A rant about the 30th Anniversary release of London Calling...

This harsh review is in no way a reflection of the quality of the music on this album. I think London Calling is a superb record from a superb band. That being said, this 30th anniversary re-release is an utter waste of time, especially if you have the 25th anniversary edition.

There is absolutely nothing new here, other than the vinyl replica packaging. That's a nice touch, but that's it. Surely a marketing ploy to get people to buy this, as I'll explain in a moment. The DVD with the album is the exact same that came with the 25th anniversary version. Most importantly of all though, the Vanilla Tapes (aka the demo CD) that was the second disc of the 25th anniversary package isn't here at all. So not only is there nothing new here, it actually has less than previous releases of the album. Honestly, forget about this release. The 25th anniversary edition was excellent, and surely the prospect of five unreleased songs that were on the second disc would be enough to tempt anyone to buy that particular edition. You really have to question just what was the point of releasing this again rather than a special edition of one of their other albums. The vinyl replica packaging just feels like a shameless attempt to tempt people to part with their cash. Disgusting really when you consider what The Clash stood for and an insult to the memory of Joe Strummer.