The Clash "London Calling" (180 Gram) [LP]

The Clash: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals, bass); Topper Headon (drums, percussion). Additional personnel includes: Baker Glare (whistling); The Irish Horns (brass); Micky Gallagher (organ).

Digitally remastered by Ray Staff & Bob Whitney (Whitfield Street Studios, London, England). If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breaktaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly and the group's own furious mettle. Where such a combination might have proved over-ambitious, the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache.

Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldly assertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless.