Clash - Live at Shea Stadium (Snyr)
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Free Music Notes for Live at Shea Stadium (Snyr)
Free Music Review: Great, though not their best
Hit: 4 Stars
Topper Headon had been fired from the band by the time of this tour, and Mick Jones would be sacked not long after. But even though internal strife was ripping the band apart, the Clash was still a great live act. There were better shows, but this album shows that before the Clash as we knew them split up, they still had it.Free Music Review: Say What??!?
Hit: 3 Stars
This is a really puzzling release. The Clash are my absolute all-time favorite band, so I had o get this. But I really question the decision to release this particular show when we know there are so much better performances out there. Listening to this record made me feel a bit sad. They sound like they're out there singing songs that they've done a thousand times and lost all enthusiasm for. Take the opener "London Calling" for example. On the album version, Joe sounds desperate and violent, putting every last ounce of passion and fury into the delivery. On "live at Shea" he's just up there singin' a tune. Nothing special about it. At this point the band was only a few shows away from effectively breaking up and it shows. Gone is the feeling of comradery among the members. If you've seen footage of this gig, they're standing about 5 miles apart from each other. The loss of Topper is painful too. Terry Chimes just can't hack it with his boring, unenthusiastic drumming. Just listen to his poor excuse for a reggae beat on "Armagideon times". Awful!! And Rock the Casbah never sounded great live, and here it's just pitiful. Terry can't hack the drum beat.
Another comment- The album art is disgusting!! As a teenager I thought the Clash imagery was stunning, matching their sound. I mean Paul Simonon is a graphic designer and he did a great job on those early LPs and 45s. But the whole American flag thing is just stupid from the band that sang "I'm So Bored with the USA". They're from the UK anyways!! And the little baseball designs? Yuck. I guess because its Live at She Stadium, but I don't get it. Doesn't fit their style.
Great audio quality, but that's about it. Get the amazing live compilation "From Here to Eternity" instead. That disk proves what The Clash were capable of.
Free Music Review: Classy reissue
Hit: 3 Stars
One of the bands that truly mattered from the 1970's was The Clash. Emerging from the UK with a twin arsenal of top-notch songwriters, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, the band explored a multitude of musical sounds from rockabilly to dub reggae. On the night that this concert was recorded, The Clash was the supporting act of the Who. This tour documented the `Rock The Casbah' album and The Clash was at the peak of their powers.
From the opening notes of this concert, the band is energetic and run through "London Calling," "Guns of Brixton" and "Tommy Gun" with unabandoned vigor. The band was firing on all cylinders from vocals to guitar to rhythm, which was incredible noting that they were using fill in drummer Terry Chimes instead of Topper Headon. Everything about this band seems so solid and vital; it's amazing that they did not upstage the Who because of this performance.
Every decade needs its outstanding live performance recorded and documented for eternity, and I believe that for the 1980's, this is that document. This is the type of performance that legends are made from and I am grateful that it has seen an official release. If The Clash had not imploded shortly after this album, rock and roll might have been a bit different in the 1980's. "Live at Shea Stadium" is a fine album and solidifies the legend of The Clash and reiterates their importance in the history of Rock and Roll writ large.
Free Music Review: Crumbs from a banquet?
Hit: 3 Stars
When I bought this album I initially played it every night. But after a few months, I went back to listening to my bootleg of a 1981 (Bond) show, in spite of its inferior sound quality. I saw The Clash only once, in early 1980, but with that and FHTE, I must agree with others that this 1982 gig doesn't show them at their best. So if you are looking for some understanding of just how good live The Clash were with Topper (i.e., that they blow away almost every other band that has ever walked this Earth), you will need to wait. On the other hand, if you are new to The Clash, I recommend this Shea show as a good way of making due until albums of other shows are released. [A digression aimed at Sony: It would be good if you, Sony, managed your Clash archives like you have for Bob Dylan: releasing official "bootlegs" of a number of shows. If you do, please include a 1981 one because I think Sandinista! is their best album, but that is based partly on my hearing live versions of "Somebody Got Murdered", "Street Parade", etc., from a 1981 show.]Free Music Review: A live doesn't make it a-live
Hit: 3 Stars
I've yet to listen to the band's first live release, 1999's "From Here to Eternity," but word is it's much better than this. I believe it. Recorded during their second night opening for the Who in October 1982, at a time when tensions were high--Topper Headon had just got the boot, and Mick Jones would leave the band soon after--"Live at Shea Stadium" is devoid of any of the musical propulsion or vocal spirit that makes their studio albums so rich. Stripped of their grit, the songs fail to excite, until the night finally comes alive with "Armagideon Time" halfway through the record. The worthy ones: "Clampdown" (nice cowbell), "English Civil War" (punk sense), and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (smarmy).