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The Singles (CD version)

The Clash - The Singles (CD version) Audio CD

A fair review of the The Clash "The Singles (CD version)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Clash reviews here, or go back to the The Clash tabs.

Band: The Clash
Title: The Singles (CD version)
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-11-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: White Riot 2: 1977 3: Listen 4: Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line 5: Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line 6: Capital Radio One 7: Remote Control 8: London's Burning 9: London's Burning 10: Complete Control 11: The City Of The Dead 12: Clash City Rockers 13: Jail Guitar Doors 14: (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais 15: The Prisoner 16: Tommy Gun 17: 1-2 Crush On You 18: English Civil War 19: Pressure Drop 20: I Fought The Law 21: Groovy Times 22: Gates Of The West 23: Capital Radio Two 24: London Calling 25: Armagideon Time 26: Justice Tonight 27: Kick It Over 28: Clampdown 29: The Card Cheat 30: Lost In The Supermarket 31: Bankrobber 32: Rockers Galore...UK Tour 33: Rudie Can't Fail 34: Train In Vain 35: The Call Up 36: Stop The World 37: Hitsville U.K. 38: Radio One 39: Police On My Back 40: Somebody Got Murdered 41: The Magnificent Seven (Edit) 42: The Magnificent Dance (Edit) 43: Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice) 44: One More Time 45: One More Dub 46: The Cool Out 47: The Magnificent Seven 48: The Magnificent Dance 49: This Is Radio Clash 50: Radio Clash 51: Outside Broadcast 52: Radio 5 53: Know Your Rights 54: First Night Back In London 55: Rock The Casbah 56: Long Time Jerk 57: Mustapha Dance 58: Red Angel Dragnet 59: Overpowered By Funk 60: Should I Stay Or Should I Go 61: Straight To Hell 62: Inoculated City 63: Cool Confusion 64: This Is England 65: Do It Now 66: Sex Mad Roar

i had to complete my clash collection
i had most of the contents, and i bought a lot of the picture sleeve singles in England. i really didn't need this. But i got it anyway. It's nice. I guess it would make a good present.

Excellent
I like a lot of their songs, including "Train In Vain", "Rock The Casbah", "Sex Mad Roar", "Lost In The Supermarket", and so forth. I like The Clash, because they rock all the time. Those songs are pretty cool.

Good box set to not listen to.
The cds inside are packaged into their own sleeves. The Clash box set is a awesome box set for those who plan on not listening to the songs. Thus, when wanting to listen to all the tracks, one must own a 19 disc player or be ready to change out cds after 2 songs. For the collectors out there, buy the box set and the normal cd as well. That way you have one for listening and one for looking cool on the shelf. For the listeners out there, buy the single disc greatest hits cds and save some cash. The idea of the box set might go against the ideas that the Clash were going for, but then money does talk. .

A SINGLE DISCOVERY
I PURCHASED THIS COLLECTION MORE TO SATISFY MY CURIOSITY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE . I AM A HUGE CLASH FAN , HAVING DISCOVERED THEM IN 1982 NEAR THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY . I ENJOYED IT OVERALL , AND EVEN FOUND ONE ADDITIONAL SANDINISTA TRACK [ RADIO ONE ]! I THOUGHT I HAD EVERYTHING .
THE ONLY REASON I DID NOT GIVE THIS 5 STARS IS THE PACKAGING . IN AN EFFORT TO BE ACCURATE , THEY RELEASED EACH SINGLE ON ONE DISC WITH THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK . THAT MAKES FOR 19 CDs . THE FIRST HAS ONLY TWO TRACKS , AND 3:40 MINUTES OF MUSIC . I WISH THEY HAD CONSOLIDATED ! ALSO , THE COMMENTS ARE RATHER INCOMPLETE , AS IN " ARGENTINIAN 7" ". WAS IT A DIFFERENT MIX ? THIS IS A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE CLASH LEGACY , EVEN IF YOU WILL HAVE TO LOAD YOUR CD PLAYER FOUR TIMES. . . . . . . . . . . .

Not all available elsewhere
Since it includes not just the original B-sides of the vinyl singles, but also alternate B-sides from releases in different markets, the total length and track listing is quite considerable, 67 tracks total. Not to be confused with the one-disc, 18 track collection "The Singles," this is a box set that collects the Clash's UK singles on 19 individual discs that are designed to look like black vinyl. Since the ordering follows the UK singles releases, not the US ones, there are a few oddities that may seem a bit humorous. For example, "Train in Vain," one of the biggest US hits, is included here only as an alternate B-side to the "Bankrobber" single.

