The Clash stayed true to punk throughout their career. Too many people think punk is defined by loud, distorted guitars banging out two or three chords, with the vocalist sneering the lyrics. Punk is more identified by your ethic, ethos, and most importantly, not selling out.
The Clash never sold out, to be sure. They got their label to release double and triple albums for the price of a single album. They worked hard for their fans, and only took on bigger opportunities when they were comfortable with it and it made sense in the context of their career.
They only moved away from the original "punk sound" of 1976 and 1977 because they were becoming better musicians. Now, I love "Clash City Rockers" as much as the next Clash fan, but if their career had consisted of eight years of songs that sounded that way, they would NOT be as well regarded today. It would be more like the Ramones, who are definitely legends, but people always tell you to explore the post-1970s material with trepidation. EVERYTHING the Clash did was innovative and creative, even if it wasn't all great. That's a big part of why they are regarded as legends. (Let's forget the Cut the Crap LP. They failed there by trying to pander to the stereotype of punk.)
If you want to see how fast the Clash evolved, just look at the US version of their debut album. It came out in 1979, two years after it debuted in the UK, and had four songs removed in favor of five songs recorded at various sessions from 1977-1979. All of these songs sound vastly different from each other, much less the songs from the original 1977 UK LP.
OK, I'll end my rant now. It just bugs me to no end that people can't see past 1976/1977 punk as "true punk," and that people think the Clash stopped being punk somewhere along the way.
The Clash stayed true to punk throughout their career. Too many people think punk is defined by loud, distorted guitars banging out two or three chords, with the vocalist sneering the lyrics. Punk is more identified by your ethic, ethos, and most importantly, not selling out.
The Clash never sold out, to be sure. They got their label to release double and triple albums for the price of a single album. They worked hard for their fans, and only took on bigger opportunities when they were comfortable with it and it made sense in the context of their career.
They only moved away from the original "punk sound" of 1976 and 1977 because they were becoming better musicians. Now, I love "Clash City Rockers" as much as the next Clash fan, but if their career had consisted of eight years of songs that sounded that way, they would NOT be as well regarded today. It would be more like the Ramones, who are definitely legends, but people always tell you to explore the post-1970s material with trepidation. EVERYTHING the Clash did was innovative and creative, even if it wasn't all great. That's a big part of why they are regarded as legends. (Let's forget the Cut the Crap LP. They failed there by trying to pander to the stereotype of punk.)
If you want to see how fast the Clash evolved, just look at the US version of their debut album. It came out in 1979, two years after it debuted in the UK, and had four songs removed in favor of five songs recorded at various sessions from 1977-1979. All of these songs sound vastly different from each other, much less the songs from the original 1977 UK LP.
OK, I'll end my rant now. It just bugs me to no end that people can't see past 1976/1977 punk as "true punk," and that people think the Clash stopped being punk somewhere along the way.