The Clash – Sandinista

This is my favorite album by The Clash. It also happens to be the first album I ever heard by the Clash. Those may or may not be related truths.

Why do I love this album so much? While this admittedly sprawling 3-record set has received its fair share of negative criticism over the years—as regards said sprawl—I happen to love and admire its excess, so as to that criticism: frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

I admire the ambition! I admire the scope! I admire the breadth of musicality at work here. And there are SO many great songs. So many.

One More Time is possibly my favorite song by The Clash ever. And not a week goes by—some 30 years after first hearing it—that I don’t still listen to The Magnificent Seven at some point.

Hitsville U.K.! When Ivan Meets G.I. Joe! Rebel Waltz! Somebody Got Murdered! The Call Up!

I love this album. This kind of audaciousness, this kind of bravery, this kind of talent … it’s fucking sadly missed, is what it is.

But at least we have Sandinista.