The Clash; you may not like them, but you have to admire them. Along with the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls and others, they brought punk to the "mainstream" and made what real punk now stands for. But more than being a simple punk band, they brought ska, dub and reggae into their music, bringing ska-punk along in their stride.

This CD is a compilation of live shows from all over the world (NY, London and Boston). You can hear all the classics, which I don't need to tell you how good they are, and other great songs: "London's Burning" (with some great vocals by the great Joe Strummer), "Clash City Rockers" (the great intro, yes), "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" (one of the greatest ska-punk songs ever, in my humble opinion), "City of the Dead" (just great), "I Fought the Law" (some great drumming), "London Calling" (with THE intro of punk history), "Armagideon Time" (some great reggae with some nice bass-work), "Train in Vain" (very nice drum-guitar duo), "Guns of Brixton" (woa! who doesn't like that one!), "Know Your Rights" (great "public announcement" done by with a guitar), "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (excellent, excellent) and to close it off, "Straight to Hell."

Now, you may be thinking "Hey, hasn't he just said that 12/17 songs were simply awsome and great?" Isn't he kind maybe a fanatic? No, I'm not a fanatic. Yet in an age where bands such as Simple Plan and all the other Blink-182s and Good Charlottes are thought of as the symbols of punk, it's good to hear some awesome, simple yet smart and political "real punk". They sing about politics ("City of the Dead," "Straight to Hell," "I Fought the Law," "London Calling") and "silly" things ("Should I Stay or Go") and influenced bands ranging from Rancid to the Libertines, passing by Celtas Cortos and the Suicide Machines. The Clash did what many bands weren't able to do: Be influenced, have their own sound, stick to it and then influence others.