I have London Calling by the clash, and it is sertainly a decent album, but what is it about the album which leads many people to consider it one of the best albums ever?
No idea, I think the best Clash album is their eponymous one (UK version).
I believe it was John Lennon who called it the “alternative” sound of the future. (Anyone got a cite for that? Or was it a big rumor?)
Personally, I don’t consider it revolutionary as much as evolutionary.
He’s a good guy.
This post brought to you by the “We knew London_Calling as a doper before we knew it as an album” club.
London_Calling the Doper caught my eye because of the album, so put me in the opposite club.
L_C had one of the best Star Trek threads ever. VERY erotic!
Too bad he left.
As I recall, it was a breakthrough for punk rock by infusing it with reggae influences, which was something entirely new at the time. (reggae music was nowhere near as popular then as it would be a few years later.) Thereby giving punk rock a musical credence it lacked.
Before “London Calling”, all punk rock was dismissed by the mainstream as three-chord thrashing by mediocre-to-non-talented lowlifes. By 1980, all the early CBGB bands had either faded away (Television, New York Dolls), or adopted the less-threatening New Wave sound (Blondie, Talking Heads). The Sex Pistols’ tour of the U.S. was a disasterous washout. Punk rock actually seemed to be dying out. The Clash turned that all around. They proved that punk rock could be artistically satifying, while still be angry & rebellious. Thus, punk rock was established once & for all as a major force in rock music, instead of an embarrassing footnote.
As a general rule, it’s only obvious that an album will be a big deal if you haven’t already heard what followed from it.
But Police released their first album in 1978 a year before London Calling and Police were very Reggae orientated (though arguably not ‘real’ punk). So I’m not convinced that doing Reggae Punk is the key to 'London Calling’s importance.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that the Police might even be considered punk. Take that as you will.
Well, my point wasn’t that they’d introduced reggae to rock music, but to punk music. (After all, Eric Clapton released “I Shot The Sheriff” six years earlier than either the Police’s first record or the Clash’s “London Calling”.)
Basically, before “London Calling” came out, punk music was written off as crude noise produced by lowlifes too braindead to be actual musicians. It was written off without comment by most of the mainstream music press, got virtually no airplay (outside NYC & London), and most of the rock-listening audience of the day eagerly awaited the day that punk would simply goaway. The Clash proved that punk rock could have artistic integrity, made it accessible to the mass market (whether you think that’s a good or bad thing), and established punk as one of the dominant musical trends of the next decade. Without “London Calling”, a lot of music of the 1980s and beyond might sound very different.
And I’ve never heard anyone question The Police’s punk cred.
I’m not questiong that. I didn’t even know they had punk cred. For what it’s worth, allmusic says this:
Again, take that as you will.
Many early punk acts were into reggae. John Lydon talks about it in his autobiography, The Clash did “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” and “Police and Thieves” on their First LP in '77. There’s some other examples, but I’m a lazy sod…
Is it perhapse that the Clash had a big impact on America? I was old enough to be influenced by music in 1979, but the bands that were talked about in the school playground were Police, Sex Pistols, and Adam and the Ants. The Clash was of minor interest.
If early Police weren’t punk, Joy Division wasn’t punk either. A lot of their songs sound very similar to each other. Just because you’re not “rebellious” doesn’t mean you’re not punk. Music-wise that is. You’re not punks, but thats another story.
The mid to late 70s had quite of lot of “rock” music that was difficult to pigeon hole. The Cars, The Cure, David Bowie, Pat Benetar, Queen, ELO, Yes, ELP, and many others didn’t “fit” into established genres. So, we came up with new names to describe them. AOR, New Wave, Chick Rock, Corporate Rock, Pop Rock (I know, I know).
It was a breakout period for music, imho. We had the beginnings of Rap/Hip Hop, the Punk scene branching off in different directions, some Punk becoming Trash or Speed Metal, some sounding New Wave-ish. We had a major change in R&B (think Prince and friends) and the addition/evolution of P-Funk. The breakout morphed into the 80s scene we all know and loved. 
What the Clash did was take a Punk-ish sound and made it listenable to a wider group of music fans. I, personally, feel that the Grunge Rock of the 80s and 90s was heavily influenced by bands like The Clash. So, they were indeed of some importance in Rock and Roll history. Besides that, they were damn fun to listen to.
Thrash, not Trash. But, you knew taht already.
Oh yeah, part of the rock genre changes I forgot to mention was Southern Rock. Lynard Skynard, Eagles, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, etc… They crossed over into a Country-fied sound in the 70s and 80s.
I don’t know where to put, timewise, the comeback of Rockabilly, though.
Dave says ‘He impressed the hell out of me when he climbed around the table in Amsterdam’. I always liked the fella, myself.
I also enjoy the Clash. I have no opinion on which is their best.
The Police can certainly be considered punk, however they strayed away from the typical punk sound pretty quickly. If you listen to some of their earlier stuff – like say, “Dead End Job” or “Nothing Achieving” or even “Born in the 50s,” you’ll hear much more of their punk roots.