Music : Streetcore

Rating: - Great Album Assembled from Guide Vocals and Demos
All great artists generally leave enough material for a posthumous album of some sorts, generally a pork scratching type affair which rarely adds anything to the existing cannon. I think the opposite is true here and that this is greatest of the three albums that The Mescaleros recorded and possibly better than anything Joe recorded with The Clash. I think that taking Joe out of mixing/mastering stages has left his band to complete the album without Joe vetoing anything that he might think commercial and as a consequence I think this is the most immediate album in Joe's cannon.

Festival anthem `Coma Girl' is the strongest opening song any album could hope for and the pace doesn't settle down through the pseudo religious `Get Down Moses', prophetic cowboy song `Long Shadow' (originally written for Johnny Cash to record) and sing-a-long `Arms Aloft'. `Ramshackle Day Parade' is a bit of a chill out before what, at one time, would have been side two kicks in.

Not many people could get away with recording Bob Marley's `Redemption Song' but Joe not only gets away with it he makes it his own and it is one of the highlights of the album. Joe also recorded a version of the song with Johnny Cash which was released on a box set after the death of Cash but here he performs it solo with an acoustic guitar and sparse accompaniment. `All in a Day' is an all out rocker and `Burnin' Streets' is a mellow little number. `Midnight Jam' is a Mescaleros jam with links from Joe's BBC World service radio show `London Calling' drifting across the foreground, it's allot better than my description makes it sound.

The standard `Silver and Gold' would not be an obvious cover for `Punk rock Warlord' Joe Strummer but it is absolutely perfect and an absolutely perfect ending to an absolutely perfect album.

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Rating: - Not "Joe" Enough For You?
To put a label on what is "Joe" or not is ridiculous. His days in the Clash were straight punk. His movie soundtrack career was a shift to a more mature sound. After teaming up with the Mescaleros, Strummer combined his punk roots with funk, blues, reggae, etc. Streetcore was his next evolution, representing an even more eclectic sound. To say this album was not "Joe" shows a great misunderstanding for the man's life work. All in all, Streetcore is a great album; one of the best I own and easily my favorite Strummer/Mescaleros release.

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Rating: - street score 0
I was very very disappointed with this album. I went straight to redemption song and managed about 10 seconds before moving to another track to try and sooth my goose pimples of disgust and embarrassment that this has been releassed in the first place.Unfortunately every track I tried sounded tired, washed up and like it had been written by a 12 year old.

The music on this album appears to be another scraping of a barrel once the legend has passed. I hope to god that this rubbish is not seen as a measurement of the inspirational music that this man was part of for the past 40 years. Thank god Joe didnt have to listen to it.

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Rating: - All Receivers To Boost...
To look at Streetcore as just the final album by the legendary Joe Strummer would be a grave injustice. This eclectic set of songs ranging from punk (Coma Girl) reggae (Get Down Moses) country (Long Shadow) to rock (All In A Day) is a refreshing listen.

Under the circumstances this album was released, its hard not to be poignant when listening to Streetcore particularly Ramshackle Day Parade and Silver and Gold, but this is a very positive record.

Whoever said Strummer lost it when he made this album is obviously not a true human, although it may not be as major as any of his Clash songs, Streetcore is a wonderful album who still care about the man's willingness to try anything.

If any song could be more fitting for Joe Strummer it would be the cover of Redemption Song. The rebel that grew up,and remained true to his colours.

Fantastic. :-)

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Rating: - I better hurry up before I grow too old...
5 stars because there isn't a track on here that isn't either excellent or fitting for the man or his legacy.
"Coma Girl" is vibrant and involved. "Long Shadow" (meant for Johnny Cash) is stunning.
Stand-out tracks are "Ramshackle Day Parade" which builds into a magnificent wall of sound and the cover of 1950s R&B standard "Silver and Gold" which is very moving in its simplicity and context.
A cover of "Redemption Song" is risky but somehow the man pulls it off.
10 songs that conclude an amazing contribution to the canon of great music. Worthy of proud purchasing and repeated listening.