• AllMyVinyl #46
• Band: The Clash
• Album Title: Combat Rock
• Release Date: 14 May 1982
• Date purchased: Unknown
• Location purchased: Unknown
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

This is an odd one for me.  First off, I have no memory of buying it – or where.  Thinking back, I likely bought this new because I really wanted to hear “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah” over and over again.  Buying an entire album for one or two songs was absolutely a thing I did around 1982.  As I sit here in 2024 and played the album, I tried to remember the last time I played it.  It definitely hasn’t been since I lived in Texas as this was one of the albums rescued from my mom’s basement, so it would have been there since 1992.  I never owned this on CD, I’m fairly positive I never bought it on cassette either.  Since I have so little memory of it from the past, it didn’t make that big of an impression on me where I’d want it on multiple formats.  So I think it’s extremely likely the last time I listened to this would have been in the 80’s somewhere.  It’s the only album of theirs I own (or have ever own), and to show you how out of touch I am with them I picked up the album today to play it and was bummed “London Calling” wasn’t on here.  :)

When I picked up the vinyl as I said I only recognized two songs by title – the big singles.  The rest of it was a complete blank slate, so I won’t be saying a ton here, but I did want to address a few things I picked up listening to the album today.

Know Your Rights – Straight forward intro to the album. It doesn’t vary too much from its initial sound that runs through the song. But some parts in the middle do. The guitar sound has a touch of that rockabilly twang in the solo area. I got a kick out of the song starting with “This is a public service announcement…with guitar!”

Car Jamming – Liked the “jam” (har har). I don’t have a ton to say as I wasn’t sure what to make of the lyrics, but I liked the song.

Should I Stay Or Should I go? One of the two mega singles from this album and likely part of the entire reason I bought this originally. If you ask people about the Clash they probably know this song. Probably the catchiest song on the album too. When I picked this album up to play it, it’s just one of two I knew by title beforehand. Great track.

Rock the Casbah – … and this was the other song I knew. This is probably the one song I’d wager people know if they know a single song by the band. I’m not entirely sure I’d call it their signature track or not, but it was HUGE for them. It’s probably the primary reason I even own this on vinyl. It’s a small thing, but I loved that odd sound they play when the lyrics mention “jet pilots” in the last verse.

Red Angel Dragnet – Didn’t care for this song. It didn’t help that the vinyl kept skipping – I ended up having to listen to this one on Apple music – first time one of my vinyls in this project kept me from listening to the song. Once it jumped so far back it went back into Rock the Casbah!

Straight to Hell – I liked the underlying beat on this song. Had an interesting vocal delivery in places too. No clue what the lyrics are about, but as a piece of music I rather enjoyed it.

Overpowered by Funk – I REALLY liked this. Of all the tracks on this album I didn’t know by title, this one was the best. The song is quite descriptive. It’s got a different sound for sure. I don’t know the Clash well enough to know if this kind of experimentation is the norm for them or just an outlier. But I really liked it.

Atom Tan – Eh, didn’t seem to go anywhere.  Didn’t do much of anything for me.

Sean Flynn – Liked the guitar picking and different sound at the start for sure.  It’s got a slower sound that also didn’t sound much like the rest of the album.  Not a ton of lyrics, either.  Liked this song.

Ghetto Defendant – The “experimentation” thing continues here.  Makes me wonder if this is their norm, and the things like Rock the Casbah are the outlier!   This was an odd one, I can’t actually figure out whether I liked it or not.  There were moments where I wanted to skip it, yet a few seconds later I’d hear a hook I liked.  It kind of reminds me of a song done slower that someone like KMFDM would do.

Inoculated City – I’m not sure what to make of this.  It came and went, and I can’t think of anything to say here.

Death is a Star – This starts off with “talking singing” – the kind that would make Roger Waters proud.  Some of the vocals here reminded me of what we’d hear from EXTREMELY early Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett.   This particular track also didn’t do anything for me.

To sum up – I enjoyed more than I thought, and whether that’s due to changing tastes in the 42 years since this was released or some other reason, I can’t tell.  I can’t lie and say I think it’s a spectacular album – I don’t think it’s that.  But it’s not “Two songs and some other filler” which is what I had it filed in under my head.  There was more musical experimentation than I realized – but then I don’t have a ton of Clash knowledge, so that could be the norm.  Full confession: I always had these guys filed under “punk”, and that word brings certain things up – like Johnny Rotten & the Sex Pistols.  I definitely don’t like them, so I probably unfairly had the Clash lumped in with them.  Of the other tracks besides the two I knew I REALLY liked “Overpowered by Funk”. That was a lot of fun, and a track that feels like I heard it for the first time today.

So.. I liked it, but didn’t love it.  There we are.