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An excellent musical experience, December 27, 1998
Reviewer: Ric the Obscene (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews Cut the Crap was a progressive CD in a line of thought-provoking releases by The Clash. Embracing new technology and a modified line up, the band began to write a new chapter in that timeless classic known as The Clash. It did not do so by using the existing sound formulated by the previous line-up, rather it did so with a strong guitar sound and sampling technology. However, the same socio-political lyrical undercurrent can still be heard, especially in songs such as "Dictator" and "This is England". This CD took the Clash into a new sound and, in my opinion, did not get the recognition it deserved.

One of the best albums all time., January 8, 1999
Reviewer: A music fan
This album seems to bring out extreme responces, you either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. Particulary the tight rythmn, and full blooded guitars. Unlike other reviewers, I do hear the original Clash in this CD(i.e. London Burning, or I'm so Board with the USA) in tunes such as "DIrty Punk" and "Dictator". Its too bad this new Clash broke up. I knew a friend who did get to see them and he was impressed with the rythmn work live in concert.

NEW LINEUP, LESS FURY, BUT STILL GOOD, August 5, 1999
Reviewer:"adrock8082000" (MI) - See all my reviews While I will readily admit that this version of the Clash is nothing compared to the classic lineup, I will not say that this albumis horrible. What were you all listening to in 1985? Boy George and Culture Club? This album still retains some of the fury of earlier Clash recordings, but it still falls well short of classics like "White Man in Hammersmith Palais," "Safe European Home," and "Spanish Bombs." There is an abundance of melody throughout "Cut the Crap," as indicated by brilliant tracks like"Dirty Punk," "This is England," and "North and South." There is a quite a bit of the old anger and pissed-off attitude missing in Joe Strummer's vocals and lyrics, but was anyone really expecting this revamped lineup to sound anything like the one that produced that musical milestone known as "London Calling?" In the end, this band only faintly resembles the one that had blistered its way through that masterpiece six years prior. There is a lot of electronic sampling and synth keyboards throughout "Cut the Crap," which is more comparable to the work that Mick Jones would do in Big Audio Dynamite than to anything the classic lineup of Strummer, Jones, Simonon, and Headon ever produced. Yes, Strummer co-wrote all of the songs with the band's manager, Bernard Rhodes, and yes, Rhodes may have gotten carried away with the production of this album. But let's be honest. While Mick Jones was an essential element in the workings of the Clash, serving to write some of the most catchy guitar hooks in recent memory, he wasn't the only member of the band. Bassist Paul Simonon is on board for "Cut the Crap," as is the band's drummer from "Combat Rock."Do yourself a favor and BUY THIS ALBUM. Just don't expect it to sound much like "London Calling" or "Give 'Em Enough Rope," or any of the band's classic albums for that matter. First listen to some of the band's electronically enhanced dub experiments on "Sandinista!," add a helluvalot of melody, some rogue punk gang vocals, and you'll have some type of an idea of what awaits you on "Cut the Crap."

I apologize to everyone, I like this album., December 16, 2002
Reviewer: Damien C. (Clarksboro, NJ) - See all my reviews Beneath all the Bernie Rhodes..., this album really has some cool Clash tunes. I can see why most purist Clash fans would hate this stuff, even I hated it at first. But I gave it a few listens and I can honestly say that quite a bit of the album reminds me of their earlier works. Songs like "Dirty Punk" and maybe even "Dictator" would have sounded good if played and produced by the 1977 Clash we all know and love. And I don't know about anyone else, but "This is England" sounds just as eerie and catchy as "Straight to Hell" to me. Definitely not the greatest Clash album (or even second or third greatest), but certainly not a throwaway. Try to look past the whole punk ethic and give this one a try.

