Various Artists: Burning London: The Clash Tribute : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Punk tribute albums are a dodgy premise; who needs heartfelt, nuanced hommages to three-chord ravers like the Ramones or the Buzzcocks? But the Clash dug deeper into the music than their punk brethren, picking up rhythms from reggae, surf, hip-hop and Bo Diddley along the way from the raw power of 1977's The Clash to the cosmic slop of 1980's Sandinista! The Clash's casbah-rocking beats give their music a strange cultural presence -- in the past few years, "Train in Vain" has been sampled by Garbage ("Stupid Girl") and covered by Dwight Yoakam in a bluegrass song. Burning London, a benefit for Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shows how far the Clash's influence ranges; who else could inspire a tribute including both Ice Cube and the Indigo Girls?

The sincere fans on Burning London come to pay their humble respects, and if they can't figure out what to do with all the Clash's passion, rage and confusion, neither could the Clash. No Doubt turn "Hateful" into aerobics ska pop, while Ice Cube and Mack 10 rip up "Should I Stay or Should I Go" with a welcome blast of obscene negativity. The Indigo Girls play "Clampdown" as acoustic protest folk, Moby transforms "Straight to Hell" into chill-out techno and Rancid wail "Cheat" with all the phlegmy soul of Joe Strummer himself. Too many tracks are just karaoke -- 311 sound silly whining the line about "turning rebellion into money." (You should talk, dudes.) But Burning London's highlight comes when the Afghan Whigs actually improve "Lost in the Supermarket," chanting the chorus as a dread-riddled hymn. In the final minutes, the Whigs' Greg Dulli starts singing Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" through the guitars; it's a shamelessly hyperromantic punk tribute to a shamelessly hyperromantic punk band. (RS 813)

ROB SHEFFIELD