Track Listing

1. Coma Girl
2. Get Down Moses
3. The Long Shadow
4. Arms Aloft In Aberdeen
5. Ramshackle Day Parade
6. Redemption Song
7. All In A Day
8. Burnin’ Streets
9. Midnight Jam
10. Silver & Gold

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27918 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It can't have been easy collating Streetcore after Joe Strummer died. One can only imagine the all-pervading sense of sadness, the ghosts and memories that haunted the control room. Yet the Mescaleros' Scott Shields and Martin Slattery have done a fine job, keeping their own egos at bay, allowing the great man to take centre-stage and reveal that he had rediscovered some form. "Get Down Moses" is a deep, dubby Clash special, with Strummer testifying to his undying love of youth and the outcast and a big keyboard swirling overhead. "Long Shadow" is a hobo folk song, "Ramshackle Day Parade" crosses Bob Dylan and the Beatles and "Arms Aloft" is a pumped-up, slightly psychedelic rocker.

Best, though, are the moments when Strummer goes quiet. Bob Marley's "Redemption Song", recorded with Rick Rubin and given a provocative Irish flavour, ideally suits the man's heartfelt vocals and freedom-fighting reputation. "Silver and Gold", another cover, wherein Strummer considers the positive actions he must take before age overcomes him, is made cruelly poignant by circumstances. Yet this is not a sad album; rather, it's happy proof that musicians can still ride the freight train, not simply the gravy-train, that they can still mean something. It's an important lesson to relearn, and there was never a finer teacher. --Dominic Wills

CD Description
'Streetcore' is the last album from ex-Clash frontman Joe Strummer and was almost finished just before his untimely death in December 2002. The album is a mix of raw, live sounding rock and quiet, unplugged style moments helping showcase Strummer's strong songwriting ability. Also featured is the punky single 'Coma Girl' as well as a cover of the Bob Marleyclassic 'Redemption Song'.

Customer Reviews

"This Is Streetcore"
“Streetcore” was to be Joe’s third album with The Mescaleros, and as was the case with their previous two efforts there is a diverse mix of musical styles on offer here. The album’s first track “Coma Girl” is a rocker in the style of one of Joe’s earlier solo efforts “Trash City”, which tells the story of a “Mona Lisa on a motorcycle gang”, and was well received when performed live during many of Joe’s concerts in 2002.

This is followed by “Get Down Moses”, another song that was performed live during 2002, and for me one of the highlights of the album. The song is a rock/reggae hybrid that immediately evokes memories of The Clash at their best, and features some excellent lyrical couplets from Joe, which like many of Bob Dylan best songs, are both meaningful and amusing at the same time.

Joe’s first album with The Mescaleros “Rock, Art and the X Ray Style” featured a song that was originally written for Johnny Cash titled “The Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll”, which Johnny never got around to recording, and the sleeve notes tell us that the next track included here “Long Shadow” was also written for Johnny. Whilst the song is basically a tribute to Cash, the influence of his music is much more in evidence on this track, than it was in “The Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll”, and the song is basically a travelogue in the Johnny Cash style, with the final line “Somewhere in my soul there is always rock ‘n’ roll”, now seeming like a fitting epitaph for both performers. This was another highlight for me, and whilst I have no idea whether or not Johnny Cash ever go to hear this song, I sincerely hope that he did.

“Arms Aloft” a rocker with an obvious punk influence that looks back at life on the road, and would obviously have pleased the crowd during live performances is next, and this is followed by “Ramshackle Day Parade”, which is an anthem for the underdog that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on one of the later Clash albums.

An excellent cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” which was recorded and mixed by Rick Rubin follows this. Joe’s love of reggae music is well documented, and he had performed reggae material with his first band The 101 ers and continued to do so throughout his career, so it’s no surprise that this Bob Marley cover is another of the album’s highlights. The song was also considered by Johnny Cash for his excellent series of “American” albums, and the forthcoming Cash box set “Unearthed” which features out takes from the American sessions, includes a version of this song performed as a duet between Johnny and Joe.

The next track “All In A Day” is a rock song that incorporates the dance music influence of break beats, and some witty ‘stream of consciousness’ lyrics from Joe. It’s a fun tune which musically is quite similar to what was achieved by Joe’s former Clash songwriting partner Mick Jones with his post Clash band Big Audio Dynamite.

“Burning Streets” name checks The Clash’s punk anthem “London’s Burning”, and explores similar themes, although the tempo is somewhat slower, and this is followed by “Midnight Jam” which sounds to me as though it was completed after Joe’s passing. This is basically an instrumental jam featuring snippets of dialogue from Joe’s BBC World Service radio shows mixed into the track. This recalls the dub recordings The Clash made with Mikey Dread for the “Sandinista” album in 1980.

The final track, a cover of Bobby Charles’ “Silver and Gold” aka “Before I Grow Too Old” is another highlight. Tymon Dogg’s violin playing coupled with Scott Shield’s harmonica produce a sound reminiscent of the work Joe did with The Pogues back in the early ‘90’s, and the lyrics sound much more poignant following Joe’s premature death.

I’m not entirely sure how much of this album was actually finished when Joe Strummer passed away twelve months ago, and some of the songs included here might possibly have been intended for additional projects, but all in all it’s a fairly coherent collection of songs, and credit must go to Joe’s former band mates The Mescaleros for continuing the production of this album, and giving Joe a final album I’m sure he would have been proud of.

I have no idea whether there are more songs left in the Hell Cat vaults, but if this is the last new music we hear from Joe Strummer, it is a fitting tribute to his musical vision, and the beliefs and principles that his work always embraced.

God Bless You Joe
So, the great man is no longer with us & the world is a duller place as a result. But what a way to sign off.

This is a fantastic album, featuring a blend of styles that few could ever hope to match. From the upbeat "Coma Girl" to the cover of Marleys "Redempton Song" there isn't a weak track on this disc.

Highlights for me are "Long Shadow", "Redempton Song" & the final track "Silver & Gold" - with some tear jerking lyrics.

How about a Joe Strummer Live CD now?

The final words on this album are "thats a take" - & Joe's right. It's over now, it's all done, there is no more. Thanks for everything Joe - a whole generation were given belief by you & thanks for leaving us with this jem.

cant believe hes gone
well we dont really expect anything but brilliance from the man and this album does not disappoint. theres a touch of the folk influence in long shadow and listening to silver and gold brings tears to my eyes coz the words are so appropiate. anyone who likes joe will be touched by the whole album.Havent got a favourite track or a worst one. Its an album you can listen to over and over again and it reminds us of the talent that is Joe Strummer.