Triple Albums Made Single

Way back in the olden days of December 2018, I posted an entry on this blog where I took eight double studio albums and slimmed them down to a single disc.

This time around, I’m tackling four triple studio albums and slimming them down, not to a double, but also to a single disc. That’s a lot of whittling. You can be the judge of the outcomes.

 

Green Day – “¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré!”

Besides listening to all the tracks, I went in search of consensus among others as to what are the best songs from the three discs. And believe me, the more you search the topic online the more you realize that no one agrees on everything. But it did appear that a few songs showed up on most lists I found and helped me narrow it down. Two of the original discs have 12 tracks and one has 13, so I decided to keep it at no more than 13.

1.       Nuclear Family

2.       Brutal Love

3.       Stay the Night

4.       Stop When the Red Lights Flash

5.       Let Yourself Go

6.       X-Kid

7.       Stray Heart

8.       Troublemaker

9.       Dirty Rotten Bastards

10.   99 Revolutions

11.   The Forgotten

12.   Oh Love

13.   Amy

 

Smashing Pumpkins – “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”

Most people probably think of this as a two-CD, 28-track album, but it was also released as a three-disc, 30-track vinyl album. With 30 tracks to choose from, it’s a lot to wade through. And consider the fact that another 30 or so songs didn’t make the final cut of the actual album (they were included later in a box set). So, to get this down to a single vinyl album, I decided to only use 10 tracks in total. And if you check various “best of” lists on the interwebs you’ll find that four tracks make nearly everyone’s list, and then it's kind of a free-for-all.

SIDE A

1.       Tonight Tonight

2.       Jellybelly

3.       Zero

4.       Bullet with Butterfly Wings

5.       Galapogos

SIDE B

1.       Muzzle

2.       Thirty-Three

3.       1979

4.       Thru the Eyes of Ruby

5.       Stumbleine

 

The Clash – “Sandanista!”

Some songs from Sandanista were obvious keepers, and some tracks seemed to me like just filler. When it came to determining the final cuts, I again went to the interwebs for various opinions on the best/worst tracks. Finally, I settled on what’s below. It was only after I completed this that I discovered a 12-track promo album called Sandanista Now! had been released (I assume to radio stations), and it only differs from my tracklist by two songs: I included "Something About England" and "Charlie Don't Surf" while Sandanista Now! excludes those songs but includes instead "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" and "Sound of Sinners." 

SIDE A

1.       The Magnificent Seven

2.       Hitsville UK

3.       Junco Partner

4.       The Leader

5.       Something About England

6.       Somebody Got Murdered

SIDE B

1.       One More Time

2.       Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)

3.       Police on My Back

4.       The Call Up

5.       Washington Bullets

6.       Charlie Don’t Surf

 

George Harrison – “All Things Must Pass”

For this album, the obvious choice for me was to first remove the third disc of jams. And then I assembled what I thought were the best nine tracks. The first side ended up being exactly the same as the released album, and the second side was a mix of the rest. The leftovers would have been a great start on a 1971 or 1972 follow-up album.

SIDE A

1.       I’d Have You Anytime

2.       My Sweet Lord

3.       Wah-Wah

4.       Isn’t It a Pity (v. 1)

SIDE B

1.       What is Life

2.       Run of the Mill

3.       Beware of Darkness

4.       The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

5.       All Things Must Pass

 

The Clash - "Do Not Cross"

Happy 2020. 

Not long after taking a break a few months ago because I'd run out of ideas, I suddenly had a brainstorm and whipped together 11 new ideas. My plan is to post one on the first Sunday of each month. Here's the first....

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What could have/would have been had The Clash not split into different camps in 1983? The world will never know.

Troubles seem to have begun with the group during the recording of Combat Rock. Originally it was mixed by singer/guitarist Mick Jones as a double album titled Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg. However, others in the band weren't happy with the mix and weren't convinced they should issue another multi-disc album following the double London Calling and triple Sandinista!

Veteran rock music producer Glyn Johns was brought in to remix the album, something Jones wasn't completely happy about. Then while on tour, drummer Topper Headon was sacked from the group due to his drug addiction. And then disagreements about rehearsing, use of synthesizers, management and just about everything else tore the group apart. Jones was fired by Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon. Jones eventually formed a new group called Big Audio Dynamite. And Simonen ended up having little input on the next Clash album, Cut the Crap, making it essentially a Strummer solo album.

I wanted to look at Cut the Crap and the debut Big Audio Dynamite album and see if I could use tracks from both to create a theoretical Clash album.

SIDE A

1. Cool Under Heat 

2. Medicine Show

3. E=MC²

4. The Bottom Line

5. Sex Mad Roar

SIDE B

1. This is England

2. Sudden Impact!

3. Three Card Trick

4. Electric Vandal

5. North and South

6. Life is Wild

In creating this album, I ended up with four tracks from This is Big Audio Dynamite and five songs from Cut the Crap, plus one non-album track from each.

The tracks I took from Cut the Crap seem to be the ones least hated from that album. And the ones I took from This is Big Audio Dynamite appear to be the best ones by consensus. Your results may differ.

Interestingly, the best B.A.D. tracks seem to be on the first side of that album, and the best of the Cut the Crap tracks appear to be on the second side of that disk. I was tempted to simply put one group on one side and the other on the second side. But I felt it would be better to integrate the songs at least to some degree.

At first, I decided to try placing most of the songs where they appear on their respective original albums. However, my first attempt at creating Side A didn't work. I began with "Medicine Show," followed by "Sex Mad Roar," "E=MC2," "The Bottom Line" and "Cool Under Heat." But this arrangement didn't flow well at all. So, I rearranged it a little, with much better results, I think.

