The Clash

Popoff is one of the most knowledgeable rock critics out there. Here, he gives us song by song and album by album the Clash, one of the most amazing rock-punk bands ever. Filled with bright popping photos, this book is your one-stop sourcebook on the Clash. Read it through once and then return to it as you listen to the different tracks. Somehow I always thought their catalog was bigger. And at any rate, all these songs are required to be played at maximum volume.

The Clash are a British institution. A little before my time, but everybody knows the hits: London Calling, Rock the Kasbah. They’re part of our history. A generation too late, nevertheless I grew up on them. We all do. And, the author, Martin Popoff, is a heavyweight in the world of rock and metal stories. He wrote Agents of Fortune: The Blue Oyster Cult Story, books about Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake. The man knows his music, and I was delighted to receive a copy of the book from the publisher.

They’re also not a band I know a huge amount about, besides the names of the band members, a few songs, and that they were part of the punk movement. I felt I could stand a little education in this area.

First things first: The Clash: All the Albums, All the Songs is a book for the fans. If you don’t know anything about the band, start with Wikipedia or something. This is not a history lesson. I didn’t come away with a vast amount more knowledge about who they were as people, how the band formed, or why they quit. What was interesting in particular though, was Popoff's thoughts on how The Clash related to mainstream culture, and vice versa, and their role and relationship to the wider movements happening within music at that time.

That being said, bear in mind that this book is a song by song exploration of The Clash’s music. This is more a literary documentary than coffee table fluff. If you weren’t a fan, if the band didn’t mean anything to you, you’d probably find it a bit much. It’s really detailed, for one, and written in the language of musicians; phrases like “musical architecture” and discussion of bass lines and rhythm. It doesn’t necessarily make for light reading. But if you like the band, and know the songs, it’s fascinating.

The layout and images are colourful, bright, eye-catching, and interesting in and of themselves. They tell the story of an era, as much as of one band. They were clearly chosen thoughtfully, as there was a good mixture of memorabilia, flyers, album covers, and the like. If you’re interested in British musical history, this book is good value for the images alone.

I enjoyed the book, though perhaps didn’t know enough about the band and their songs in the first place to make the most of Popoff’s intelligent and considered commentary. I would recommend it for die-hard Clash fans, or anyone with a general interest in rock and metal musical history.

This is a marvelous way to reintroduce yourself to the works of the Clash, arguably the greatest rock band ever. Unlike some song-by-song books, this one doesn't get tedious, and it is enlivened by colorful pictures throughout--of the group, of people related to the group (such as the perfectly named Kosmo Vinyl), and of Clash paraphernalia of all types. This book will even have you listening to Sandinista again and recalling how good some of its songs are--although you'll certainly lose most of your interest by SIDE SIX! The book's only shortcoming is that it doesn't delve into the relationships between the band's members as much as I would have liked. As a result, it doesn't rise to the biographic heights of Bob Mehr's masterful Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements. But it does do what it sets out to do: celebrate a great band and provide more insight into each of its songs. As much a fan as I was, I didn't even realize that it was drummer Topper Headon who wrote Rock the Casbah! Highly recommended, and a bit sad of course. Joe Strummer should have lived forever.

Through short but descriptive essays on - you guessed it - each album and each song, the evolution of The Clash unfolds, as does the state of music and the world during the time (both in England and all over the globe, thanks to Joe and The Clash's willingness to "be political"). These are accompanied by tons of great photos, record artwork, posters, fliers and ticket stubs. A really great look at "the only band that matters."

🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

THE CLASH gives you an insider’s look at this iconic punk band by veteran music journalist Martin Popoff. Includes elegant descriptions of the group’s 100+ tracks, with photos, posters, album art, and more of interest to the rabid fan, of which there are legion. Terrific bio! 5/5

Grateful to the Quarto Publishing Group - Voyageur Press and NetGalley for the early copy, in exchange for my true review.

#TheClash #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Voyageur Press for hookin' me up with a copy!

Let me start off by saying Martin Popoff is a research genius. 
The guy can find out anything about everything. 
This book was no exception. 
If you haven't read any of his work, get on it!
He gave me the history and inspiration of every album and every song by The Clash.
It was amazing learning weird little facts behind some of my favourite Clash lyrics and how the ideas for them came to fruition. The details behind Janie Jones were particularly scandalous!
If you like The Clash...or even if you don't...pick this one up and give a read. 
There's a bunch of cool press shots and facts for anyone who likes music!

