The Clash

When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head?
Or on the trigger of your gun?

London Calling is the third album by English punk rock band The Clash, released December 14, 1979, on CBS Records in the UK and in January 1980 on Epic Records in the United States. The album represented a change in The Clash's musical style, and featured elements of ska, pop, soul, and reggae music. The album's subject matter included unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The album received positive reviews and was ranked at number eight on Rolling Stone' list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. London Calling was a top ten album in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top twenty single. It has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the United States.

Give 'Em Enough Rope, for all of its many attributes, was essentially a holding pattern for the Clash, but the double-album London Calling is a remarkable leap forward, incorporating the punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music. Before, the Clash had experimented with reggae, but that was no preparation for the dizzying array of styles on London Calling. There's punk and reggae, but there's also rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock; and while the record isn't tied together by a specific theme, its eclecticism and anthemic punk function as a rallying call. While many of the songs -- particularly "London Calling," "Spanish Bombs," and "The Guns of Brixton" -- are explicitly political, by acknowledging no boundaries the music itself is political and revolutionary. But it is also invigorating, rocking harder and with more purpose than most albums, let alone double albums. Over the course of the record, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (and Paul Simonon, who wrote "The Guns of Brixton") explore their familiar themes of working-class rebellion and antiestablishment rants, but they also tie them in to old rock & roll traditions and myths, whether it's rockabilly greasers or "Stagger Lee," as well as mavericks like doomed actor Montgomery Clift. The result is a stunning statement of purpose and one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever recorded.

--Review courtesy of AllMusic.com

Listen to this. Even David likes it.

Artist: The Clash

Album: London Calling
Genre: Punk Rock

Track Listing:

1. "London Calling" – 3:19
2. "Brand New Cadillac" – 2:09
3. "Jimmy Jazz" – 3:51
4. "Hateful" – 2:47
5. "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:26
6. "Spanish Bombs" – 3:18
7. "The Right Profile" – 4:00
8. "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:47
9. "Clampdown" – 3:50
10. "The Guns of Brixton" – 3:07
11. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" – 3:10
12. "Death or Glory" – 3:55
13. "Koka Kola" – 1:45
14. "The Card Cheat" – 3:51
15. "Lover's Rock" – 4:01
16. "Four Horsemen" – 3:00
17. "I'm Not Down" – 3:00
18. "Revolution Rock" – 5:37
19. "Train in Vain" – 3:11

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