Disco de The Clash: “Sandinista! [Remaster]”

While not as "Rocking" or accessable as London Calling (new Clash fans should definatly check out that album first), Sandanista! is a 2 hour and 30 minute long sprawling masterpeice.

Some argue that this album is 2/5th great material and the rest is filler. Those people don't know good music if it bites them.

On this album the Clash explore all forms of music, including hip-hop, disco/dance, jazz, calipso, gospel, waltz, and of course, the usual dose of punk, rock, ska and raggae. This album is a journey. Longer, more varied and, at times, more fun than the Beatles "White Album" (and this album ranks up there with some of the Beatle's best). Will you like the album at first? Hmm, probably not. It takes repeated listens to appreciate the way The Clash cram hundreds of hooks and melodies into a single track.

The Magnifigant 7 - A hip-hop dance number with GREAT lyrics. One of the best bass lines I've ever heard by Paul Simonon, and try not laughing when Strummer screams, "CHEESEBOIGER!"

Hitsville U.K. - Starts like a gospel song, but quickly transforms into a singalong with some catchy-as-hell melodies. Note: the woman singing this song is Clash guitarist Mick Jone's exgirlfriend, Ellen Foley, who also song the epic Meatloaf song "Paradie By The Dashboard Light"

Junco Partner - Great reggea flavored track, with some of the oddest sound effects dancing all over the place. Makes for a very odd and entertaining song.

Ivan Meets G.I. Joe - This song is literally a disco song being played over a futuristic war land. Laser sounds fill the air as drummer Topper Headen sings of a galactic showdown between "ivan" and "g.i.joe" (metaphores, you can figure it out)

The Leader - The first (almost traditional)Clash rocker. Fast & quick.

Something About England - A very lyrical one, with an interesting story behind it.

Rebel Waltz - A waltz in.. yep, 3/4ths time. Begins with a chamber music-esuque instrumental, and turns into a touching song.

Look Here - A dip into Jazz for the Clash. Paul Simonon nails the "walking bassline", and the piano is wonderfully jazzy.

The Crooked Beat - Paul Simonon's song. Very strange, as Paul does his traditional "talk-singing". It's a dub flavored reggae, probably the weakest track on the album, but still enjoyable.

Somebody Got Murdered - a REAL rocker. More rock than punk i'd say. A fast catchy tune, with very affecting lyrics. Jones practically whispers over the loud guitars, "somebody got murdered.. somebody's dead forever."

One More Time - a darker reggae song.

One More Time Dub - a dub version of the latter. (Dub basically just entails an instrumental with reverb slapped all over the place, and echoing snare and hi-hat).

Lightening Strikes - Another hip-hop dance track in the vein of "Magnifigant 7". Lots of references to New York city.

Up In Heaven - An overlooked gem. Great rocker.

Corner Soul - another excellent track. While not really reggae at all, it sounds very... let's say.. babylon-esque.

Let's Go Crazy - a great tropical song with steel drums. "So ya wanna go crazy!?"

If Music Could Talk - A jazzy reggae number, with a wonderful sax solo. There are 2 vocal tracks, one in each channel (left and right).

The Sound of the Sinners - a gospel song! and a GREAT gospel song, in which the religious meaning comes off NOT being lame or cheesy.

DISC TWO

Police on my Back - a cover, but done SOO well. A true punk rocker, The most rocking thing on the album. The lead guitar sounds like sirens, and Jones gives a remarkable vocal performance, literally spitting the phrase "what have i done!?"

Midnight Log - cool song. short and catchy, with great lyrics.

The Equaliser - very reverby, and sound effect coated. but a great sonf.

The Call Up - a cool steady beat throughout. one of the highlight songs. "it's up to you not to hear the call up, i don't wanna die... i don't wanna kill."

Washington Bullets - possibly the peak of the album. great lyrics, very political. Spanish and tropical flavored. The best moment comes at 2:40 in, when, in his sweetest voice, Strummer proclaims "saaaandanista!" and a wave of cheering and clapping insues.

Broadway - This is quite a song. In my opinion it sounds a song U2 could easily cover. Strummer gives a wonderful lyrical performance. With one hoarse "yeeeah" he can make your hair stand on end.

Lose This Skin - a classical flavored song, full of violins. Sounds like its from the early 1900's classical era. Written by Tymon Dogg, who sings and plays violin throughout the album.

Charlie Don't Surf - one of the best on the album. the effects give it this beauitful shining underwater sound. The melody is absolutly beautiful. The drums kick in with a "surf" beat, common in "surf rock". Great lyrics too, about the US spreading western ways where people don't want them (charlie = the enemy, charlie don't surf and we thing he should.. hu hu?)

