!, the styles are too much differents, the only reason that this cd has 1 star is because Rancid plays one, they play the only one good song...all other bands should play something into their styles, I'm sure they could make a real good job with other kind of music, but....let the punk rock to the punk rockers.
or do you imagine to Sex Pistols on a Back Streets Boys tribute?

highs and lows

when ur dealing with tribute albums its not likely that ur ever gonna like every song, because if ur a fan of the original band then some other bands just wont do justice to the material. in the clash's case, there are pretty big shoes to fill. high points are the urge - radio clash, 311 - white man in hammersmaith palace. both songs cover well while contributing a little something new. some other songs are either lesser versions of the original or too inovative for its own good. decent buy for clash fans, pick it up.

Influence of The Clash is evident; compilation is spotty

So the Clash-revival fetishism started sometime in the 1990's. Perhaps it began with the release of "Train In Vain" as a single years after its debut as a hidden track on London Calling. It certainly came to a head at the point of Joe Strummer's death, but my wrath aimed towards those cashing in on it--I'm specifically looking at you, Dave Grohl--will be saved for another time. The 1990's were also significant in that they spawned a number of musical acts that drew heavily from The Clash's influences.



A number of the tracks on this tribute are excellent. For example, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones superbly cover "Rudy Can't Fail"--it's second only to the Mescaleros' rendition, which was nearly exact for obvious reasons. In the same vein, Rancid's cover of "Cheat", on which Tim Armstrong sings, is very well done, and also sounds exactly like the original. However, I am somewhat biased because I know both bands so well that, given fifteen seconds, I can imagine a Strummer/Jones rendition of "Roots Radicals" (which is essentially "Koka-Kola" anyway, but I digress). Both Rancid and The BossTones were influenced heavily by, among others, The Clash, The Specials, Madness, and so forth, so their covers do their idols justice. The Urge's "Radio Clash" is also quite good for similar reasons, and stays close to the original. (Rancid, in fact, loves The Clash so much that, during the 11-year span of their career, they have re-written healthy portions of Sandinista! and London Calling.)



Other tracks that are surprisingly good include 311's "White Man In Hammersmith Palais", on which Nick Hexum approximates Strummer vocal mannerisms. Though he's not an ape of them like Armstrong is, he does sing in a semi-Cockney, and even includes the "just leave me alone/looky looky looky" lines at the end of the song. I also enjoyed Ice Cube's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" for two reasons. First, the original song wasn't that fantastic in the first place--one of Combat Rock's weaker points, I think--and this provides a refreshing interpretation. Secondly, this song seems to me to represent what The Clash founded in the hip-hop community in 1980 when they wrote songs such as "The Magnificent Seven" and "Lightning Strikes." Cracker's alt-country version of "White Riot" shows the band's style and attitude perfectly. Representative of the slacker generation, it makes perfect sense for the band who wrote "I Hate My Generation" to turn "White Riot" into an ironic statement.



Some tracks, however, are less than stellar. No Doubt's "Hateful", while vocally excellent, has backing music that would make the song fit for a McDonald's commercial. No Doubt's early albums--the ones no one actually owns--were instrumentally sound; thus, this comes across, to me, as a song on which they had the capability to do better. "Clampdown" by the Indigo Girls turns The Clash into (well-done) feminist acoustic rock. While I'm sure Joe Strummer's ideologies paved the political landscape of modern music, I'm not fond of this passive-aggressive "Clampdown."



The remainder of the tracks are wretched. The Afghan Whigs' "Lost In the Supermarket" begins exactly like the original "Train In Vain" does, then quickly turns into a slice of tasty hipsterati indie rock. While the original wasn't an exciting number to begin with, this version is even less so. It does, however, show the vocal influence of Mick Jones on trucker-hatted indie boys everywhere. Moby's version of "Straight to Hell" pays the song no respect, turning it into a sad parody. Third Eye Blind's "Train In Vain" sounds like a frat-boy cover band karaoke ensemble...which is fine if you like that sort of thing. Finally regarding Silverchair's "London's Burning", I say only this: "Turning (angsty teenaged) rebellion into money" is terribly obvious and overdone.



I agree with the poster who stated that "only the fanatics" investigate this album. If you are one, you will likely agree with me or think I am mad; Clash fans agree to disagree. If you are not yet a fanatic, start buying their albums, you yobbos. Make sure to give Sandinista! a spin. It's my personal favorite.