We like it. We really like it.
A while back, I noted, offhand, that The Sandinista Project is "a tribute to the worst album by one of my favorite bands." As you might suspect, soon after my inbox was stuffed with arguments. The following note, by one Robert Chandler of London, was the most eloquent:
No, no, no. SANDINISTA! is a life-changing album by the most important band that ever lived, etc. LONDON CALLING may be their most completely satisfying album, but SANDINISTA! is their greatest. I wouldn’t swap a minute of it for the world. I love its flaws and triumphs (often the two are indistinguishable), its ambition, its audacity, its texture, its ideas; its rattle-bag of influence and inspiration. Jesus, I remember the outcry at the time. SANDINISTA! was the Clash doing to punk what punk did to music in the first place. It was a reaction. The band reacting to its own scene. And what a beautiful reaction it was. The album captures perfectly the conflicts and contradictions that always were at the heart of the band. I love your project. I just didn’t like it that you called the album the band’s worst.
Very well written. I stand by my comments -- and I still love the record, regardless of where I feel it fits in the band's oeuvre.
P.S. To those of you who pointed out how much worse Cut the Crap is than Sandinista!: Any Clash record not featuring both Mick and Joe isn't a real Clash record.
No, no, no. SANDINISTA! is a life-changing album by the most important band that ever lived, etc. LONDON CALLING may be their most completely satisfying album, but SANDINISTA! is their greatest. I wouldn’t swap a minute of it for the world. I love its flaws and triumphs (often the two are indistinguishable), its ambition, its audacity, its texture, its ideas; its rattle-bag of influence and inspiration. Jesus, I remember the outcry at the time. SANDINISTA! was the Clash doing to punk what punk did to music in the first place. It was a reaction. The band reacting to its own scene. And what a beautiful reaction it was. The album captures perfectly the conflicts and contradictions that always were at the heart of the band. I love your project. I just didn’t like it that you called the album the band’s worst.
Very well written. I stand by my comments -- and I still love the record, regardless of where I feel it fits in the band's oeuvre.
P.S. To those of you who pointed out how much worse Cut the Crap is than Sandinista!: Any Clash record not featuring both Mick and Joe isn't a real Clash record.
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