Mensforth Hill - "something about england" played backwards. but also filled with sound effects and talking, in the vein of the beatles "Revolution 9". at some parts, it sounds exactly like "dark side of the moon", specifically "on the run".

well, i'm tired of writing now, but the rest of the songs are great too, though, i admit i wish the album ended with a real good song instead of an instrumental. but, its still a masterpice by one of the greatest bands of all time.

P>Now, onto the album itself:

I can't claim to know whether or not it represents musical genius or is subtle and nuanced or any other such thing, but I can tell you this: I like it. A lot. As much as London Calling.

The tracks are extremely diverse (of course), but the point is, they WORK. Some are mad dancy fun, like Look Here, Let's Go Crazy, Police on my Back, and The Sound of Sinners. Some are deep and soulful, including Corner Soul ("Is the music calilng for a river of blood?"), Charlie Dont Search and Something about England, while others, such as Rebel Waltz and Washington Bullets, are (in different ways) light and melodic. Meanwhile The Magnificent Seven and The Call Up evoke the anger present on the (British version of) the self-titled.

I think my favorite thing about Sandinista! is the stories told by many of the songs and the images they invoke. Something About England makes a social statement but also feels like an urban fantasy a la Neil Gaiman or Charles de Lint, while Rebel Waltz has the feel of a traditional fantasy or historical novel; you actually begin to care about the fate of the rebel army and see them "dancing to the news that the war is not won." Let's Go Crazy, meanwhile...well, this one you really have to hear to understand.

What it comes down to is this: This album can make for a wonderful listening experience, but it isn't for everyone. If you're into the Clash cause you're a HardKore Punk Rawk type (insert additional x's and k's as needed), then this probably isn't for you (or maybe it is, and it'll help you snap out of it). Otherwise, give it a try, and don't give up after the first listen; let it grow on you. If nothing else it's not that expensive, and it'll complete your Clash collection.

"Sandinista!" is undoubtedly the Clash's most underappreciated and misunderstood album. Issued as their fourth LP in the US, the disk was panned by many critics as undisciplined and unfocused, with many of the 36 tracks unpolished and a handful downright incoherent. Guilty as charged, at least partially. "Sandinista!" is still a brilliant album, with most of the excesses attributable to an explosion of creativity seldom seen.

Coming off the "London Calling" double album, the Clash work most favorably recalled today, Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon tumbled headlong into a variety of musical styles and tastes. Straight-ahead rock is leavened with ska, reggae and dub, Trinidadian steel drums, calypso, dance pop and nascent rap, `60s girl group vocals, old time Negro spiritual, soul and funk and whatever else caught their fancy. The group worked long hours in the studio, rehearsing, noodling, brainstorming - and recording - just about everything. Ultimately they ended up with more than enough material for two sides of a vinyl LP. Determined to give the fans "value for money" and in fact engaged in a wasteful battle of wills with CBS/Epic over what the Clash perceived as loathsome promotion efforts, the boys insisted on releasing a 3-disk record featuring everything-but-the-kitchen-sink.

The result is a "Sandinista!" that fans and critics initially (and understandably) found hard to digest, let alone embrace. Twenty-some years later, however, the album remains as subversive and topical and rewarding as any ever made. It is at once entertaining and thought provoking, disturbing and soothing, good natured and dour, confounding and brilliant.

In opening number The Magnificent Seven, Joe Strummer raps to a bass-and-drums dance beat, spitting out such classic lines as, "What do we have for entertainment? Cops kickin' gypsies on the pavement!" and "Wave bub-bub-bub-bye to the boss. It's our profit, it's his loss." As the rhythm section propels the tune, an irresistible call and response chorus goes, "You lot! What? Don't stop, give it all you got." Hitsville UK prefigures Bananarama, featuring Mick Jones' girlfriend at the time, Ellen Foley. In Something About England, an old street bum serves as the device to poignantly lament post-war England, the class system, and other social ills. Somebody Got Murdered is a straight-ahead rocker. As reported by Marcus Gray in his superb Clash biography "The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town", it was `commissioned' by the director of the Al Pacino movie "Cruising" - who never returned to claim his song! It is immediately followed by One More Time, a reggae lament influenced by Jamaican DJ-songwriter-producer Mikey Dread, the lyrics a sharp depiction of ghetto poverty and violence. (Mikey Dread would in fact heavily influence the album overall.) An up-tempo romp, Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice) lightens the mood with some dance-funk fun.

