As anybody who knows me (or who has read my London Calling writeup) is aware, The Clash are one of my favorite bands ever, so you won't catch me saying a negative word about the contents of this disc. But I have to wonder exactly what target audience this album was designed for. The label put it out after perceiving a hole in the market for live Clash material, knowing that fans of the band would buy it if only because it was the only live album on the shelf. But one thinks it would have been easier to just release an archival show like Shea Stadium (which finally happened in 2008), or the widely-distributed Palladium bootleg (though the fidelity on that is probably not up to commercial standards).
Instead, it seems like they gave themselves a lot of extra work by assembling various cuts from various shows over 4 and a half years (from April '78 to October '82), sequencing them in chronological order (by song, not by performance), & adding fake crowd noise to make it sound like a continuous concert. (Important note: I fucking hate fake crowd noise.) So those looking for something representative of a typical Clash set (of any era) are out of luck--obviously the band did not play their songs in order from oldest to newest! On the other hand, those looking for a selection of live cuts encompassing the band's career will be disappointed too, as there's (strangely) nothing from Give 'Em Enough Rope on this disc, and (thankfully) nothing from Cut the Crap either. So I guess the target audience is...people who wanted to hear the best available live recordings of these specific songs in this specific order? I've never been able to figure it out.
If a neither-fish-nor-fowl release like this calls into question the ethics of live compilations, I'm happy to report that the material itself is wholly excellent. Despite its strangeness, the sequencing does work, & considering the recordings are culled from different soundboards at different venues of different sizes (ranging from clubs to stadiums), the sound is remarkably consistent: a robust live mix with a little too much vocals, but not enough to be overpowering. But if you listen enough times, you'll start to hear little inconsistencies, especially as it pertains to drummers. Topper Headon, the band's iconic drummer, plays on half these cuts, while the band's original session drummer, & later full member, Terry Chimes bangs the skins on the other half. Topper is clearly tighter than Terry--better time, better fills, a more interesting presence behind the kit. Terry doesn't ruin the songs he plays on--in fact, Shea Stadium is one of the best shows these anthologists had to work with--but there is a noticeable difference between the 2 drummers.
On the other hand, the show that the largest number of songs are taken from--a September '82 gig with Chimes at the Orpheum in Boston, touring Combat Rock--is probably the weakest source material. Joe sounds tired & going through the motions on the older songs like "Clash City Rockers" & "London Calling" (whose lyrics he completely fucks up), but he comes alive on the new album songs like "Know Your Rights" & "Straight to Hell."
Like I said, I bought this CD because, at the time, it was the only commercially available live Clash recording. I'll reach for Live at Shea Stadium nowadays, or the aforementioned Palladium bootleg, before I'll throw this one on, but it can't be said enough: all live Clash is good Clash.
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