Rating the three Mescaleros' albums

[msza2]

Streetcore is double A-side single with 8 bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are good enough that I tend to listen to them more often than not when I put the single one.

[Olaf]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Wasn't a big fan of Rock Art when it came out, but it has really grown on me.

Also, nice first post, Low Down Low!

[Marky Dread]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Wasn't a big fan of Rock Art when it came out, but it has really grown on me.

Also, nice first post, Low Down Low!

9 years later...

[Dr. Medulla]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Wasn't a big fan of Rock Art when it came out, but it has really grown on me.

Also, nice first post, Low Down Low!

9 years later...

[Olaf]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Wasn't a big fan of Rock Art when it came out, but it has really grown on me.

Also, nice first post, Low Down Low!

9 years later...

Been busy making picture puzzles.

[Low Down Low]

Global
Rock Art
Streetcore

Wasn't a big fan of Rock Art when it came out, but it has really grown on me.

Also, nice first post, Low Down Low!

I've always prided myself on being an early peaker.

[Mark^Bastard]

Good thread. I really don't know how to answer it.

Global is the most consistent album. Agree that the Minstrel boy version should have been swapped.

Rock Art has some good songs. I love X-Ray Style. I don't love the production and the I guess "modern" sounds on it. Not one song on it is really a standout though.

Streetcore is a little haphazard however has two of his stronger songs, Long Shadow and Silver & Gold. I wish the Johnny Cash colab was used for Redemption Song.

I may even say Streetcore to be honst.

[XRCF]

Rock Art
Streetcore
Global

Global isn't a bad album by any means but it is my least favourite of the three

[VLADI]

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

1. Global : It's the most cohesive album, reminding me in many ways of what the Clash could have been in 2000.
2. Rock art: It's clearly a collection of songs that spans a period of almost 10 years, but some of them are beautiful, like sandpaper blues.
3. Streetcore: It's an unfinished album, but some songs show the great composing potential Joe had at that time.

[laxman]

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

1. Global : It's the most cohesive album, reminding me in many ways of what the Clash could have been in 2000.
2. Rock art: It's clearly a collection of songs that spans a period of almost 10 years, but some of them are beautiful, like sandpaper blues.
3. Streetcore: It's an unfinished album, but some songs show the great composing potential Joe had at that time.

Same order as mine, I think, but perversely I would probably most appreciate an official super deluxe version of Rock Art, because the time span means there is more potential material available.