Mick Jones' joyful, rocking melody on Up in Heaven (Not Only Here) masks lyrics portraying the soul-crushing `towers of London', dreadfully bleak concrete high-rises thrown up by unimaginative city planners to house the post-war poor. Later, Jones' earnest vocals on a cover of the Equals' Police on My Back (written by Eddy Grant) propel the desperate protagonist against a wall of siren-wailing guitars. Effectively following on, the bounce ditty Midnight Log warns the listener, "Working for the devil, you'll have to pay his tax. That means going to see him down among the racks..." Later, on Kingston Advice a vocal chorus echoes a working class theme first established in The Magnificent Seven, the struggle for dignity and redemption amidst oppression, corporate and otherwise: "In these days nations are militant. We have slavery under government. In these days in the firmament, I look for signs that are permanent."

In the universal anti-war brood The Call Up, Joe pleads with his youthful listeners, "It's up to you not to heed the call up. I don't wanna die! It's up to you not to hear the call up. I don't wanna kill!" To Washington Bullets' steel drums and sunny island melody Joe laments America's (and England and Russia's) historic `interference' around the world. Charlie Don't Surf pushes the point further, with a decidedly "Apocalypse Now" anti-Vietnam backdrop. It is Strummer's closing shout of "Sandinista!" that produced the album's title and longest lasting cultural imprint.

Another collaboration stands out: Lyrics penned and sung by Joe's eccentric folk singing pal Tymon Dogg, to a fiddling reel arranged by Mick, Lose This Skin is uplifting, chilling, beautiful, an altogether exhilarating song.

Perhaps the best way to listen to this album is to edit it yourself, i.e. boil it down to a single coherent, more focused, digestible, and clearly themed album. For example, I would open with Magnificent Seven, followed by Hitsville UK, Something About England, Rebel Waltz, Somebody Got Murdered, One More Time, Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice), Up in Heaven (Not Only Here), Police on My Back, Midnight Log, The Call Up, Washington Bullets, Lose This Skin, Charlie Don't Surf, and Kingston Advice. I'd close with the rousing The Sound of the Sinners, in which Joe Strummer sings, "After all this time to believe in Jesus. After all those drugs I thought I was him. After all my lying and a-crying and my suffering, I ain't good enough, I ain't clean enough to be him." Powerful stuff and another good example why this is a great album.

Once digested, go back and listen to the rest of the stuff. But yes, Clash fans, I initially would skip Junco Partner, Joe's tongue in cheek anti-drug rap; Ivan Meets GI Joe, an effects laden disco ball groove; The Crooked Beat, Paul's follow-up to Guns of Brixton, which the others inexplicably turned into a reggae song - not at all what Paul intended; the Equaliser, a song type of which Joe did better many times over; the piano driven "Version City", and a half dozen others of lesser merit.

A masterpiece? No. Is this the Clash's "White Album" or "Exile on Main Street"? No. It IS too long, too undisciplined and too unfocused to be called that. If anything, "London Calling" may fit such a characterization. But "Sandinista!" is still a great album nonetheless, capable of stunning the listener with its creative highs. Soak it in and appreciate. You'll listen to "Sandinista!" long after you've mined everything from other albums, Beatles to the Clash.

This is one of the most difficult CD's I own. If it wasn't by The Clash, I probably would have tried selling it long ago. If you are looking for an introduction to The Clash, London Calling - an instant masterpiece - is the way to go. If you want to be challenged by a CD that tries virtually everything, then Sandinista is for you.

This CD is so subtle at times it can be frustrating. The first few times I listened to it, I felt myself increasingly disappointed with every track. Where were the catchy rock anthems launching themselves out of my speakers? With the possible exception of Police On My Back, they weren't there - there was no Death or Glory, no Spanish Bombs, no Career Opportunities or London is Burning. But because I firmly believe that Joe Strummer & company could do no wrong (well, at least, not before Cut the Crap, if that even counts), I forced myself to keep listening and ultimately I was astonished with what I found. Rebel Waltz is one of the most hauntingly gorgeous, sad, and compelling songs I have ever heard. Something about England is the absolute perfect wedding of music to lyrics - a triumph of compassion. Quick blasts of funk like Midnight Log and The Leader will eventually shock you with how well they work, how much they make you want to start tapping your foot to the beat.

The Call Up and Washington Bullets come together on this CD, and what a wonderful combination it is. Even from the white upper-middle class world of suburbia, songs like this are amazing in their ability to forge a connection between the listener and the world's war-weary and downtrodden. Whereas the sappy pretentions of a song like "Heal the World" make you want to retch, the wit, compassion, and sad desperation of the Clash sound completely real and vital. The Clash know how to blend the political with the personal to strike all the right chords; observe the couplet from The Call Up: "There is a rose, that I want to live for/Although, God knows, I may not have met her" -- who couldn't fall in love with these guys??

