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Cut the Crap
| Cut the Crap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 November 1985 | |||
| Recorded | January–March 1985 | |||
| Studio | Weryton (Unterföhring, Germany)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:21 | |||
| Label | CBS (UK) | |||
| Producer | Jose Unidos (a.k.a. Bernard Rhodes)[1] | |||
| The Clash chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cut the Crap | ||||
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Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by the English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records. It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich, following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guitarist and co-principal songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been dismissed by lead vocalist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon. Jones and Headon were replaced by three unknowns: guitarists Vince White and Nick Sheppard and drummer Pete Howard. During the tense recording sessions, Clash manager Bernie Rhodes and Strummer fought each other for control over the band's songwriting and musical direction.
Strummer and Rhodes co-wrote most of the songs. During production, Rhodes took charge of the arrangements, track sequencing and the final mix. His production choices, which rely heavily on Strummer's preference for synthetic drum sounds and Rhodes' own inclusion of sampling, were widely derided. One writer described the album's sound as brash and seemingly "designed to sound hip and modern—'80s style!".[3] Rhodes chose the album title, taken from a line in the 1981 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2. The recording process and tension between Rhodes and Strummer left other band members disillusioned. White's and Sheppard's contributions are almost entirely absent in the final mix, and Howard was replaced by an electronic drum machine. Epic Records hoped the album would advance the Clash's success in the United States, and planned an expensive video for a lead single.
On release, Cut the Crap was maligned in the UK music press as "one of the most disastrous [albums] ever released by a major artist".[4][5] Strummer disowned the album and dissolved the Clash within weeks of its release. He performed only one song from the album live during his solo career, and the album has been excluded altogether from most of the Clash's compilations and box sets. Although it is still generally regarded as the band's worst album, contemporary critics have praised Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance, especially on the tracks "This Is England", "Dirty Punk" and "Three Card Trick".
- ^ a b Popoff (2018), p. 211
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cut the Crap: The Clash". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019
- ^ Wyman, Bill. "139 the Clash Songs, Ranked from Worst to Best". Vulture, 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019
- ^ Ziegler, Jay. "Dusting 'Em Off: The Clash – Cut the Crap". Consequence of Sound, 8 March 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018
- ^ Knowles, Chris. "The Final Days of the Clash". Louder Sound, 18 April 2005. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019
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