If Music Could Talk

Looked for a thread that was about this album but couldn't find it so i started a new

Just wanted to say i really gave up on listening to Joe Strummer music as i found him very hit and miss at best but this album that spans his career is very special.
I think it really gives a flavor to me how great he could have been if he could have just held some consistency in his music. Well this album will be listened to for many repeats to come. I just wish Dum Dum club had been added as it would have fitted really well in this album

I have not really given the later mescaleros much of a chance only a couple of listens to each album and didn't really get it. But i have to add i really like Yalla Yalla along with others so i will go back and check out the albums again and see if i missed anything else.

Brilliant and loving this album

I'm a bigger proponent of solo Strummer in general, I just like the vibe he often achieves, but this is a great collection on its own merits. US North has been in my regular rotation since its release.

I find his post Clash work very hit and miss. I wanted him to rock out a bit more, you know. Never found a tunesmith to match Mick.

Yeah, the song selection in the box is too notch. Joe had some post-Clash filler (tho not as much as people claim sometimes) but there's really none of that here. Just the good stuff. Some great rarities too. As Maj say, US North turned out to be something really special.

I've always thought, though his post-Clash work is far less consistent, a post-Clash Joe comp would be a much better and richer experience than Mick's. This box does prove both points though - it's pretty hit or miss on the outtakes, but the career highlights is a hell of a compilation.

A combination of some of the Earthquake Weather tracks and b sides like Cholo Vest, plus Walker and some of the Permanent Record and When Pigs Fly tracks make a great combined listen (in my opinion).

laxman wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 3:58pm

A combination of some of the Earthquake Weather tracks and b sides like Cholo Vest, plus Walker and some of the Permanent Record and When Pigs Fly tracks make a great combined listen (in my opinion).

True but I find the variance in sound quality etc. makes it a hard listen.

matedog wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 9:47am

I've always thought, though his post-Clash work is far less consistent, a post-Clash Joe comp would be a much better and richer experience than Mick's. This box does prove both points though - it's pretty hit or miss on the outtakes, but the career highlights is a hell of a compilation.

Huh. Why compare Joe vs Mick in that fashion? Joe's post-Clash work was more varied, with many different musicians and more soundtrack material than Mick, who had two basic versions of BAD. I suspect (know) both Joe and Mick would reckon that their work together mostly surpassed their subsequent work apart.

Strummer001 is a lovely set.

Yeah, I actually think their catalogs are pretty different. I can be snarky about some of Mick's albums, but a proper retrospective for Mick is really a comprehensive "complete albums collection + rarities" of BAD and various permutations thereof - the complete body of output speaks for itself. Joe's work sort of cries out for a curated collection just because he hopped around so much and wasn't really LP-focused until the Meskies. So there's a lot to sift through to create a coherent listen, which 001 did very admirably.

TeddyB Not Logged In wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 5:11pm

matedog wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 9:47am

I've always thought, though his post-Clash work is far less consistent, a post-Clash Joe comp would be a much better and richer experience than Mick's. This box does prove both points though - it's pretty hit or miss on the outtakes, but the career highlights is a hell of a compilation.

Huh. Why compare Joe vs Mick in that fashion? Joe's post-Clash work was more varied, with many different musicians and more soundtrack material than Mick, who had two basic versions of BAD. I suspect (know) both Joe and Mick would reckon that their work together mostly surpassed their subsequent work apart.

Strummer001 is a lovely set.

Probably stupid contrarianism on my part. I feel like BAD is lofted very highly where there's not a lot of love for solo Joe.

It's good to hear different takes. I suspect mine is not of the widely shared variety. I adore Walker, whether Joe had much to do with some of the tracks or not, i dont care that much for Permanent Weather, i like EW better than most probably, i dont believe Joe was all that great a fit for The Pogues, not as replacement for Shane anyway, X Ray is excellent, Global is possibly my second favourite thing in the clash related canon after LC and Streetcore could have been something very special if only... I'd say i love joe solo and the clash equally now, just for different reasons.

matedog wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 5:30pm

TeddyB Not Logged In wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 5:11pm

matedog wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 9:47am

I've always thought, though his post-Clash work is far less consistent, a post-Clash Joe comp would be a much better and richer experience than Mick's. This box does prove both points though - it's pretty hit or miss on the outtakes, but the career highlights is a hell of a compilation.

Huh. Why compare Joe vs Mick in that fashion? Joe's post-Clash work was more varied, with many different musicians and more soundtrack material than Mick, who had two basic versions of BAD. I suspect (know) both Joe and Mick would reckon that their work together mostly surpassed their subsequent work apart.

Strummer001 is a lovely set.

Probably stupid contrarianism on my part. I feel like BAD is lofted very highly where there's not a lot of love for solo Joe.

Back in the day, sure, but I didn’t think that was so much the case anymore.

Such a shame he couldn't work with Ant Genn beyond X-Ray for whatever reasons. The two of them plus Slattery could have gone on to greater things.

white man wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 7:50pm

Such a shame he couldn't work with Ant Genn beyond X-Ray for whatever reasons. The two of them plus Slattery could have gone on to greater things.

Yeah, no Ant, not sure there's any Mescaleroes. I like the sound on the early shows, Ant gave it a harder edge and then you had Pablo doing nice stuff on percussion sometimes. Luke and Tymon were great additions to the later line up at the same time, i thought.

Low Down Low wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 8:43pm

white man wrote: ↑

18 Aug 2020, 7:50pm

Such a shame he couldn't work with Ant Genn beyond X-Ray for whatever reasons. The two of them plus Slattery could have gone on to greater things.

Yeah, no Ant, not sure there's any Mescaleroes. I like the sound on the early shows, Ant gave it a harder edge and then you had Pablo doing nice stuff on percussion sometimes. Luke and Tymon were great additions to the later line up at the same time, i thought.

I love Joe’s work with Ant but I also loved the work he did with Tymon on Global. Different direction / style but I enjoyed it equally.