*Barely resists urge to find "That's it, I'm fucking done with them" post*
I think I said this in regard to their Best Of lists.
I never implied or said outright that I would stop reading their reviews; it's still how I get most of my new music. Just this year I picked up Stricken City and Cotton Jones because of them, and I hadn't heard anyone else talking about those albums.
**
Can I just say that as amazing as London Calling is, it's even more amazing that they followed this classic double album with a TRIPLE album running almost 2.5 hours just 12 months later? And that Sandinista is one of the most ambitious, daring, and eclectic albums by a rock band, ever?
While it doesn't have the roster of powerhouse tracks that London Calling does, there ain't a lot of filler among its THIRTY-SIX songs; even the little dub instrumentals work when thought of as interludes. That's not to say that there aren't any standout songs because there's definitely a good number of memorable ones. And there's so much musical ground covered here and a true interest in exploring the sounds of various cultures that I think it's unfortunate that mid-period Clash is often thought of as mostly reggae vibing. SO much more than that.
And it really is their White Album, not just because of the variety of sounds. Each member of the band gets to sing a lead vocal, there's an interesting lineup of uncredited guests (Tim Curry?!, and the writing seems to be getting both more political and meta at the same time.
What I think is also so amazing is that (if the stories are true) the band sacrificed a portion of their royalties in exchange for being allowed to release a triple album at a low price. That's punk rock.