The album kicks off with The Clash's "Cool Under Heat." It features a roaring guitar riff and chanting chorus so I thought it was a good way to start off. The next track from This is Big Audio Dynamite, "Medicine Show," is followed by what is probably B.A.D.'s best-known song, "E=MC²." Closing out the first side are B.A.D.'s "The Bottom Line" and the non-album Clash song "Sex Mad Roar."

The second side kicks off with what many call "the last great Clash song": "This is England." Then we alternate, B.A.D.'s "Sudden Impact!," Clash's "Three Card Trick" and then "B.A.D.'s "Electric Vandal" (a non-album track). Two Clash songs, "North and South" and "Life is Wild," close out the album as they do on Cut the Crap.

Overall, I think this is an interesting mix. It won't satisfy purists, but I think it gives a glimpse into what a Clash album could have been had Strummer and Jones managed to compromise.

I put together the album cover design using clip art of caution tape I found online and used the words on the caution tape for the album title, Do Not Cross.

While The Clash was no more after Cut the Crap (and many would argue the band ended with Combat Rock), Strummer and Jones did eventually reconcile. The second Bad Audio Dynamite album, No. 10 Upping St., was produced by Strummer and he also co-wrote seven tunes (including bonus cuts) with Jones and others. So in some ways, No. 10 Upping St. could even be considered the final Clash album.

Check out a YouTube playlist of Do Not Cross.

The Clash -- "The Story of the Clash, Volume 2"

In 1988, Epic Records released a double CD titled The Story of the Clash, Volume 1. It was a compilation album featuring most of the band's well-known songs—basically a "best of" collection.

Volume 2 was planned but never released. There has been some debate as to exactly what songs were supposed to be on the second volume. I've read that it was to be either live tracks or rarities, or a combination of both. Perhaps there was a disagreement among parties, and that's why it never materialized. 

When it came to determining what tracks to use for The Story of the Clash, Volume 2, I decided to include both rarities and live material. If this was to truly be a "story of the band," I think both sum up The Clash along with the "hits" of Volume 1.

In the 1990s, there were several Clash compilation albums that came out with B-sides, rarities and live tracks. Two of those albums stood out to me -- From Here to Eternity: Live and Super Black Market Clash.

DISC 1 - Live

1. London's Burning (Victoria Park, East London, 30 April 1978)
2. What's My Name (Music Machine, London, 27 July 1978)
3. City of the Dead (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
4. I Fought the Law (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
5. Drug-Stabbing Time (Lyceum Theatre, London, 28 Dec. 1978)
6. English Civil War (Lyceum Theatre, London, 3 Jan. 1979)
7. Capital Radio (Lewisham Odeon, London, 18 Feb. 1980)
8. Armagideon Time (Lewisham Odeon, London, 18 Feb. 1980)
9. Complete Control (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
10. Train in Vain (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
11. The Guns of Brixton (Bonds International Casino, New York City, 13 June 1981)
12. Clash City Rockers (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
13. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
14. London Calling (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
15. The Magnificent Seven (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
16. Know Your Rights (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
17. Should I Stay or Should I Go (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
18. Straight to Hell (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
19. Janie Jones (Orpheum, Boston, 7 Sept. 1982)
20. Career Opportunities (Shea Stadium, New York City, 13 Oct. 1982)

DISC 2 - Rarities

1. 1977 (B-side of "White Riot" single, 1977)
2. Listen (full version, 1977)
3. City of the Dead (B-side of "Complete Control" single, 1977)
4. Jail Guitar Doors (B-side of "Clash City Rockers" single, 1978)
5. The Prisoner (B-side of "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" single, 1978)
6. 1-2 Crush on You (B-side of "Tommy Gun" single, 1978)
7. Pressure Drop (B-side of "English Civil War" single, 1979)
8. Groovy Times (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
9. Gates of the West (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
10. Capital Radio Two (The Cost of Living E.P., 1979)
11. Justice Tonight / Kick It Over (dub version of "Armagideon Time," B-side of "London Calling" 12-inch single, 1979)               
12. Time Is Tight (from Black Market Clash, 1980)
13. Robber Dub (dub version of "Bankrobber" 1980)
14. Stop the World (B-side of "The Call Up" single, 1980)
15. The Cool Out (instrumental version of "The Call Up,” B-side of "The Magnificent Seven" single, 1981)
16. The Magnificent Dance (B-side of "The Magnificent Seven" single, 1981)
17. Radio Clash (B-side of "This Is Radio Clash" single, 1981)
18. First Night Back in London (B-side of "Know Your Rights" single, 1982)     
19. Long Time Jerk (B-side of "Rock the Casbah" single, 1982)
20. Cool Confusion (B-side of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" single, 1982)       
21. Mustapha Dance (dub version of "Rock the Casbah," B-side of "Rock the Casbah" single, 1982)      

In essence, From Here to Eternity: Live accomplishes the live portion. It includes tracks recorded from 1978 through 1982. At the risk of appearing lazy, I decided to simply take those tracks to make my "live" disc, with the main difference in that I put the tracks in chronological order. I also added a live version of "English Civil War" that appears on the compilation Clash on Broadway as there aren't any other tracks featured from 1979.

For Disc 2, I took a similar approach: I took the tracks of the rarities compilation Super Black Market Clash and reorganized the songs in chronological order.

I can't say whether this is close to the original plan for Volume 2, but I think it certainly showcases the band as both a live act and a group with diverse music. For a cover, I tried to mimic Volume 1 by taking another photo of The Clash and using a similar layout.