The Clash - Sandinista!
#463
by Tom Mott
December 12 1980
Sandinista!
The Clash
Genre: Headache
Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Tom’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Magnificent Seven
Police on My Back
I *love* The Clash's first two albums and played them to death in high school. I struggled with Combat Rock for years, but have come around to it. My unpopular opinion: I think London Calling is BORING and TEDIOUS and summons VISIONS of earnest JOHN CUSACK in a TRENCHCOAT. No!
I tried to give Sandinista! a go in the late 80s but kept skipping the needle from track to track to find something vaguely punk-ish. The only thing that stood out was was Police on My Back.
So let's have a go.
First, some stats: "Running Time 144:09" This is well over two hours. TWO HOURS. That's a LOT of Clash. Even if every song is fan-fucking-tastic, it could be like eating the Pig's Trough at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour: you're excited at first, but by that last bite, your sick to your stomach.
Six sides that some call one of the BEST albums of the 80s and others say is one of the WORST. Best and Worst? Clearly worth listening to. Maybe not all in once sitting. But to be the best AND the worst -- that's interesting.
White Album comparisons are inevitable. It's a big, messy, unwieldly, "this is us, deal with it" hodge-podge. On the other hand, The White Album continues to reward upon repeated listens. Even if it's not everyone's favorite Beatles album, it doesn't end up on "Worst of" lists.
I have already guessed that Sandinista! is probably not the best or worst. The more interesting question becomes "is there an amazing 40-minute album buried in here?" Let's listen and find out!
The first track -- The Magificent Seven -- is awesome! Oh shit! I love this song and didn't realize it's on this album. Promising!
Hitsville U.K. is just awful. I don't even know what this is. It's like the Clash is covering a terrible song at a German beer hall. AND IT WAS A SINGLE! WTF! No.
Junco Partner has trippy reggae dub sound effects. There's a handful of dub songs scattered throughout the album. Somewhat interchangeable. Not bad. Good wallpaper music.
...
By the fifth track, I'm sooooooo tired of Joe Strummer's voice. He sounds the same through the entire album: like he's battling a case of laryngitis but the show must go on dammit so he's going to just push through and strain against his limits. It makes me physically tired.
And this is when it sinks it. Oh Dear Lord, I'm not even a sixth of the way through this. I do dishes. I talk to a friend on the phone. I reply to emails. I let it play in the background. I note which songs are slightly better vs slightly worse. I hear my kids call out from the back room, "Dad what is it? It's horrible."
And then I check again, and Oh Good God, we're not even halfway through.
It's too much. Too much. Much too much. Sandinista! has defeated me.
So, the big question: Is there an amazing 40-minute album buried in here?
Contender #1: When they released the album, they sent a single disc promotional sampler to press and radio with the following tracks:
Police on My Back
Somebody Got Murdered
The Call Up
Washington Bullets
Ivan Meets G.I. Joe
Hitsville U.K.
Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)
The Magnificent Seven
The Leader
Junco Partner
One More Time
The Sound of Sinners
A couple solid songs in there, but also a couple that I hated. No masterpiece. Not even a "Ghost in the Machine" to be honest.
Contender #2: Just picking my highlights
Magnificent Seven
Police on my Back
If Music Could Talk
Charlie Don't Surf
Up in Heaven
Junco Partner
Somebody Got Murdered
Washington Bullets
Silicone on Sapphire
Not quite a full album.
Some solid tracks.
A little heavy on the reggae and dub.
Two final thoughts:
1. It turns out The Magnificent Seven good bell-weather for the entire experience. It's one of the best songs on the album, so if you like it, you'll (a) know kinda what to expect, and (b) realize that you've already heard one of the best songs, and still have another 2h20m to go.
2. Career Opportunities sung by kids. OK, I get it. But, it's just bad.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2UxN3UKyS3Z5r0Sra8A5RF?si=6UAA2SZZQw2E6Xk7z0g84w
Allen’s Addendum to the Sandinista conversation:
Listening to this condensed Sandinista my first thoughts are:
“Magnificent Seven” is good and all but, in retrospect, it sounds a LOT like where Mick is going to go with BAD. I could see my reaction to this being the same as it was with Black Market Clash: Completely unaware that this was the direction not a diversion.
*** Stars
We get some energy back with the cover “Police On My Back” but I can’t help feeling like it’s a bit of fan service. This isn’t really the same guys who burned through “Clash City Rockers”.
**** Stars
“The Leader”. It’s fine. It doesn’t blow me away. In 1980 even Queen is doing better Rockabilly.
**1/2 Stars
“Charlie Don’t Surf”. Was The Clash always really just a retro 50s band? Maybe that’s all punk really was. I can hear Jones’ influence on The Libertines with this. There’s more commentary in Duvall’s recitation of the line than in the 4 minutes of the song.
*** 1/2 Stars
By the time “One More Time” gets going it should be really obvious: The Clash you grew up with is not The Clash of 1980. That band is dead. They have no interest in going back. Their fury is toned way the fuck down, bra. This morphing is as complete as, say, Arctic Monkeys evolution from edgy post-emo band to California Desert Stoner band. Guess which I prefer?
** stars
“Something About England” Wow, I don’t remember this track. This is the most honest and earnestly lively the band has sounded so far.
***1/2 Stars
“Corner Soul”…Yeah. It’s clear. I hate this version of The Clash. What is going on in this song? It might be a great song about race relations but, to me, the playing is boring and the band sounds uninterested. Wait! This is what The Clash would sound like if Bob Dylan took over, fronted the band and Strummer decided to strip his vocals and warble all over it and then add reverb.
** Stars
“Let’s Go Crazy” I can’t get past how much it sounds like a Clash version of a Talking Heads song. Was this on the Something Wild soundtrack? I feel like I’m being preached to.
*** Stars
“If Music Could Talk” There is a track on Black Market Clash called “Bankrobber/Robber Dub”. A terrific piece of Reggae ear candy. It’s much more catchy than this song but also in the same general wheelhouse. If what you want from your quintessential British punk band is Jazz/Reggae fusion than this is for you.
That’s not what I signed up for.
** 1/2 Stars.
The musical rage, such as it is, meets the lyrical moment on “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)”. Had this record been a lot of this and “Police” and even “Something About England” I might feel differently about it.
**** Stars
It’s clear by “The Street Parade” that Strummer and Jones are not Lennon/McCartney and there’s not George Martin at the wheel. It wants to be their White Album but it just comes across as an album made by people tired of being the band they once were.
***1/2 Stars
We come to the end with a manifesto of sorts. “Washington Bullets” works for me, for some reason. Maybe I just hear the steel drums played in Washington Square Park on a hot summer with a lot of roller skaters in sweat bands spinning around but I’m here for it.
Or maybe I’m just glad it’s over.
*** Stars
You have to accept this version of The Clash as something completely different than what came before. Everyone evolves but it’s rare that a band changes SO much from whence they started.
I don’t need to hear Sandinista again. In any form.
3 out of 5
