I hate digital box sets. The concept is preposterous, and is only a money making ploy used by scummy record labels to flog a dead cow for whatever little cash they can get out of it, and this one is no exception. Fuck you Tim Armstrong. This box set from Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros is pure shite. Comprised of all 3 albums the band ever put out, it's fluffed out and given an enhanced enticement to it by adding on b-sides and rarities for fan boys to drool over, as well as the widely available on bootleg Action Town Hall Fireman's Concert, filmed and recorded a month before Joe Strummer passed away and when his old partner in crime Mick Jones joined him on stage to play 3 classic Clash songs (Bankrobber/White Riot/London's Burning). Oh, how my heart beat with Joy at the possibility of that supposed Clash reunion that was just around the corner from happening... Le Sigh. Anyways, if you don't already have this stuff I guess this is a good place to get it all with one click of the mouse. I don't think anything has been remastered on this. The tracks on here sound the same as the ones on my CD's, and even after listening to all of this stuff again, I gotta say I still don't like it. Sure, it's all Worldly and Heartfelt and Soulful and whatever, but that didn't make it good, and very few tracks on here get played all the way through when they come up. Diggin' The New... Coma Girl... Redemption Song, All In A Day and that's about it! LOL The b-sides stuff is pretty hit and miss. It's basically comprised of live album tracks and live versions of cover songs, from bands like the Ramones (Blitzkrieg Bop), Dandy Livingstone (Rudi, A Message To You), Jimmy Cliff (The Harder They Come), Willi Williams (Armagideon Time) and, of course, Toots And The Maytals (Pressure Drop). The Fireman's Concert tacked on at the end is a good listen but not essential, and the 3 live Clash tracks as the encore only tease at what might have been. Look, Joe Strummer was my Hero, never a nicer man I've ever met and hung out with but someone has to tell the Emperor he has no clothes on and with this digital collection, I'm screaming it out loud from the tops of mountains for the world to hear. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros as a band did nothing for me, and neither did this collection. Old Music for Old People. Phooey. Available only from iTunes.
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