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The Clash
The Singles
(Epic/Legacy)
The Music Box's #5 boxed set of 2006
First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2006, Volume 13, #12
Written by John Metzger
There’s little doubt that The Singles, the latest overview of The
Clash’s canon, falters slightly as a retrospective — particularly in comparison
with the tightly focused two-disc outing The Essential Clash that was
issued just a few years ago. In terms of product packaging, however, it
indisputably is a triumph. Stuffed inside the mammoth box set are digital
replicas of all 19 of the band’s U.K. singles. Each not only is housed in its
own sleeve, but the CDs also cull together the various B-sides that were
associated globally with the ensemble’s 7" and 12" releases. Also included with
the collection is a reproduction of Capital Radio, a promotional EP
containing a lo-fi interview that was given away in 1977 by the British music
magazine NME. Across the entirety of The Singles, the artwork and
the labels are historically accurate, and the discs themselves have been made to
look just like the vinyl counterparts that they are meant to replace. Adding to
the mystique is a series of passionately penned essays by the likes of Pete
Townshend, the Edge, Damon Albarn, and Shane McGowan, which sufficiently build
up the legacy of The Clash and its music.
Of course, going to such extremes would be ridiculous for an outfit of lesser
import, but The Clash remains one of the most vital rock bands to emerge — not
just in the ’70s but of all-time. Even in the midst of a box set that contains
more B-sides than prime cuts, this is readily apparent. In tracing The Clash’s
progress from the rampaging mayhem of White Riot and 1977 to the
mainstream successes of Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I
Go, The Singles finds the group strolling down a few wildly divergent
paths without ever losing sight of its flirtations with a pop-oriented song
structure. Leaving virtually no stone unturned, The Clash updated classic rock
for the punk generation by combining The Who with glam-era David Bowie on Jail Guitar Doors and by applying a new wave spin to The Call Up’s
Doors-ian motif. Elsewhere, the ensemble professed its love of reggae by
introducing Willie Williams’ Armagideon Time and Toots Hibbert’s Pressure Drop to a wider audience as well as by incorporating the style into
its own work, beginning with (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais and
continuing in full-force on the material from London Calling. In fact, Rudie Can’t Fail effectively fused Sonny Curtis’ I Fought the Law,
which The Clash also covered, with the collective’s horn-splattered,
Jamaica-imbued leanings. Finally, The Clash lovingly paid homage to Motown on Hitsville U.K., turned to an acoustic framework without losing its fire on
Groovy Times, and offered numerous dance mixes of The Magnificent
Seven and This Is Radio Clash. Granted, not all of the B-sides are
unmitigated triumphs, but taken in full, The Singles is a rare instance
of a retrospective that contains style and substance, which is fitting since The
Clash had an abundance of both. 
The Singles is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box
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