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Ragazzi, suvvia ragazzi, qui parliamo di STORIA DELLA MUSICA, questa è la mia seconda recensione e sono passato dal Post-Punk di "Boy" (U2) al Punk di "London Calling" (The Clash), come potete vedere non ho variato molto nel genere. Cambia ovviamente la rilevanza degli album, tutti e due fantastici, certo, ma neanche paragonabili (lascio a voi intendere). Questa è roba seria ragazzi, fatta da gente che gli strumenti li spaccava davvero (la copertina parla da sola), gente dai nervi d'acciaio, gente come i Clash. "London Calling" è l'anima di fuoco del Punk, il disco portante del genere, che contiene (come ogni rispettabile capolavoro) infiltrati che vanno dal Ska al Rock and Roll, dal Reggae al Jazz. L'album è composto da 19 leggendari pezzi che variano stilisticamente l'uno dall'altro ma che sono uniti da un unico filo conduttore, quello della ribellione e della sovversione, fattore estremamente evidente nei testi. Per qualche motivo a noi comuni mortali sconosciuto, il tutto mantiene un'armonia incredibile riuscendo ad abbinare e avvicinare generi completamente diversi fra loro come i citati sopra mantenendo comunque un'oscuro sfondo Punk. Questo grazie alla voglia del gruppo di mettersi in gioco, di sperimentare, di mutare, di essere aperti ad ogni genere:
"C'era una grande apertura su tutto. Ricordo che Mick suonava canzoni country. A Mick piaceva fare il riscaldamento suonando la batteria di Topper. Si divertivano a scambiarsi gli strumenti: cosa che non avevano mai fatto prima." (Johnny Green, assistende del gruppo durante le sessioni di registrazione)
"Facevamo cose folli tipo strappare lentamente il velcro dalle sedie dello studio e registrare il rumore che faceva. Per le sovraincisioni andavamo sempre in bagno, perché c'era un effetto eco. Percuotevamo le tubature"
La traccia che apre le danze é "London Calling" che prepara la strada per un susssssssseguirsi di insuperabili, originali, trasgressivi, aggressivi, energici, potenti, muscolosi, leggendari brani che hanno fatto la storia. Si passa dalla carica sovversiva della title track al Rock anni 70' di "Brand New Cadillac". Interessanti anche l'ibrido Rock-Reggae di "Revolution Rock" (troppi rock) e il JAZZ/FUNK/SWING di "Jimmy Jazz". Altro pezzo importante è "Spanish Bomb" che ci riporta alla guerra civile spagnola, per non parlare della malinconica "Lost In The Supermarket" e del capolavoro "Clampdown". Il tutto si chiude egregiamente con una vera e propria perla "Train In Vain". DETTO CIO', AVETE IL DOVERE DI ASCOLTARLO.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 London Calling (03:17)
London calling to the far away towns
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look at us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing
The ice age is coming, the sun zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning and I - live by the river
London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out – and draw another breath
London calling – and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking – I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no highs
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes
The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning and I - I live by the river
(x2)
Now get this!
London calling, yes, I was there, too
An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
After all this, won't you give me a smile?
London calling
I never felt so much alike
02 Brand New Cadillac (02:05)
Driiiiiiiive!!!
Driiiiiiiive!!!
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
Yes she did!
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
She said, “Hey, come here, Daddy!”
“I ain't never comin' back!”
Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
C'mon, sugar, just come on back to me
She said, “Balls to you, Big Daddy.”
She ain't never coming back!
Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
Oh c'mon, just hear my plea
She said, “Balls to you, Daddy.”
She ain't coming back to me
Baby, baby drove up in a Cadillac
I said, “Jesus Christ! Where'd you get that cadillac?”
She said, “Balls to you, Daddy.”
She ain't never coming back!
03 Jimmy Jazz (03:51)
The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're looking for Jimmy Jazz
Yeah, they said
Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head
Police came looking for Jimmy Jazz
Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz
So if you're gonna take a message 'cross this town
Maybe put it down somewhere over the other side
See it gets to Jimmy Jazz
Jazz, see
Ooohh
Whooo
So tell me now
Police come in they said: Now, Where's Jimmy Jazz?
I said, hmm he was here but uh, he said he went out
Who is it they're looking for?
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz eh
Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and they'll chop off his head
Oh you're looking for
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz
What a relief!
I feel like a soldier, but I look like a thief!
It's Jimmy Jazz
Police came in looking for Jimmy Jazz
He came in and he went out
Who is looking for that Jimmy Jazz
Infact
Don't you bother me, not anymore
I can't take this tale, oh, no more
It's all around, Jimmy Jazz
Jazz, Jazz
J-a-zee zee J-a-zed zed J-a-zee-zee
J-a-zed zed Jimmy Jazz
And then it sucks
He said, suck that!
So go look all around
You can try your luck, brother, see what you found
But I guarantee you that it ain't your day
Your time, it ain't your day
Chop! Chop!
***
04 Hateful (02:42)
Well, I got a friend who's a man
Who's a man?
The man who keeps me from the lovely
He gives me what I need
What you need? What you got?
I need it all so badly
Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
It's hateful
And it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere
This year I've lost some friends
Some friends? What friends?
I dunno, I ain't even noticed
You see, I gotta go out again
Again? My friend
I gotta see that mainman
I killed all my nerves
My nerves? What swerves?
And I can't drive so steady
I've lost my memory
My mind? Behind!
I can't see so clearly
''[Chorus]''
05 Rudie Can't Fail (03:25)
Sing Michael sing - on the route of the 19 bus!
