363) The Clash - Sandinista

Previous Clash album London Calling is one of my top four favourite albums they swap about but nothing has knocked them out of my top four so when reviewed it obviously scored a perfect ten (318) The Clash - London Calling) That review mentioned my naivety when I first got into music and how I avoided buying their double album, if I avoided that there was no way I was buying a bloody treble.

Of course, when I did buy London Calling it was a joy from start to finish so when the Littlewoods Saturday job money cleared, I headed down to Virgin in Union Street in Glasgow and left with Sandinista.

Now I would get home about 6 o’clock, there would be a quick shower and change of clothes then out as I had to meet my friends to get ridiculously drunk and then not understand why girls did not fall for my hilarious chat and stunning good looks. I only had a chance to listen to side one as I got ready and without listening to the other thirty odd songs claimed walking down the street that it was as good as London Calling. Many think it is but all these years later, and I am only talking from my perspective, it isn’t.

Many argue it’s a masterpiece, many say it’s too long, many say it should have been a single album, each one of these statements are correct because the listener is always correct.My mate doesn’t believe me but when I listen to it on record I do not skip a track as it’s about the whole experience for me but Career Opportunities, Shepherds Delight and Silicone on Sapphire you are not playing to anyone to convince them that The Clash were one of the greatest bands ever and I am afraid The Call Up was a hell of a boring single.No matter what though you cannot deny the creativity and the work ethic on display,  it’s probably what eventually finished them off as they did too much, a break may have done them the world of good or maybe Mick was moving to far away in musical styles from what Joe was writing, sadly we will never know.

The first eleven songs are magic, Joe rapping through The Magnificent Seven, “vacuum cleaner sucks up budgie,” is a brilliant line, Mick duetting with his girlfriend Ellen Foley on Hitsville UK,  Space Invaders on Ivan Meets GI Joe, the rockabilly The Leader and Something About England is just epic,

Somebody Got Murdered they show they can still rock out when they need to (see Police On My Back as well), good vocal from Mick but we really don’t need One More Dub.

Now we have the quality control issue there is nothing wrong with Corner Soul, Let’s Go Crazy and If Music Could Talk but they are hardly essential and that’s the rub. For me, The Clash were/are essential. However, the end of side four the band bring it back as Washington Bullets and Broadway are worth people’s time and if the record had ended here, I think we would be talking an incredibly strong double album as I had forgot to mention Up In Heaven that I cannot fault.

They didn’t stop here and we have another twelve songs to go. Lose This Skin, Charlie Don’t Surf and Kingston Advice are good songs, but we probably didn’t need the rest.

It’s sprawling, messy, magnificent, pointless, bizarre, magical, overindulgent, brave, stupid, ambitious and shows us what talented men they where and why it never worked when one of them left.

Don’t let the length put you off, take the rough with the smooth and at some point, in your life ensure you have had the full Sandinista experience.

9/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Something About England