Combat Rock - Dark Publications

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•	London Calling
•	Sandinista!
•	Give 'em Enough Rope
•	The Clash (U.S. Version)
•	The Clash (U.K. Version)

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
The final album by the Clash's original Strummer/Jones incarnation is also their most inconsistent. There were musical and ideological rifts developing within the band, and it shows: the experimentation is almost as wild as Sandanista!'s (and the biggest experiment is heading away from their punk shiftiness and into a commercial rock sound), but they seem to be enjoying it less. The band's stabs at funk and poetry aren't terribly successful, but it all came together for two massive hits: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" has the biggest, stupidest, most perfect riff this side of "Louie Louie," and "Rock the Casbah" pulls the band's politics, fine-honed sarcasm, and saw-toothed guitar sound into the service of a dance-floor beat. --Douglas Wolk

Album Description
Digitally remastered from the original production master tapes, this a reissue of the 1982 & fifth album by 'the only band that matters'. Features the original artwork and all 12 of the original tracks, including the top 50 hit 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and the top 10 smash 'Rock The Casbah'. 'Combat Rock' was the English new/ punk rock group's biggest album in the U.S., reaching #7 at the time. The booklet folds out with the lyrics on one side & the full color poster of the group drinking Asian bottle of Coca-Cola that was included with

Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

amazing July 21, 2005
31 out of 36 found this review helpful

I usually hate it when people cry "underrated!!" like it's going to do anything, but I feel that "Combat Rock" (as well as "Sandinista") deserve the complaint.

The first Clash record I seriously fell in love with was "Sandinista." It was wildly experimental, fun, and almost always consistently interesting. It was after that album that I started listening to their more appreciated work (the two albums -- you know which ones).

What stopped me from listening to this album was the surplus of negative reviews and opinions attached to it. People seem to like it even less than "Sandinista," and there are a lot of people who find that triple album repulsive.

But I finally gave it a listen. "Know Your Rights" sounds like a tossed off one-note experiment at first. I was a bit disappointed. But by "Car Jamming," something happened.

I really, really liked it! It's so catchy and weird at the same time. In fact, that goes for the entire album, minus the more "normal" hits -- catchy and absolutely weird. (Sell out? Pfft.) Take the last track for example. "Death Is a Star." Does that even sound like the Clash?

No, not really. In fact, not at all. But for what it is, it's not half bad! That's the beauty of The Clash circa "Sandinista!" and "Combat Rock" -- they tried so many genres and almost always succeeded in some various way. And if they didn't, it was at least an interesting failure.

This one is like "Sandinista!" edited down to a single disc, making it an extremely cohesive album. In fact, it's probably their most cohesive album. Even more so than the perfection of "London Calling."

Hell, even the hits ("Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah") are great. They're not as overplayed as some on here make them out to be.

Every single song has something to offer. "Inoculated City" is perfect pop, "Overpowered by Funk" is The Clash doing (good) disco, "Ghetto Defendant" is an interesting mess of tense drumming, seemingly computerized voices and tight rhythms.

And last but certainly not least, we get "Straight to Hell" on here. What's not to like?

5 out of 5 stars

No Sell-out December 3, 1999
20 out of 24 found this review helpful

If I read any more ignorance about this being The Clash's "Sell-out" record I'm going to go mad. Listen, selling out is putting out the same record 10 times and being afraid to take chances. The Clash were way ahead of their time with this experimental album, and while there are a few missteps ("Should I Stay", "Overpowered By Funk"), there is also absolute brilliance on this album: "Ghetto Defendant", "Straight To Hell", "Inoculated City", and yes even "Rock The Casbah". "Death Is A Star" has out of tune vocals which somehow almost makes it avant-garde. I put this album up there with "The Clash" and "London Calling". Remember, "selling out" is someone deciding what is, and is not, punk. Punk is someone deciding for themself they're not afraid to take chances, even if they might fail. The Clash, here, try and succeed. Buy this.

5 out of 5 stars

THE CLASH'S WORST ALBUM ... PURE GENIUS August 2, 1999
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Why do so many people think that the Clash sold out with this record? Because a few of the songs became Top 40 hits? Gimme a break. "Combat Rock" is probably the band's worst offering ("Cut the Crap" has been officially excommunicated from the band's discography, so we won't count that), and is still an incredible feat. The production on this album is stunning to say the least, and it blows away anything else that was released in 1982. The band's two "sell-out" singles, "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" are absolutely marvelous. "Straight to Hell" is quite possibly the most haunting song that the band has ever recorded (it ranks right up there with "Rebel Waltz"). The band derives dialogue from the screenplay for "Taxi Driver" in "Red Angel Dragnet," which also shows that they have excellent taste in movies. The album's shorter tracks, like "Atom Tan" and "Inoculated City," are catchy as hell and some of the liveliest work the band has ever done. Do yourself a favor and buy this gem. The Clash are STILL the only band that really mattered, and are STILL one of the most influential bands of the past half-century.

4 out of 5 stars

I'll take this over the Offspring anyday... October 28, 1999
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Is it their finest hour? No, but Combat Rock far surpasses the third rate, so-called 'punk rock' of recent years. I'll never forget the teenage me watching the Clash on late-night live tv playing 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go'; I was completely in awe---fatigues? A mohawk? I didn't even have cable, this was unbelievably exciting stuff. Today, when I hear 'Rock the Casbah' on the radio during one of those insidious 'remember the eighties' hours, sandwiched between one-hit wonder novelty nonsense, I'm angered that the Clash aren't acknowledged in their proper context---a British punk rock band who wrote brilliant pop songs, introduced reggae music and culture to white kids, and changed my life for the better.

3 out of 5 stars

End of the Strummer and Jones as Clash bandmates. June 21, 2005
9 out of 16 found this review helpful

Combat Rock was the Clash's biggest album. The amount of discs it sold made them one of the most popular bands of the early 80's. It also was the beginning of their downfall.
Egos got into the way of conquering the music world. According to Joe Strummer, Mick Jones was becoming difficult to work with. He wanted people to go through his lawyer. Strummer and Simonon (the band's bassist) felt that Jones had strayed away from the band's ideals.

The music on combat rock is a mixture of pop, punk, dance and synth-pop. Strummer tried to keep the music political and revelant whilst Jones wanted to add more beat and hip-hop. Allen Ginsburg (beat poet) appears on Ghetto Deffendant. The tracks range from a Nuclear Holocaust to
a song about Errol Flynn's son. Their most pop friendly album to date (even more so than London Calling). You can
tell by the music that the band was pulling in several directions. The CD comes with a pull out that has pictures and lyrics on them.

Recommended for Clash fans.

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