'Sandinista!' - The Clash

[Fuckwittio]

I know there's lots of Clash fans on this forum, so what do you all reckon of this album? It was quite a controversial LP on it's release and seems to split critics and fans to this day. Most people regard it as a decent single or double album padded out with way too much filler, but nobody seems to be able to agree on which of the contents should have been left on or snipped off.
I think it's great. Though it's nothing on The Clash or , it's an amazing achievement, considering it was apparently written & recorded in around 3 weeks. It's also probably the best value LP of all time, a 2 & 1/2 hour triple album originally sold for the price of a single LP. I don't think anyone enjoys every one of it's 36 tracks ('Career Opportuinities' & 'The Guns Of Brixton' sung by kids...noooo!), but it's the longest album I can listen to in it's entirety. I reckon the first four sides are mostly excellent, and though it peters out over sides five & six, there's still some amazing stuff scattered around in there. Frank Zappa's Lather is a few minutes longer and probably more consistent, but I can't imagine myself ever listening to that monster in full, but I can whack Sandinista! on in full and go about my day happily.
So what do you guys think? Would you be happier if it was whittled down to a single or double, or do you wish the whole thing had never happened? If you're a Clash fan and you hate it, why? If you like it, what are your favourite tracks (mine are 'Junco Partner' & 'Broadway')? And finally, does anybody aside from me like Timon Dogg's song 'Lose This Skin'? Over to you...

[dan dirty ape]

I love that it's such a sprawling monster.  For me that's part of its appeal. It's obviously not their greatest album (although 'Broadway' is at a push my very favourite Clash track, it's absolutely beautiful) but it is the result of a band buzzing with ideas and falling over themselves to get them all out.

[The Culture Bunker]

I've recently found myself listening to it more then the other Clash albums - possibly because of the sheer amount of ideas that are all over it. Fair enough some don't work, but that's why God give us the 'skip' button. Plus the cover of "Police On My Back" is one of my favourite Clash songs, "The Magnificent Seven" is a great dance track and "Not Only In Heaven" is just lovely.

Also, I read that Joe Strummer stood by every last note of it, which is good enough for me.

[dan dirty ape]

Also, I read that Joe Strummer stood by every last note of it, which is good enough for me.

'Sandinista!' really sums up Strummer's joie de vivre. You can picture him running round the studio like a blue arsed fly going 'now let's try THIS! And then we can do THIS!' That's what makes it great.

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

It's not my favourite Clash album but I still love it. The covers on it are probably the best tracks (Police on my Back (which I've got a great live version of incidentally), and Junco Partner standing out) but there are still some great songs like Something about England and Rebel Waltz that are original and sound great. Somebody Got Murdered is another great tune. I've still got no idea why they chose The Call Up as the big single from this though, I can't stand it, I just find it really irritating. I like Lose This Skin as well Fuckwittio, although Ellen Foley's voice annoys me on it. It's a great song though. And the fact that it was put out at the price of a single record just like London Calling shows they were always 'true to there fans' and never 'dropped the L from their name'. Even after Jones left, the Clash were never 'sellouts'. If anyone's a sellout it's Mick Jones for letting Levis use their song when Strummer said no, not Strummer and Simonon for kicking out Jones when he became a rock star who couldn't be arsed.

[dan dirty ape]

Another great anecdote from 'Return Of The Last Gang In Town' is that when Mick really got into hip hop he suddenly starting wearing backwards baseball caps, gold chains and whatnot, until the others called him 'Wack Attack' and he stopped.

A Passing Turk Slipper, what's your take on 'Cut The Crap', which let's face it is a total car crash of an album.  Marcus Gray definitely lays the blame for the shit production and horrible terrace chants on every chorus squarely at the feet of Bernie Rhodes, and seems to suggest that Joe was cajoled into adding a lot of that. Is there a decent album lurking in there somewhere or was the Clash effectively dead the day Mick got his marching orders?

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

A Passing Turk Slipper, what's your take on 'Cut The Crap', which let's face it is a total car crash of an album.  Marcus Gray definitely lays the blame for the shit production and horrible terrace chants on every chorus squarely at the feet of Bernie Rhodes, and seems to suggest that Joe was cajoled into adding a lot of that. Is there a decent album lurking in there somewhere or was the Clash effectively dead the day Mick got his marching orders?

I don't really think there is a decent album lurking there. This is England is a great song but then we have horrible noise like "Fingerpoppin'" which really is an awful, awful song. I mean, compare that to the Card Cheat or Safe European Home and you really are struck by how much of a let down CTC is after all the brilliant work that preceded it. While it is obvious that the Clash were never really the same after Jones was kicked out it is easy to see why he was. Gray and many other people have described how much of a nightmare he was to work with at that point, and I think the remaining members had little choice. I don't think they were doomed from the day Jones left though, Strummer and Simonon have both got some great songs written between them and had they gone about making the album in a better way without Rhodes' involvement I think there was definitely potential for a great album. However I fully agree with Gray in that Rhodes is the biggest reason for the CTC crapness, he was trying to become the artist and it just wasn't working. Rhodes was a great manager but he had many annoying sides to him like his constantly trying to match Maclaren. Without his involvement the album would have been better, I think that is very true, but I'm still not sure if it would have been any good. I think they had the right to carry on for an album without Jones to see where things would go but still, being honest, CTC is a horrible ending for the Clash and not the way anybody wants to or does remember them by.