9 Later Day Musical Crimes Perpetuated By Great Artists

They’re one of the most influential bands ever to come out of the UK, but The Clash were a going concern for less than a decade. They packed a lot into that short career, though, managing to explode onto the scene, change music forever, and become dreadfully stale before reaching adolescence.

Cut The Crap, the band’s final record, is hardly a Clash album at all. Mick Jones and Topper Headon, 50% of the original line up (and the major technical talent in the group) were long gone, and Joe Strummer’s heart wasn’t in it. Manager Bernie Rhodes installed himself as producer, and the results speak for themselves.

With the exception of “This Is England”, the album is between forgettable and outright bad. The Clash were known for shifting their sound, but the prevalence of drum machines and instantly dated keyboards was a reinvention too far.

Strummer’s solo work more than rehabilitated his image in the wake of this disaster, and his untimely death in 2002 means he’s guaranteed legendary status in the world of music. As for Cut The Crap, it’s best to just pretend the band split up four years prior.