The Clash get major kudos for trying something different. But ultimately they get to be one of the best bands in the world for succeeding. Very few bands could have pulled this triple album off without simply wallowing in their self-importance. While you may be tempted at first to write Sandinista off in a similar vein, if you challenge yourself to listen enough, you'll eventually absorb the whole thing and recognize it is absolutely brilliant and infinitely more vital and touching than anything on the radio today.

You have to hear this album at least once in your life, if just for the pure scope of the thing. Thirty-six tracks that feature the group doing reggae, dub, funk, hip-hop, music hall, rockabilly, pop, jazz, Motown, avant-garde, some crazy stuff that can't be classified, and yes, some punk. You thought London Calling was ambitious? You haven't heard ambitious until you've heard this. And maybe I'm out of my mind, but I like it loads, and not just because of the awesome cover art and huge smorgasbord of styles on display. Plenty of these songs are classics (or "Clashics"?). "The Magnificent Seven", the hip-hop song I talked about, leads the way and just might be the greatest Clash song in history. Joe Strummer sounds so cool delivering the black-humored lyrics, and he's one of the few convincing white rappers out there. "Hitsville, U.K." is a wonderfully adorable Motown ditty. "Junco Partner" is a brilliant pub reggae song. "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" uses brilliantly creative synthesizers to simulate gunfire. "Something About England" is an inspired duet between Mick and Joe. "The Crooked Beat" is an awesome reggae song with a marching band rhythm. "Somebody Got Murdered" rules in its New Wave/pop/anti-violence goodness. "One More Time" is another awesome reggae song, like everything else related to reggae on this album. And I don't mind the dub version, "One More Dub", even though many tend to despise it. It really allows me to soak in the song's mood. I love that one's mood, so the more of it I can get, the better. "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" is a kick-butt return to "Magnificent Seven"-esque funk. "If Music Could Talk" is a fun fusion of lounge jazz and ska. I think I may be the only person on Earth who likes it, by the way. Whatever. Screw people. Anyway, "Police on My Back" totally rocks, but is the only song on this album that does so. It's also another candidate for "best song the Clash ever did", just because of the pure combustible energy of the thing and the awesome guitar riff. "Midnight Log" is pure fast-paced campy fun. "The Equalizer" is awesome dub reggae tune number sixty million billion, and it's got a violin! "The Call-Up" is a good anti-war pop song, though it's a bit of an odd choice for a single. I like it, though. "Washington Bullets" is an awesome experiment with Caribbean music with really political lyrics. "Charlie Don't Surf" is a near-unclassifiable reggae-R&B-rock fusion that kicks my butt. "Kingston Advice" and "Junkie Advice" are fun, fast, energetic reggae tunes. "The Street Parade" is creepy, menacing, weirdly produced, and amazing. "Version City" is funky reggae, and it's good! "Silicone on Sapphire" is a cool and futuristic and Matrix-esque dub of "Washington Bullets" that's probably totally unnecessary, but totally sweet anyway. I'll freely admit that the remix of "Junco Partner", here titled "Version Pardner", is bad, though. See, I know I've spent a majority of this review gushing over this album, but the truth is there are quite a few weak songs on it. I can let the children's choir remake of "Career Opportunities" pass, because it's cute. But there are some really bad songs here. I mean, what is to be expected from a thirty-six track triple-album not called Emancipation by Prince? (And, wouldn't you know it, the only other thirty-six track triple-album I know of is Emancipation by Prince). In reality, I only find seven of these thirty-six bad, but... god, they suck! "Look Here" is a terrible jazz song. "Corner Soul" and "Broadway" are crappy show tunes. "The Sound of Sinners" is gospel, and it's not good gospel either, not like that wasn't terribly obvious or anything. I mean, how are the Clash gonna do gospel and make it any good at all? Anyway, "Lose This Skin" is the worst Clash song not on Cut the Crap. It's a pub jig with a really screwed-up violin and an awful vocal with someone named Tymon Dogg. And "Mensforth Hill" is a sound collage. So that's seven absolutely horrendous songs. The remaining seven aren't really worthy of mention, because they don't stand out one way or another. I suppose I find "Up in Heaven" a bit overproduced, and "Rebel Waltz" just kinda weird, even by this one's standards. So yes, this definitely could've been shortened. But if you were to take off all the bad and mediocre tracks, you'd be left with... a twenty-two track double-album! Not only that, but that twenty-two track double album would probably my favorite Clash album, even though as of now I like the first one more. The fact that a majority of these tracks are great, and how disparate the material is, says a lot about just how damn good the Clash were. One of my favorite bands ever. By the way, have you heard they didn't accept royalties for this, even though they were flat broke when they released it? Even if you don't like the music, you gotta admit that is admirable.