This album has gotten so much better with age!, January 11, 2003
Reviewer: A music fan
Reaching into my record bin, and dusting off the Clash's final album "Cut the Crap" (what an awful title), I gave it another listen this morning. This album had found a rather indifferent audience in me when I had bought it originally. I could hardly remember any of the album's music. But I was pretty much taken by surprise with how much I now liked this album, especially side 2, which is where I started. (Since it begins with "This Is England", one song I do remember liking about the album). . Elements of reggae, rock, rap, pop, dance and punk all share the space here. My first reaction was that this is not a punk rock record, but (at the risk of sounding ridiculous) world music. Every song on side two is a winner, with the anthem "This Is England" and the pop sounding "North and South" being the standouts. Although not as strong as side two, side one has great material in "Are You Red..y", "Cool Under Heat", and the standout of side one "Movers and Shakers". Some problems I had with this record were simple ones. The title "Cut the Crap" is awful. Joe should have done better than that. And the album's order is flipped. "This Is England", which starts side two, should have started the album off. Matter of fact I think the sides should have been flipped. Side one should have been side two and vice versa. Regarding how the album starts out, the first three songs cling too much to the bands past (summed up in the album's low point song, "We are the Clash"). Joe should have let it go, and taken the new direction he obviously wanted to take. In summary, I had this album wrong. I bought this album when I was 24. Now I'm 40. Maybe it was my youth, maybe I didn't want some of the beats Joe was pumping out at that time. But In hindsight, I think this album has aged extremely well and I rank it up some of Joe's best work. It is nothing he should have been ashamed of. And I wish I could have appreciated it when it was released.

Underrated final elpee from London's finest, 11 Aug 2005
Reviewer: "janewalsh9" - See all my reviews Perceived at the time as an ungodly mess, Cut The Crap remains an ungodly mess, albeit an interesting and ambitious one. The synths and horn sections blare in and out(especially on 'Dictator')with no real rhyme or reason, Joe mostly mumbles inscrutibly, the drum machine gets too much of a look in, the backing vocals are Cockney Rejects-style footer terrace chants, and 'Play To Win' is a total waste of time. And for a "back to basics" album there's an awful lot of non-punk influence: rap, funk, ska, reggae. Mainly, however, it's shouty punk, and great fun it is too. 'This Is England' is staggeringly beautiful, devastatingly evocative of mid-80s inner-city grime, unemployment, the crushed miner's strike, Thatcherism, racism, mindless violence, and punks with motorcycle jackets who are "walking all the time". 'Three Card Trick', 'Are You Red..y', 'Cool Under Heat', 'North and South' and 'Dirty Punk' are classic Clash. While I reckon that many Clash fans won't enjoy this, novices with nothing to compare it with, just might. It may not have the "greatness" of their other albums, but it's well worth checking out. Pity it doesn't include the hilarious 12" track 'Sex Mad Roar' or the edited 'This is England', but that's Columbia for you.

it's the clash, so therefore it can only be good, December 4, 2003
Reviewer: Daniel (Wills POINT TX) - See all my reviews alright, first things first, I own the LP which my friend gave to me for 5 bucks and that is the best 5 I have ever spent, I would've gave 30 honestly.... and if your a new Clash fan, well don't expect a "punk" album, first joe strummer is an artist (he's also god but that's beside the point) so joe is too creative just to stick under one genre of music, to those of you who gave this album a bad review, SHAME ON YOU!!! I thought this album was great. Just like Sandanista, or London Calling.

Better than I originally thought, May 18, 2004
Reviewer: Brian C. Taylor "smug feldspar magnate" (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews: I don't know why this album now sounds better to me than it did when I bought it in '85 or '86, but it does. As every other reviewer has stated, it's not really the Clash, but it's a pretty good collection of Joe Strummer songs. "This is England" is a wonderful song, and there are several other reasonably good songs. It would sound much better if it weren't so poorly produced (slick'n'stupid), but the songs themselves are solid. I hadn't listened to it in probably ten years, but got it out the other night and had to listen to it a couple of times in a row. If nothing else, it will make you wish the Clash had stayed together, and continued making brilliant records.

seriously underrated, May 27, 2004
Reviewer: Barney (Brazil) - See all my reviews: I loved this back in '85 when I bought the LP at school and owned almost everything the Clash had recorded. I recently picked it up on CD at an extortionate import price - Clash album number 3 in my CD collection. I knew it was flop when I first bought it and couldn't understand why. If you're considering this one, take the chance. It's my number 2 after 'London Calling' - and I realise that's verging on sacrilege.

