In 1979, when it was released in the UK, I couldn’t have imagined such a thing. But then, as a British teen who had just left school, I was more interested in seeing if the Clash were a spent force or not: They held a special place in my heart because the eponymously titled first album had, without exaggeration, changed my life in more ways than just my hairstyle. The Clash was my coming-of-age album and had been like a grenade tossed into my small suburban home. Yet, I was massively disappointed with their second album, Give ’Em Enough Rope: At the time there had been much debate on where punk was headed, but surely it wasn’t toward the overproduced AOR sound of this record. With an irrational but sincere emotional investment in the band, I willed their third album to be a success.
I remember the frisson of the stylus touching the vinyl when I heard the opening salvo of guitar and drums on the new album’s title track. With its fiercely insistent chord pattern, near martial beat, and a refrain that plays on the famous BBC World Service station ID—“this is London Calling”—the song combines images of war and a nuclear holocaust with pop-culture references and a dash of gallows humor. Surely “London Calling” is one of the greatest album openers ever, setting the scene, framing what is to come, and signaling the album’s intent as a serious message—or, to be more precise, a number of serious messages.
Two minutes in, I knew the Clash were back.
Tear
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2019-Ausgabe von Stereophile.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2019-Ausgabe von Stereophile.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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AURAL ROBERT
Another \"outlaw\" country artist
Nina Simone: Wild Is the Wind
By all accounts, Eunice Kathleen Waymon, aka Nina Simone, who passed in 2003, was a troubled person and a brilliant artist. Why she was not more acclaimed during her lifetime is a question several recent film projects have tried to answer. Did her fierce stand on civil rights lose her fans?
Vintage hi-fi, old and new
Many audiophiles and serious music lovers are passionate about vintage. Vintage has become a popular \"way in\" to the hobby, especially popular among younger folks.
Tekton Moab Be
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ARCAM Radia A25
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
Wharfedale Heritage Series 90th Anniversary Dovedale
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Technics Grand Class SL-1200/1210GR2
RECORD PLAYER
Thrax Audio Siren
Based in Bulgaria, European audio company Thrax has been active since 2009.
EMM Labs MTRS
STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER
SPIN DOCTOR
Alternative phono cartridge technologies and the DS Audio DS-W3 optical cartridge system