Hits Back

In celebration of the exhaustive <i>Sound System</i> box set, The Clash saw fit to also release this concise career overview. The compilation is sequenced from Joe Strummer's 24-song setlist for the Brixton Fairdeal show in 1982, plus eight additional essential Clash tracks. The deluxe edition adds videos and live concert footage of 10 songs—including "Clampdown" and "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" live at the Lewisham Odeon and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Career Opportunities" from the band's Shea Stadium concert. As an overview, it includes the hits ("Train in Vain," "This Is Radio Clash," "Rock the Casbah" in its Bob Clearmountain mix, and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"), plus core essentials ("Safe European Home," "Know Your Rights," "Janie Jones," "Stay Free"). Though each of The Clash's albums deserves to be heard in context, it's impossible to argue with a collection that summarizes the U.K. punk uprising of 1977 and the stylistic chances that the group took until Joe Strummer and Mick Jones went their separate ways.