Shut the hell up!, August 30, 2006
Reviewer: SUPERMAN "MILES STANDISH" (THE 40 WATT IN ATHENS) - See all my reviews: Seems it has always been fashionable to blast this album, as if in doing so you prove your hardcore Clash status. Well, I own all Clash albums, all Big Audio Dynamite albums and all Joe Strummer albums. I got news for you, this is not that bad of album. Yes, it was different from the other Clash albums, but it was still Joe Strummer for crying out loud, and even on his worse days, he was better than most. I agree that the sound of the album does sound like a reply to the Big Audio album that was being made by Mick Jones (which did very well) and this does make you wonder if this is the same band that made London Calling. Well, it wasn't, but is still a pretty decent album and a must for real Strummer fans. Hell, everybody blasted Strummer for his first solo album Earthquake Weather, but that album has been validated as a great album. Heck, at least "This Is London" is great.

The Bernie Rhodes/ Joe Strummer Album!, May 28, 2005
Reviewer: Joseph P. Ulibas "Jesus of Cool" (Sacramento, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
Cut the Crap (1985) was the results of some vocal tracks Joe Strummer laid down and Bernie Rhodes and a group of Session musicians and a drum machine. Paul Simonon plays on two tracks whilst Nick Sheppard adds vocals on North and South. These are the only contributions from the band. Instead of working on the new material the band was rehersing on the road (Ammunition, Glue Zombie, Pouring Rain). Bernie Rhodes used only some of the new songs and made the album into a synth-pop one instead of a punk rock disc. After releasing the single This Is England (a great song live or studio) this synth-pop disc hit the stores but it wasn't a fiancial or crtitcal sucess. The lyrics are great and have heavy political and social meanings but they're buried under the over produced music. Tracks like Cool Under Heat, Movers and Shakers, This is England and Three Card Trick are great but the rest of the songs are just badly produced. Rhodes should have given the band some studio time to record this album instead of taking it out of their hands. People, you must realize the band had little or no input on this album. Rhodes even credited himself as co-writer of all the songs on this disc. Please keep this in mind next time you want to say The Clash sucked without Mick Jones. IF you've heard them live you'd say different.

the abused neglected album of the clash family, May 4, 2005
Reviewer: Kent Lovejoy "ryan k" (ohio) - See all my reviews
cmon i think this album is great. sure the production sucks but big whoop. if joe strummer would have left instead of mick, this band would probally be where the misfits are today,a crappy corporate logo dinosaur band with a puppet vocalist. yeah i like about every song on this album except maybe 1 or 2 which are average at worst. why people try to pretend this album was never made is beyond me.its actually better than combat rock and sandinista. it gets more play than give em enough rope and even london calling and self titled at times.

I'd give it 3 and half, but we'll round up...., April 9, 2005
Reviewer: J. K. Baxter "my right hand is a chainsaw" (Near Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
This album would be a lot better understood if it was called Joe Strummer - Cut The Crap. I know this says it's a Clash album, and there's even a song called "We Are The Clash". But with Mick (and Topper) gone, this just isn't The Clash. If Mick and Joe were having some sort of unspoken contest in 1985 to see who could put out the better album, Mick and Big Audio Dynamite's 1985 "This Is Big Audio Dynamite" would have been the clear winner. It's not that there aren't any worthwhile songs here. "This Is England" is the best remembered, but "Dirty Punk" is one of the most classic Clash sounding songs on here, in my opinion. Some of the songs are listenable because of their absurd simplicity of the vocals ("Fingerpoppin'" "Life Is Wild"), and the ironic "We Are The Clash" is not a bad song, even though we've already covered the fact that this is only sorta the Clash. "Are You Red..Y" is very (catchy) 80's pop, but "Dictator" has some awful synth going on with Joe's vocal's strangled in the mix. "North And South" is a bit too synthy as well, and not even the fun New Wave sounding kind of synth. Many of the songs have the "punk chorus" vocals ("Movers And Shakers", "Cool Under Heat", "Life Is Wild" and hey, here's "We Are The Clash" mentioned again!), so you may love those tracks and you may hate them. So this album isn't London Calling. It's not Sandinista. Hell, it ain't even Combat Rock. From what I've read, Joe wanted this to be the "back to roots" album, reminiscent of the full on punk assault of the first 2 Clash records. It might have sounded that way without all of the synth and drum machine going on. But hey, for Clash completists you really should have this. Mine sits right on the shelf between "Combat Rock" and "This Is Big Audio Dynamite".

They cut The crap and just leve good stufe mann!!!!!!!!!!!!!, April 27, 2005
This is da best 8 track ever recorded. WE ARE DE CLASH! yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1