Burning London: The Clash Tribute

by

Various Artists

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I don't see why people are giving this album 1 and 2 stars. It's a good album, just not all of it. Yes, I am a Clash fan too! So not all Clash fans hate this album. There are some severe bad points to it, though. Like Ice Cube and Mack 10's tribute to Stay or Go. What a piece of garbage! My God, that is the worst song on there...Now, look at White Man in Hammersmith Palais, 311's tribute. That is a great song. 311 keeps all of the musical notes the same and the only thing changed are a few lyrics, such as " Punk rockers in LA" instead of " Punk rockers in the UK" By the way, Nick Hexum, one of 311's two lead vox, is a major Clash fan, so he would never think of butchering their songs like Ice Cube. Notice that there are songs on here that sound completely different than the Clash originals, such as the Indigo Girls' Clampdown, that are decent songs. So, if you already bought this album and don't like it, give it a second chance, it took a while for me to like it too. If you haven't bought it, try it out. Sure, it may not be punk, but there is some good music on there.

The thing about the Clash was that they had such strong personalities that their songs transcended the notes on the page. A faithful rendering musically would lack that wonderful charisma that made them the greatest band in the world for the first 5 years of their career. (The last 2 years are best forgotten...) Almost none of these bands have got the charisma to pull off Clash songs. They wind up turning them into dull little jingles that sound as average as any of the slop most of these bands put out themselves. Just do yourself a favor and buy the genuine article. It doesn't get any better in rock than London Calling.