Hear them sayin'
How you get a rude and a reckless
don't you be so crude and a feckless
you bin drinking brew for breakfast
Rudie can't fail
So we reply
I know that my life makes you nervous
But I tell you that I can't live in service
Like the doctor who was born for a purpose
Rudie can't fail
I went to the market to realize my soul
'cause what I need I just don't have
First they curse, then they press me till I hurt
We say Rudie can't fail
We hear them sayin'
Now first you must cure your temper
Then you find a job in the paper
You need someone for a saviour
Oh Rudie can't fail
We reply
Now we get a rude and a reckless
We been seen lookin' cool an' a speckless
We been drinkin' brew for breakfast
So Rudie can't fail
I went to the market to realize my soul
'cause what I need I just don't have
First they curse, then they press me till I hurt
We say Rudie can't fail
OKAY!
So where you wanna go today?
Hey boss man!
You're looking pretty smart
In your chicken skin suit
You think you're pretty hot
In your pork pie hat
But ... Rudie can't fail
Lookout, lookout
Skyjuice! ... 10 Cents a bottle
06 Spanish Bombs (03:17)
Spanish songs in Andalucia
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh please leave the ventana open
Federico Lorca is dead and gone
Bullet holes in the cemetery walls
The black cars of Guardia Civil
Spanish bombs on the Costa Rica
I'm flying in on a DC-10 tonight
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish weeks in my disco-casino
The freedom fighters died up on the hill
They sang The Red Flag
They wore the black one
After they died it was mockingbird hill
Back home the buses went up in flashes
The Irish tomb drenched in blood
Spanish bombs shatter the hotels
My señoritas rose was nipped in the bud
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
The hillsides ring with "Free the people"
Or can I hear the echoes from the days of '39
Trenches full of poets, a ragged army
Fixing bayonets to fight the other line
Spanish bombs rock the province
I'm hearing music from another time
Spanish bombs, Costa Brava
I'm flying in on a DC-10 tonight
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero a finito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón
Spanish songs in Andalucía, Mandolina
Oh mi corazón
Spanish songs in Granada
Oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón
08 Lost in the Supermarket (03:43)
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
I wasn't born so much as I fell out
Nobody seemed to notice me
We had a hedge back home in the suburbs
Over which I never could see
I heard the people who lived on the ceiling
Scream and fight most scarily
Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling
That's how it's been all around me
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
I'm all tuned in, I see all the programmes
I save coupons from packets of tea
I've got my giant hit discoteque album
I empty a bottle and I feel a bit free
The kids in the halls and the pipes in the walls
Make me noises for company
Long distance callers make long distance calls
And the silence makes me lonely
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
And it's not hear
It disappear
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
I'm all lost
(I'm all lost in the supermarket)
I'm all lost
(I can no longer shop happily)
I'm all lost
(I came in here for that special offer)
(A guaranteed personality)
I'm all lost
(I'm all lost in the supermarket)
I'm all lost
(I can no longer shop happily)
I'm all lost
(I came in here for that special offer)
(A guaranteed personality)
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
I'm all lost
I'm all lost
I'm all lost
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality
09 Clampdown (03:45)
1-2-3-4!
Hey, hey!
Ooh!
Jimmy’s outside but you can’t take him back for the drama of design
They hit him in the back and see the long arm dropped over the school cuisines
They say now back and hands facing the sidewalk as they slowly click on
What are we gonna do now?
Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew?
’Cos working for the clampdown
They put up a poster saying we earn more than you!
When we're working for the clampdown
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue-eyed men
To be young believers
The judge said five to ten but I say double that again
I'm not working for the clampdown
No man born with a living soul
Can be working for the clampdown
Kick over the wall 'cause government's to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
D'you know that you can use it?
The voices in your head are calling
Stop wasting your time, there's nothing coming
Only a fool would think someone could save you
The men at the factory are old and cunning
You don't owe nothing, so boy get runnin'
It's the best years of your life they want to steal
You grow up and you calm down and
You're working for the clampdown
You start wearing the blue and brown and
You're working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It makes you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
You made your first kill now
In these days of evil presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown
Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong!
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong!
Working for the clampdown
Yeah I’m working hard in Harrisburg
Working hard in Petersburg
Working for the clampdown
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong
Begging to be melted down
Gitalong, gitalong
Work
Work
Work
And I give away no secrets – ha!
Work
More work
More work
Work
Work
Work
Work
Who's barmy now?
10 The Guns of Brixton (03:08)
(Paul Simonon)
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting on death row
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell
You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of the harder they come
You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton
Shot down on the pavement
Waiting in death row
His game is called survivin'
As in heaven as in hell
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di bibiane
In London Calling si incarna lo spirito cruciale del punk (rabbia, caos e rivoluzione) ma anche tanta sperimentazione.
Ogni singola canzone presente su questo album è una piccola perla a sé stante, degna di essere presente sull'album e differente dalle altre per stile e ritmo.
Di joe strummer
La title track è un capolavoro, la canzone più bella, famosa e importante del gruppo.
In London Calling i Clash sono al massimo della loro creatività e affiatamento.
Di nickbelane
Pochi dischi nella storia del rock possono essere definiti "capolavori" senza aver paura di scadere nell'esagerazione: "London Calling" rientra a pieno titolo nella categoria.
I Clash con "London Calling" raggiungono il punto più alto della loro eccezionale carriera.
Di John
"London Calling già dalla copertina, ti entra in testa, entra nella storia e nei cuori di chi ama il punk, il rock il jazz il funk."
"Se un giorno vi capiterà di ascoltare 'London Calling' ricordatevi che state per ascoltare un'opera che difficilmente potrà avere un successore."
Di SOLOperADULTI
«London Calling» non è più un disco punk, i Clash vogliono dimostrare di saper suonare OGNI TIPO di musica.
«Già, è proprio punk questo disco!»
