The Clash were obviously one of the most important forces of punk. But they were so much more than just one genre. They refused to allow their sound to be pigeonholed and they strove to create whatever music they wanted.
Sometimes, their intent did not meet good ends. They were capable of producing quality no matter the genre, but they also seemed at times to put out everything they recorded so it watered other gems down a bit.
But on the whole, the Clash more than proved their worth as one of the best bands ever. That includes making one of the best LPs that humankind could make. But here is how all of their studio albums rank.
Ranking every album by the Clash from worst to best
No. 6 - Cut the Crap (1985)
There is "This is England" and then there is pretty much everything else on this record. To be fair to the album, it was doomed even before the band started recording it. Mick Jones and Topper Headon had been fired so what was left was only half the band and some studio musicians. This was basically like a Joe Strummer sideband using the name of the Clash.
The record was produced horribly by long-time manager (and first-time Clash producer) Bernie Rhodes. Instead of Headon's drumming, a drum machine was used to try to build the rhythm. The opening track, "Dictator," sets the tone for the rest of the record with its chaos of awfulness, and not until the very end of the LP does anything work at all. Almost as if the band knew that when creating the track-listing so that at least long-time fans didn't have a terrible taste in their mouths for eternity from the band's final record.
The middle three Clash albums
No. 5 - Sandinista! (1980)
Somehow the band must have had a lot of songs written between 1979 and 1980 because they were able to put out two extremely long records. This is a three-LP album that features 36 songs. What the group should have done is dwindled down to about 18 songs and released the rest as bonus tracks or a B-side compilation. Had they done that, Sandinista! might have been one of the better rock albums of the decade.
"Police on My Back," "Somebody Got Murdered," and "Charlie Don't Surf" are all brilliant, but the weirdness of re-doing "Career Opportunities" (from the band's debut LP) with children singing misses the mark. Plus, there are far too many overdubs to make this a cohesive album.
No. 4 - Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)
This would be most other groups' best album. The production is better than the Clash's first record and there are a number of strong songs. "Tommy Gun" is fantastic, for example. Opener "Safe European Home" makes it clear this album will sound different than the band's first record. "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" is as coolly weird as it sounds.
The record just doesn't have the abundance of great tracks that the best three of the band's albums do. Still, this is a must-own LP for any fan of punk.
No. 3 - Combat Rock (1982)
After making a double-LP, followed by a triple-LP, the Clash then created another double-LP with Combat Rock. But during the mixing for the record, it was cut down to a single record and the world is likely better for it. The Clash were never afraid to experiment with sounds and that led to one bloated album (Sandinista!) and could have led to many more had they not gotten input to make their albums a bit tighter.
This record features some of the band's best-known songs such as "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah." Both of these songs have been played so much over the last four decades that they almost seem poppy now. But there are other great tunes on the album and enough weirdness to make any Clash fan happy.
The best two albums of the Clash
No. 2 - The Clash (1977)
1977 was a magical year for punk. This album was released, of course, as was the Sex Pistols' only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Both records were excellent and there is no need to compare them here. Recorded over three weekends in February 1977, the band's songs were tight and much more simple-sounding than their later albums would be. All eras of the Clash are great, but any band releasing a debut record that is so confident and exhilarating is rare.
There are zero bad songs on The Clash, but there are a number that would be on any other band's best-of list. "Janie Jones," "Remote Control," "I'm So Bored with the USA," and "White Riot" begin the album and there might not be a better start to any record in the history of music. But this LP has so much more to offer as well.
No. 1 - London Calling (1979)
This is, simply, put on the best albums ever made. With their third LP, the group proved it was in full control of all of its immense abilities and showed it could pull off nearly any kind of sound and make it excellent. There are punk tracks on London Calling, of course, but there are clear influences from many other types of genres and the Clash perfected every one.
The title track opens the double LP and puts the hammer down with force declaring, "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust." The album ends with the brilliant "Train in Vain" which was almost left off as the track was set to be made into a flexi disk for NME readers. Those two songs alone could make an album exceptional, but they are simply bookends for everything else.
"Brand New Cadillac" is garage rock. "Jimmy Jazz" is dance hall. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" is full-force ska. There is something everyone can love on this album.