Rating the three Mescaleros' albums

[Low Down Low]

Thought to make a first post here, remember this site from a few years ago but under a different name maybe?

Anyway, have been wondering a bit lately how folk rank the 3 mescalero albums. I just happened across a list of the top 50 albums of 2002 on a certain website recently and was a bit piqued to see no mention of Global whatsoever, naively i was assuming lower top 10 at worst! So I spent an hour (it was a slow day) checking out various like-minded lists - Mojo, Uncut, rolling stone, pitchfork, all the usual suspects - and noticed that while Rock Art and Streetcore were generously represented on the 1999 and 2003 lists respectively, Global barely made a dent anywhere in 2002, like it had fallen into some musical black hole or something.

Now I know nobody takes such lists very seriously and it's all a question of taste, but I can't help thinking there's some injustice here. I guess Streetcore fares better because of the emotional resonance of Joe's recent death and I'd bet commercially it did best too. And Rock Art had the novelty value of Strummer's return to the fray after so many years faffing about after the Clash. But I believe Global to be the defining document in the life of the Mescaleroes and, just possibly, of Joe's entire career too and I bow to no man in my regard for the enduring greatness of London Calling. Global is such a beautifully textured, multi-layered masterpiece that it still rankles with me 12 years on that it never got a fraction of the credit it deserved

[Heston]

Streetcore
Global
Rock Art

None of them were perfect though, I think Joe missed having a great musical foil like Mick. He needed a good tunesmith.

[Dr. Medulla]

Streetcore
Global
Rock Art

None of them were perfect though, I think Joe missed having a great musical foil like Mick. He needed a good tunesmith.

Megadittos, Rush.

[Inder]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

There's probably an argument that Global is the only full band album as the other two bring in material from other sessions and projects.

[Flex]

Global
Streetcore
Rock Art

Easy.

[Low Down Low]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

There's probably an argument that Global is the only full band album as the other two bring in material from other sessions and projects.

I think that's an obvious but very valid point. In '99 I remember thinking it was just good to have Joe back, doing what he does best, writing good songs and whipping good musicians into shape. In '03 I remember wondering how the hell he'd follow the masterpiece that was Global and Streetcore didn't really fit the bill for me. Of course, there's a very straightforward explanation for that as we know only too well. What I'd love to know is how close the finished product was to what Joe had originally envisaged. I suspect, without any clear proof, that it wasn't very close at all and, though there's an awful lot I like about it, I always found myself desperately wanting to like it more than I actually did

[dave202]

Thought to make a first post here, remember this site from a few years ago but under a different name maybe?

Anyway, have been wondering a bit lately how folk rank the 3 mescalero albums. I just happened across a list of the top 50 albums of 2002 on a certain website recently and was a bit piqued to see no mention of Global whatsoever, naively i was assuming lower top 10 at worst! So I spent an hour (it was a slow day) checking out various like-minded lists - Mojo, Uncut, rolling stone, pitchfork, all the usual suspects - and noticed that while Rock Art and Streetcore were generously represented on the 1999 and 2003 lists respectively, Global barely made a dent anywhere in 2002, like it had fallen into some musical black hole or something.

Now I know nobody takes such lists very seriously and it's all a question of taste, but I can't help thinking there's some injustice here. I guess Streetcore fares better because of the emotional resonance of Joe's recent death and I'd bet commercially it did best too. And Rock Art had the novelty value of Strummer's return to the fray after so many years faffing about after the Clash. But I believe Global to be the defining document in the life of the Mescaleroes and, just possibly, of Joe's entire career too and I bow to no man in my regard for the enduring greatness of London Calling. Global is such a beautifully textured, multi-layered masterpiece that it still rankles with me 12 years on that it never got a fraction of the credit it deserved

The album was released in 2001, which explains why you couldn't find it in lists. Mojo ranked it at number 11.
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojoend.html

[Low Down Low]

Wow what an industrial, 24-carat mega brain fart on my part that was. Guess the basis for this thread was entirely bogus!

I have near total recall from the 70s and 80s but the last decade is problematic....sometimes have to think twice before ascertaining my age, will soon have more years than brain cells!!

[101Walterton]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

There's probably an argument that Global is the only full band album as the other two bring in material from other sessions and projects.

This

[Wolter]

Global
Streetcore
Rock Art

Easy.

Word. Though the difference between the last two is negligible.

I once again submit that swapping the meandering instrumental Minstrel Boy with the phenomenal vocal take from Black Hawk Down instantly raises it from a damn good album to an exceptional one, though.

[Silent Majority]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Same.

[drowninghere]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Same.

Likewise - Streetcore is too slight (and ends a little too weakly) for me to rank it ahead of the others. It starts like a motherfucker though.

[gkbill]

Hello,

Streetcore
Global a go-go
Rock Art and the X-Ray Style

Clearly, the man was ascending.

[Flex]

I actually rank Rock Art as a pretty distant third out of Joe's album (still a fine album, mind you). Streetcore sounds like a solid singles collection and Global hangs together as a magnificent album. Rock Art felt like a rough draft for what Joe was going to do at the end of his career. The production isn't quite a sharp, and it lacks both the global worldweariness of, er, Global or the confident rock hooks of Streetcore. It was a nice first step out of the wilderness, but he consolidated his strengths for the remainder of his recording career.

[Low Down Low]

[/quote]

I once again submit that swapping the meandering instrumental Minstrel Boy with the phenomenal vocal take from Black Hawk Down instantly raises it from a damn good album to an exceptional one, though.[/quote]

I think Global is already a classic long before the first seductive beats of Luke Bullen's snare drum set in, but I get where you're coming from. I can't or wouldnt seek to defend it, it's an indulgence of epic, Sandinista! proportions and yet i'm glad it's there and cherish it as background music when working or reading. For a song that was written two centuries ago, i believe the Meskies version will be recognised as the definitive version in two centuries to come or so long as mankind manages to keep the planet a going concern