Track Listing

1. Safe European Home
2. English Civil War
3. Tommy Gun
4. Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad
5. Last Gang In Town
6. Guns On The Roof
7. Drug Stabbing Time
8. Stay Free
9. Cheapstakes
10. All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3005 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite the tepid production by metal guru Sandy Pearlman, the Clash's sophomore album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, manages to burn with white-hot intensity. Though not as amateurish or snarling as their debut album, Rope finds the boys flexing their songwriting muscles. The first three songs ("Safe European Home", "English Civil War", and "Tommy Gun") stand among their most powerful and leap from the record with brute force. Though they hit a few clunkers ("Cheapskates"), this album is a near classic and gives a hint of the band to come that would light up the world with London Calling. --Tod Nelson

CD Description
Sensing the emollient rattle of punk was an artistic dead end, the Clash took an abrupt volte-face and invited AmericanSandy Pearlman to produce their second album. Respected forhis work with Blue Oyster Cult and the Dictators, Pearlman introduced a sheen that disturbed purists but introduced theClash to a wider audience. The clear sound brought a new emphasis to the quartet's internal interplay and allowed the material to stand up in its own right. GIVE EM ENOUGH ROPE contains several of the band's most popular songs, which rangefrom the defiant "Tommy Gun" to the sensitive "Stay Free", a contrast confirming the Clash's wider musical ambitions.

Customer Reviews

The Forgotten Classic
Whilst the Clash's 'best' album followed this one, 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' is my favourite Clash album.
We start off with my all time favourite Clash song 'Safe European Home' which is a song I often hum, alongside another catchy song on this album 'Julie's been working for the drug squad' which is funnily catchy.
This is such an uncommercial album and thats maybe why its forgotten about.
If you are like me, I like short albums, running in at only 10 songs this is the reason I prefer to listen to this that any other Clash albums simply as I find it gets to the point.

Its highly confusing why this is such an underrated album, with the classic 'Tommy Gun' and a hidden gem which is 'All the Young Punks' I can't recommend this enough.
1978 was a great year for post punk bands, 'All Mod Con's by the Jam is a good example.

Try this forgotten Classic.

An underappreciated classic!
This album hasn't had the credit it deserves over the years. A lot of people gloss it over saying 'it was just their difficult second album' etc., and even the band have criticised it, calling it over-produced and flawed. I find all of this pretty unbelievable when I listen to 'Give 'Em Enough Rope'.

It's probably worth its price just for the opening track, the blistering 'Safe European Home', one of the finest Clash songs. But it doesn't let up after that, with such tracks as 'Tommy Gun' and 'Stay Free' showing The Clash at their melodic and lyrical best. There is not a bad song out of the 10 cuts that appear here, and I find it truly exciting to listen to.

Joe Strummer said this album was 'just rock' and maybe the guitars are a little more clean-cut than the raw-sounding debut record, but it must be said that the lyrics still retain that same ferocious 'punk' anger and social conscience of debut, and it is as well-articulated - particularly 'Tommy Gun' stands out in this respect.

In critical acclaim its always been an underdog to 'London Calling', but to me its just as awesome as that album. This and 'London Calling' are the essential, best, Clash albums.

American Market Clash
Following their self-titled debut album from 1977, The Clash, like the majority of big named bands of today, were stuck in the 'difficult second album syndrome'. The Sex Pistols by this time had lost their record deal and American bands like The Ramones were becoming cult favourites over here.

The influence from american punk rock is clearly fingerprinted on Give 'Em Enough Rope. Produced by Sandy Pearlman, GEER is aimed for big high American production, which for some fans of the debut may find is distressing rather than the gritty sounds of the debut. But overly this is not affected the group whatsoever.

Focusing now on world topics such as violence, drugs and war, Strummer had already began improving his talents as a songwriter, with songs like Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad or the gigantic opener Safe European Home, these are some of The Clash's best songs.

Highlights include the inspiring Tommy Gun, with THAT drum beat and violent based theme and the Mick Jone's penned Stay Free, a biographical on a old friendship, with one of the best solos in punk history.

It may not be as inspiring as their debut, but as a whole, The Clash were never short of inspiring and with Give 'Em Enough Rope, you just knew they were a step away from greatness.