I shouldn't need to tell serious Clash fans that this set has a lot of fine material. Still, I should say that for anyone who is just looking for a career-retrospective of the Clash, you might find the CLASH ON BROADWAY box set, or even THE ESSENTIAL CLASH more user-friendly than the 19 disc format here. The real audience for this set is the Clash completist, who really wants to have the total recorded works of the Clash on CD.

It is true of course that some of the tracks are available elsewhere, and certain tracks may appear on as many as five other discs. Collectors can expect some duplication. Still, it is not true, as an earlier posting implied, that all of this is available elsewhere. I have tried to compile a list of what is distinctive about this set.

(1) The "Capital Radio EP" was a free vinyl giveaway distributed by New Musical Express magazine. It included an interview conducted by Tony Parsons on a moving train. A few minutes of this was included on the STORY OF THE CLASH compilation, but not the two part, 12 minute version included here. The instrumental "Listen" plays through part of the interview, but to hear it without the talk, you have to get SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH.

(2) The live version of "London's Burning" from the "Remote Control" single was once released on CD on a disc called 1977 REVISITED: CRUCIAL MUSIC, but that has been out of print for years, so it is only currently available here.

(3) This set includes a pair of "dub" remixes of "Armagideon Time, "Justice Tonight" (running time: 4:09) and "Kick it Over" (4:44), presented as two separate tracks from different single releases. That is a little different from the combined "Justice Tonight/Kick it Over" track on SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH (8: 53) and even more different from the earlier 7:00 version of "Justice Tonight/Kick it Over" on BLACK MARKET CLASH.

(4) "Rockers Galore. . . UK Tour" is a reworking of "Bankrobber" with Mikey Dread singing new lyrics about touring with the Clash. This is not the same track as "Robber Dub" on SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH, which lacks the Dread vocal and lyrics.

(5) "Radio One" from the "Hitsville UK" single is a fun Mikey Dread composition with Dread on vocals. The lyrics complain about the lack of reggae music on the BBC.

(6) This set has two single re-edits of "The Magnificent Seven" from the 7" single (3:39) and the 12" single (4:30). Both of these are shorter than the version on the SANDINISTA album (5:29). The longer 12" version is available on the single-disc THE SINGLES CD, but the 7" version is only available on CD here.

(7) There are also two versions of the instrumental "The Magnificent Dance" from the 7" (3:35) and 12" (5:36) singles. The longer version is on SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH, but the shorter one is only available on CD here.

(8) "Outside Broadcast" is a jaw-dropping variation of "This is Radio Clash" with mostly different lyrics that reference everything from "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to "Lord of the Dance. " Truly unique and a highlight of this set.

(9) "Radio 5" is a dub remix of "This is Radio Clash" with lots of rap style record scratching. It is more conventional than "Outside Broadcast," but worth a listen.

(10) "Long Time Jerk" from the "Rock the Casbah" single runs 5:08, almost twice as long as the version on SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH (2:57).

(11) "Inoculated City" from the "Should I Stay or Should I Go Single" incorporates a radio commercial about toilets into the middle of the song. Either this is the original radio commercial that the "Flushco" company sued to have removed from the US release, or it is a substitute commercial that was only on the UK single. Either way, it adds a more satiric tone to the song than is found on the version on the US release of COMBAT ROCK

(12) "Straight to Hell" appears here in its short single version, running only 3:51. That is shorter than the version that appears on COMBAT ROCK (5:33) and the still longer version on CLASH ON BROADWAY (6: 50). I am not sure longer is better. I rather like the shortest version.

(13) and (14) The 12" single of "This is England" included two tracks that are only available on CD here, "Do it Now" and "Sex Mad Roar. " I think these are better than several of the tracks that did appear on the CUT THE CRAP album.

Obviously, some of the above are only slight variations of familiar tracks, but there are also interesting rarities like "Outside Broadcast" and "Sex Mad Roar. " The set goes a long way toward making all the previously uncollected Clash tracks available, though there are still a few exceptions. Around the time of the STORY OF THE CLASH release, the Clash put out a CD-single called "Back to Brixton" that contained three remixes of "The Guns of Brixton" that are not included here. Also, the discography of CLASH ON BROADWAY lists a B-Side called "Radio 6. " If that is not a misprint for "Radio 5," then it is missing here.
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You can see a complete list of all The Clash discography, or go back to the The Clash tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.