Back catalogue: Indie/Alternative

Review: After recording sessions for their legendary fifth LP Combat Rock would come to a close at the end of 1981, punk heroes The Clash embarked on a six-week jaunt across Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand (where they shot the iconic cover for their forthcoming record) and Hong Kong. Hitting the city of Kowloon on 25th February only a few months out from record release, this was an era when Hong Kong was still a colony of the British Empire (the last existing dependency of any significance at this time) and enjoyed less government interference in personal freedom, yet there had never been an act as bold as The Clash over to visit. With a setlist that reads today more like a greatest hits including the signature opener 'London Calling' along with bangers galore from 'The Guns Of Brixton' to 'I Fought The Law', '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' and 'Jimmy Jazz', with the band even treating the crowd to an early earful of Combat Rock lead single 'Know Your Rights' more than two months before official release (a time when no one had smart phones to film and throw up on YouTube or include on Setlist.fm as "New Song"), this performance and tour would also be one of the final to feature drummer Topper Headon, who would be fired due to his heroin addiction just a few months down the line, marking the end of the original line-up.

Review: Album number five from legendary British post-punk and New Wavers The Clash was first unveiled on 14th May 1982. 40 years on it finds itself the centre of attention once more, re-released both in this original version and an extended edition with bonus record The People's Hall. Sticking to this outing, fans will likely already know that the record as it was first intended remains the band's most successful of all time, outselling all that came before or after and charting higher than any other in the US and UK alike.

Respectively hitting number seven and number two in the charts of the day, and spending 23 weeks in the top 40 albums in Britain and a mammoth 61 weeks in the LP league tables Stateside, today it's a double-platinum testament to just how potent the combination of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon was. The last record to feature that iteration of the outfit, tracks like 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' remain utterly timeless.

Review: When The Clash rolled into Passaic, New Jersey in March 1980, they were fully hitting their stride. They'd released their instant classic London Calling in December the year before and cracked the US top 30, so they hit Stateside with some swing in their stride, and it shows on this fantastic document of one of the breakthrough US gigs. Of course the classics spill out of this collection, from 'London Calling' and 'Guns Of Brixton' to 'I Fought The Law' and their cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police & Thieves', all delivered by a band firing on all cylinders.

Review: Following the end of recording sessions for what would become their iconic fifth full-length Combat Rock in December 1981, punk legends The Clash would embark on a six-week tour of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand (where they would shoot the cover for the upcoming album) and Hong Kong. Captured in Kowloon on the 25th February three months before record release, and during a time where the city enjoyed less stringent government oversight, there had still never been an act as rambunctious and declarative as The Clash to hold court. Delivering a set that now reads like a greatest hits from the obligatory opener of 'London Calling' to bangers such as 'Tommy Gun', 'The Guns Of Brixton', 'I Fought The Law' and 'Jimmy Jazz', while even unveiling Combat Rock lead single 'Know Your Rights' two months before studio release, the performance and subsequent tour is also noteworthy for being one of the last with the original line-up, as drummer Topper Headon would be fired due to his heroin addiction only a couple of months later.

Review: Finishing up recording sessions for what would become their classic fifth full-length LP Combat Rock in December of 1981, The Clash began 1982 with a six-week jaunt across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand (where they would shoot the iconic cover for their forthcoming album) and Japan, marking their first time hitting most of these countries. Taking the stage at the Nakano Sunplaza in Tokyo on the 1st February, Joe Strummer and co would rip through a setlist that reads today more like a greatest hits collection including the signature opener 'London Calling' along with an array of quintessential bangers such as '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais', 'This Is Radio Clash', 'Tommy Gun' and 'Jimmy Jazz', while the band would be joined by bassist Paul Simonon's wife Pearl Harbor (aka Pearl E. Gates) of new wave outfit Pearl Harbor & The Explosions for a rendition of the Wanda Jackson popularised 'Fujiyama Mama'. This tour and subsequent performance is also noteworthy for being one of the last to feature drummer Topper Headon, who would be removed from the band shortly after due to his heroin addiction, ultimately bringing an end to the original line-up.

Review: Like owning a little piece of history with a bonus memoir, The Clash's Combat Rock was - is - the band's best selling album of all time and highest charting in both the US and UK. This was also the last time Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon would record together before the lineup changed, and the track list contains at least two of the outfit's most recognised songs - namely 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and 'Rock the Casbah'.

The original version of the LP was less expansive than this special edition released to mark 40 years since the long-player went on sale. The addition of The People's Hall offers fans a chance to relish in no less than 12 extra tracks, including collaborations with the legendary Ranking Roger - 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Red Angel Dragnet' - the iconic late-frontman of The Beat more than ideally suited to the crew's sound.