Sandinista!

In 1980, The Clash named this 36-song album after Nicaraguan insurgents, experimented with disparate genres and sonic abstractions, and refused to edit themselves. Yet their punk spirit is alive throughout—from the organ-drenched gospel of “The Sound of Sinners” to the Dadaist noise collage “Silicone on Sapphire” to ambient dub blast “The Crooked Beat”. “Police on My Back” is straight-up punk-in-the-streets, and “Hitsville U.K.” is Euro-pop pretty. There’s even a jazz cover (Mose Allison’s “Look Here”). The album reveals a great band brave enough to fail, although they come out heroes.