The Clash's fifth studio album Combat Rock was released in 1982. After the triple album Sandinista!, Strummer and bassist Simonon wanted to return to the more primitive energy of their early years so they rehired their old manager, much to the chagrin of lead guitarist Mick Jones. At the time of the album's recording, drummer Topper Headon was becoming increasingly unreliable because of his heroin addiction and Jones felt at creative odds with his bandmates. Many of the songs focus on the effects of the Vietnam War and the band remixed and re-recorded several of the songs to help their commercial appeal. It was a commercial success upon release with both singles "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" charting and the album going to number two. It remains the Clash's best selling album but reviews are generally somewhat mixed compared to their early work. Just after the album's release in May, Headon was fired from the band for being too unreliable and in September of the same year, Mick Jones was also fired, making this the last album with the Clash's classic lineup.
It's not the commercial direction that makes this project so disappointing but that it is easily the Clash's most forgettable and downright mediocre collection of songs yet. I can't recall a melody on side two besides "Ghetto Defendant" and side one only harbors three good songs: the two big singles, which I doubt I'll play much moving forward, and "Straight to Hell," a fantastic song which recalls Sandinista!. The album's lyrics are consistently some of Strummer's most political, cutting, and insightful but their musical accompaniment was butchered in the studio, none more so than "Know Your Rights," which features one of the Clash's worst arrangements ever, and "Red Angel Dragnet," which is terribly annoying. B-
