The Clash - This Is England (Rebooted)

[@officialFredDurstfanclub]

In all honesty, this is one of the few times where I actually prefer the album take to the live/demo versions. Bernie’s production actually does the song a lot of good, and the cold and downbeat synths and footie chants fit the song extremely well. It’s no wonder it’s become so acclaimed in recent years. Still, great take on the song and I can definitely see why a lot of people like this version too. It’s a lot more uplifting and defiant compared to the hopelessness of the original

[@curly_wyn]

Xcuse me, “acclaimed” is a bit of a stretch. It’s more like: “A lot of people now see this as The Clash’s last good song.”

[@jamesbrannigan5620]

@@curly_wyn I actually think it's one of Joe's best songs, even with Bernie's crap amateur euro synth production. I prefer the guitar on the original. Weirdly it sounds less dated now then when it came out. I can't listen to 5 seconds of the rest of the album, though some of the demos were good enough.

[@curly_wyn]

@@jamesbrannigan5620 at most, the guitar definitely should’ve been the front and center focus, especially in that mix

[@shaun57661]

Thank you!!! The only lineup I was able to see live... Worcester Centrum 1984, and yes, they were good, though not the Jones and Headon lineup that I'd only be able to dream of seeing. Thanks Thanks Thanks

[@FatFingers1]

You actually made this album listenable. Thank you.

[@strummer3162]

I find this version of the song gets better every time I hear it. It really is a triumph! Bravo!

[@SanFran51]

It ironically sounds much better than the producer deciding to add souless 80s synth beats.

[@curly_wyn]

You have ol’ Bernie to thank for that awful production!

[@SanFran51]

@@curly_wyn But of course doesn't excuse the fact The Clash was exhausted.

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

The original is the only time production actually works for the song. I get that this sounds like something on Give Em Enough Rope

[@duckwalkkrg]

Great project John, I agree the synth production lent itself to This is England but I love your work. I had some good bootlegs from the CtC era and it's astounding what a fuck up it really was -- Joe wrote some powerful tunes in this period that were ruined or left out completely (In the Pouring Rain). What could have been!

[@Heston68]

All credit to Gerald Manns who put this project together. I'm just the host!

[@tommymaguire2839]

OUTSTANDING WORK!!! Thanks for this. Incredible effort to wash the mud away!

[@hannahpumpkins4359]

I saw The Clash live a bunch of times- once Paul Simonon even used a fretless bass.

[@leslieliu3905]

even changes the sequence of lyrics. awesome. looping for a month now

[@hannahpumpkins4359]

Holy crap this is awesome!

[@leslieliu3905]

The guitar riff from demo and live. So good.

[@martinmcfred6758]

This is better than the live Italy recording, couldn't even listen to that all the way through. Nice job, I'll skip the rest of album although I still find myself singing dirty punk out of the blue and a few others even though I haven't listened to crap since the 80s.

[@soulcityrocker3799]

It's an excellent version.

[@bibolehabib]

Thanks John for all your work !!!!

[@leslieliu3905]

so great. original guitar riff and slower version

[@stefano720420]

Amazing...

[@thiagopinheiro77]

Amazing! Really impressed!

[@amilederdnaxela]

Justice at last! Briliant!!!!!

[@alholdway2003]

Sounds great. Improved

[@Stigmatix666]

Now, this is a punk rock song!

[@EzioFara]

Great. Thank you

[@heberbensi5797]

The band should release this with good production

[@chrismartin5861]

Very different and I think much better for it.

[@annetta7793]

This song needs Topper.

[@mutantproof]

Every Clash song needs Topper!

[@garymay799]

@@mutantproof Your right missing meaty drums .

[@danielscissorhands]

I really prefer your rebooted tracks, except for This is England. I really prefer the original version.

[@paulchetcuti8046]

What might have been!

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

No offense but I prefer the desolate lamenting of the original.

[@mutantproof]

No problem, me too! But I wanted to recreate the live versions.

[@marvel905]

Couldn't have worded it any better!

[@pungisotu]

I think it sounds great. This is England is one of the few in the original LP that actually sounded good though.

[@JoeyArmstrong2800]

@@pungisotu It's just too uptempo for me to fit the maudlin lyrics.

[@pungisotu]

@@JoeyArmstrong2800 I can dig it. I like the LP version better too. Then again it’s been with us for decades.

[@billionaeris1183]

More Punk at 1.25 speed

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

Much improved. Thanks.

[@Rfk1966]

This is only song of the original album that is better. The rest of the remixes are far better

[@docevoluta9844]

no no no.. ctc was never the best album ... but leave it alone.. this is jangly

[@fredbloggs843]

Appreciate the idea, but he took a problematic track and screwed it up solidly. JMHO.

[@Stigmatix666]

Really? Here's the original demo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX6cp4R9fpx6d5o