More unexpected seriousness from the Cue.

I was 16 years old in 1979 when the Clash - the self-proclaimed "only band that mattered" - released their masterpiece, London Calling. While the Clash was mostly considered just another British punk band up until this time, their adventurous third album incorporated many varying musical styles - rock, pop, soul, rockabilly, jazz and reggae - to back their still mostly left-wing political lyrics. While the 19 songs now fit nicely onto a single CD, it was initially released as a double vinyl LP, this a bold statement back in the day. Every single song - from the opening title track to the closing ‘hidden track' Train In Vain - is excellent, and it still holds up today, nearly 30 years later. Despite being released in 1979, Rolling Stone magazine named it the best album of the 1980s, quite a statement that the magazine's editors didn't think anything actually from the 80s was more worthy of the title. The Clash never made as uniformly great of an album before or after, and Joe Strummer sadly passed away a few years ago. For anyone interested in rock music, or just music in general for that matter, owing London Calling is a must.

"London calling. Yes, I was there, too. And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!"