The Clash is my favourite band. 
It’s had some strong competition over the years most recently in the form of the Artic Monkeys. But the Clash still reigns supreme. They proved to be so much more than just a punk band, developing and growing to produce some real classics.

I was 14 years old when punk started and I loved it. Even now, so many years later it still occupies a large portion of my playlist.

This book is for Clash fans. It’s about the albums and the songs and it makes for fascinating reading. We’re given information on each album and every song.
For example the song Garageland was written in response to a negative review by Charles Shaar Murray. He referred to them as a garage band that should essentially go back to the garage, close the door and leave the engine running.

After reading this I think it’s time to mix up my playlist again (something I aim to do every couple of months).
At the moment it contains:
White Man in Hammersmith Palais. (Actually it always contains this since it’s my favourite).
Career Opportunities
Car Jamming 
London’s Burning
Safe European Home
Lost in the Supermarket 
Overpowered by Funk

It’s so difficult to pick just a few each time. 
I remember my parents saying punk wouldn’t last, it was just people who couldn’t play or sing and in five years time they’d all be forgotten.

Well for me they live on and books like this bring all the memories and feelings back.
Along with The Clash I always have several Sex Pistols tracks and usually some Siouxsie and the Banshees, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers and The Stranglers on my playlist.

My one regret is that I never saw them live. 

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley.

This is a stunning book with a breakdown song by song with accompanying photos, art work and much more. 

It's comprehensive and just full of information. A must have for fans

free arc from netgalley

The book is an interesting take and although it lacks the history of the group, we do get centred information around their albums and songs in full details.  The interesting thing is that Popoff is able to delve deep into his understanding and background history of the songs and recordings as a whole.  It is very seldom that the average punter gets an in-depth look at the output more than what you will find in this publications.

Beautifully presented with album cover art, photographs and single art work, this is a masterclass on how to put a book together.  If you are not a fan of this classic group, this book may leave you a little cold or it may open your mind to check it out and dive into the phenomena which is The Clash.

The only downfall would be the lack of some more background on the group itself, dynamics and overall group but again, this information is pretty easy to source through internet and other books about this group as a whole.  The back catalogue of information is really where this book is focussed and it does shine in this respect.

This is a definite for any fan of The Clash and those with a mild interest in performance, song writing and musical architecture of song and recording building.  It may not be for everyone but those who decide to bask in the glory of the music, album and songs will not be disappointed.

I love the format of this book and others like it such as Pink Floyd by the same author. It's easy to turn to the pages about your favourite album and find out lots of details about the reasons behind each song and lots of other information besides. Plenty of great photos and lovely for just browsing. Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC.

I got this book for free in return for my honest opinion via NetGalley.
I love music! It can make you feel regardless of if you want to or not, and vastly improve or worsen your mood based on the genre. As I've said many times before, I am a lover of the 60s-80s era and it wasn't until the last year, year and a half that I discovered 70s/80s punk. I was quickly turned onto The Clash and it didn't take long for me to become fan. So when I had the chance to read this through NetGalley, I couldn't pass it up.

This book pretty much breaks down the groups's songs, giving insight on their creation, historical context and more. For the most part I pretty much knew about who/what the songs were written about and the meaning behind them (every time I get a new obsession I always research it). But there were stories that I had never heard of, and pulled one from my back pocket while talking to fellow fans that had seen them in concert a few times. They were impressed and while they already knew the "trivia," had forgotten and was shocked I knew. It was nice to see old posters from their tours and receive stories here and there that I hadn't heard. 



I think this is a great book for fans to have just for the sake of owning it. It's also a nice for someone just discovering the band to lend them more insight into who the Clash were, their writing, and process.

Must have overview of The Clash in all their glory peppered with some fantastic photographs and ephemera; some of the "rock writing" style used here gets under my damn skin in that hyperbolic, overly-serious yet painfully hip way, so watch out if you have a low tolerance for comparing guitar riffs to mortar fire, for example.  A strong recommend, if parsed out in bits and pieces.