Track Listing

1. Dictator
2. Dirty punk
3. We are the clash
4. Are you red..y
5. Cool under the heat
6. Movers and shakers
7. This is England
8. Three card trick
9. Play to win
10. Fingerpoppin'
11. North and south
12. Life is wild
13. Do it now

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53915 in Music
• Released on: 2000-07-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
Although 1982's COMBAT ROCK signaled the last time the original lineup of the Clash would record together in the '80s, 1985's CUT THE CRAP was officially the band's last gasp of that decade. After COMBAT ROCK, crafty songwriter and experimentalist Mick Jones was forced out of the Clash--going on toform the outstanding hip-hop/rock hybrid Big Audio Dynamite--and drummer Topper Headon was similarly exiled. Remaining Clashers Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon recruited Nick Sheppard, Pete Howard and Vince White in an attempt to keep the band alive and kicking.
The resulting CUT THE CRAP seems more attached to Strummer's eventual solo efforts than a real Clash album; despite Strummer's determined effort, in many ways the band seems to be a lonely shadow of its more volatile self. While the glorious, grating Stummer vocals enliven tracks like the reggae-tinged "This Is England" and the anthemic "Movers & Shakers", the absence of the more melodically inclined Jones is clearly noted. Although CUT THE CRAP features the Clash's usual, heady mix of politics and punk, it falls somewhat short of the band's outstanding classics THE CLASH and LONDON CALLING.

Customer Reviews

Don't. Please, just don't.
This isn't underrated at all. It really IS that poor!!!

The Clash would never EVER work without Jones and Headon, and this proves it. Bernie Rhodes got involved with making it, making it even worse....

There is genuinely only one song worth having on this album. That is "This is England". That is available on "The Essential Clash" (It hasn't appeared on any other Clash compilations because Mick was involved inmaking them for one, and for two, because the Clash that realeased this weren't considered to be THE Clash as such) The rest should have followed the albums title and been removed.

Looking back, Joe said that he hated this album, and sacking Topper was the beginning of the end. By the time this came out, the clash were long dead.

"I'll eat my hat, I'm gonna be sick"
Three long years after the Clash's last appearance, an album that could be perceived as a worst case scenario Clash album was released. It pretty much is a worst case scenario, anyone who's taken any interest in the group would have realised that Mick Jones' song writing and Topper Headon's drumming made everything possible, sure Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon had tastes and ideas as diverse, but with 'Cut the Crap' as evidence they couldn't put them into practice.

First, the worst things. It's one of the most horribly produced albums I've ever heard. The tuneless guitars squeak and squeal, the slap funk bass seems to be from totally different take. The drums are awful, utilising a cheap drum machine in the nastiest sense. The Clash's forays into to dance were always fun because of the Topper's soulful funky drumming. Drum machines just don't sit right, especially ones that are programmed to be as moronic as these - even Carter USM applied them better. Joe, as ever sings it and tells it well, but the backing vocals/chants drown him out, add to that some terrible keyboards which are lame when compared to 'Overpowered By Funk' from 'Combat Rock'. But what's worst of all is that this is the Clash. On Cut the Crap they seem to set out that they can't do punk ('Dirty Punk', 'Life is Wild'), rock ('Cool under Heat', 'Fingerpoppin''), or experiment ('Dictator', 'Play to Win'). It's sad when the 'same band' gave us so many memorable songs across so many genres.

Second, the better moments. 'This is England' may be a second rate 'Straight to Hell', but it's a gutsy, messy song that hits the mark, mainly down to its stripped production and a great Strummer lyric. 'We Are The Clash' has moments of greatness, a guitar part that sounds straight from off of 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' (until the hideous solo appears) and a ramshackle rock 'n' roll confidence to it. 'Are You Red..Y' isn't all bad, it's totally over-cooked, but enjoyable. 'Three Card Trick' is the furthest the album goes from punk, and is a sort of mangled 'Rock the Casbah'. It's bouncy and funky, and the shame is that of all the songs it is the one I think could have been a classic had the original line recorded it, or at least Topper on drums.

Overall many of these songs have potential (maybe there are some demos out there for someone to dig up) but it is a poor second-rate album from a poor second-rate Clash. I love the Clash and it's sad to see it end like this, but thankfully Joe redeemed himself with the Mescaleros, and Mick's given us some great stuff (admittedly not all of it) with Big Audio Dynamite. If you're looking for a better Clash swansong try out Big Audio Dynamite's 2nd album 'No.10 Upping Street'. Joe writes half of it co-produces it with Mick, while dated, it's certainly competent, for starters.

Underrated final elpee from London's finest
Perceived at the time as an ungodly mess, Cut The Crap renains an ungodly mess, albeit an interesting and ambitious one. The synths and horn sections blare in and out(especially on 'Dictator')with no real rhyme or reason, Joe mostly mumbles inscrutibly, the drum machine gets too much of a look in, the backing vocals are Cockney Rejects-style footer terrace chants, and 'Play To Win' is a total waste of time. And for a "back to basics" album there's an awful lot of non-punk influence: rap, funk, ska, reggae. Mainly, however, it's shouty punk, and great fun it is too. 'This Is England' is staggeringly beautiful, devastatingly evocative of mid-80s inner-city grime, unemployment, the crushed miner's strike, Thatcherism, racism, mindless violence, and punks with motorcycle jackets who are "walking all the time". 'Three Card Trick', 'Are You Red..y', 'Cool Under Heat', 'North and South' and 'Dirty Punk' are classic Clash. While I reckon that many Clash fans won't enjoy this, novices with nothing to compare it with, just might. It may not have the "greatness" of their other albums, but it's well worth checking out. Pity it doesn't include the hilarious 12" track 'Sex Mad Roar' or the edited 'This is England', but that's Columbia for you.