I’m identifying the best three albums by my fifty favorite rock bands of all time. This blog is for #5 – The Clash, the self-proclaimed only band that really mattered.

Criteria for selecting the best three albums

First, Greatest Hits albums are not allowed. I will note this band has several excellent Greatest Hits albums. Second, no live albums. Third, I will include an honorable mention album or two for the top 25 bands. The Clash doesn’t have a lot of records, so don’t expect to see an honorable mention on this list.

Clash albums ranked by ChatGPT

Let’s look at what artificial intelligence has to say about this list. According to ChatGPT below are the top five Clash albums based on sales and critical acclaim.

These are the five albums I expected to see. I will say that Sandinista shows up higher than it should be. Sandanista is an album that divides Clash fans. There are two camps. One says it’s an awesome triple record that includes all kinds of innovative and cutting-edge songs. The others, like me, recognize that there’s a lot of garbage on that record that they should never have released. It could have been a great album if they just cut the crap.

Popular releases for this band

Let’s look at some data from Spotify. According to that streaming music platform below are the top five most popular Clash albums. Once again it is what I would expect to see. Spotify includes a greatest hits album that I highly recommend if you are a true fan of this band. It’s called The Clash Hits Back. I own it on vinyl. This triple LP package includes all the hits you’re looking for in one place.

The third-best album by this band is Combat Rock

Combat Rock is the record that made them hugely popular with a much broader fan base. It includes the mega-hit song “Rock the Casbah” and probably the best-known Clash song “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. This album marked an evolution for the band. One half comprises classic punk songs driven by Joe Strummer. The other half was more experimental based on Mick Jones’s musical tastes and where he wanted to take the band. This is the album that broke them up. Joe and Nick could not reconcile their musical differences and so this awesome band came to a sad conclusion.

The other third-best album by The Clash

The other third-best album by The Clash is called Give Them Enough Rope. It is their second record. For some reason, this album is underappreciated by both critics and fans. It is unbelievably good. The first side rocks hard, full of punk energy. Some people complain about the album’s production. I’ve expressed my opinion about this criticism before. I prefer a well-produced album to something that sounds like you recorded it in my basement. If you are a Clash fan and have never heard this album go get it. You bet will love it like I do.

The second-best album by The Clash

The second-best album by The Clash is their self-titled debut album. This record helped start the punk revolution in London. This album includes what you would expect in a pioneering Punk record. You hear anger, politics, and punk energy in songs such as “White Riot”, “Career Opportunities”, and “I’m So Bored with the USA”. They even threw in a reggae track with “Police and Thieves” and did a cover of “I Fought the Law”. This record started the band on a journey that would lead to ultimate greatness.

The best album by The Clash

The best album by The Clash is London Calling. It is their masterpiece. This double LP was so good that Rolling Stone magazine called it the best album of the entire 1980s. Why is this album so good? It showed the maturity and diversity of the band’s songwriting. The album opens with the harrowing title track and it includes other styles and great songs “Rudy Can’t Fail”, “Lost in the Supermarket”, and “The Clampdown”. One of the best-known songs, “Train in Vain”, isn’t even listed on the album because it was added so late. If you want to hear an excellent double album get this one. There’s not a bad song on it and that is so hard to do.

There you have it – the three best Clash albums. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.