May 14, 1982 - Combat Rock

A month since my last release and three years since my last song by them, The Clash released their fifth album "Combat Rock" on May 14, 1982. This would be their best-selling album and it features two of the biggest hits, which are also the only two songs I have off the album: "Rock The Casbah" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", the latter of which would become extremely popular. "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" comes first on the album and it begins with a simple but catchy guitar riff by Mick Jones before the rhythm section comes in to form a nice beat. Jones sings lead vocals on this song and he alternates his singing with the guitar riff for a very catchy stop-and-start verse. This leads right into a similarly catchy chorus and it's hard not to sing along with "if I go there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double". Topper Headon's drums are pretty good as well and they connect things back for another verse, except this time Joe Strummer adds some weird backing vocals, including a pretty loud yell at one point. This verse is certainly odder, but still quite catchy and once they reach the catchy chorus, they jam it out a couple times before ending things on a solid note. The other big hit that I have is called "Rock The Casbah" and drummer Headon wrote this song mostly by himself and it's him who actually plays the bass and piano in addition to the drums! It's a pretty cool piano riff too that kicks off the song and leads the way and Strummer sings the nonsensical lead vocals in this song. It's a pretty catchy main riff though with Headon playing some nice drums and piano, and even though I'm not sure what Strummer is talking about, his vocals sound pretty good for this vibe. After a couple verses and chorus's everything but the drums falls away and Headon plays some cool stuff while Strummer sings a new verse overtop that culminates with another nice yell. This yell carries into another catchy chorus and they bring it back for a final verse before once again jamming out the chorus to close it out. Strummer adds some more nice yelling vocals while things are fading out and it's easy to see why both these songs became successful singles. This will be the last we'll hear of The Clash in my library, but if you want more radio hits, they keep on comin' next time!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

July 24, 2001 - Avenged Sevenfold and Sounding The Seventh Trumpet

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release another new band joins my library when Avenged Sevenfold released their debut album "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" on July 24, 2001. But who are Avenged Sevenfold? They are a four-piece metalcore band from Huntington Beach, California consisting of Justin Sane (bass, piano), James "The Rev" Sullivan (drums, percussion), Zacky Vengeance (guitars, backing vocals) and M. Shadows (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards). Avenged play an interesting mix of heavy metalcore with screaming vocals, but also a very accesible style of metal with singing at others. Let's see what Avenged Sevenfold are all about! The album kicks off with a short intro called "To End The Rapture" and Vengeance plays a nice heavy rhythm guitar riff before coming right in with some soloing! He is just shredding it right from the get-go with some really wicked stuff and then we hear Shadows for the first time in his uni...
Read more

November 6, 2001 - As I Lay Dying and Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes

Two weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when As I Lay Dying released their debut album "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes" on November 6, 2001. But who is As I Lay Dying? They are a four-piece metalcore band from San Diego, California consisting of lead singer Tim Lambesis, guitarist Evan White, bassist Noah Chase and drummer Jordan Mancino. As I Lay Dying are part of the budding metalcore scene and they play a very heavy style of metal and Lambesis does all screaming vocals. Let's see what AILD is all about! The album begins with the title track "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes" and things start off with a pretty fast pace led by some heavy, chugging guitars and bass. They break things down not long after getting started and most of the song is at this slower, very brutal sounding pace. Chase's bass is super heavy, White plays some cool guitar that ranges from super low, all the way to super high, and Lambesis can hardly be understood he sound...
Read more

August 28, 2001 - Puddle Of Mudd and Come Clean

On the same day as my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Puddle of Mudd released their debut album "Come Clean" on August 28, 2001. But who is Puddle of Mudd? They are a four-piece post-grunge band from Kansas City, Missouri consisting of lead singer/guitarist Wes Scantlin, guitarist Paul Phillips, bassist Doug Ardito and drummer Greg Upchurch. I'm not a huge Puddle of Mudd fan, I only have two songs by them in my library, but they are both off this album and were both succesful singles. The first one is called "Blurry" and it's got a smooth and catchy light guitar riff that drives the song and Scantlin sings in a solid grunge-y voice overtop. They ramp nicely from the verse to the chorus and it's a nice heavy chorus with some louder guitars and a solid chorus sung by Scantlin. It's a little repetitive, but things still sound pretty smooth and solid and I think it's a good but not great song. The only other song I have is ...
Read more