In defense of Big Audio Dynamite

This should silence the naysayers.

^The JAM.

EnergyFlashGordon, >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!! >3!!!!

I haven't heard the song in decades, but shockingly, this sounds better than I remembered. Then again, it's probably B.A.D.'s most anonymous sounding song ever.. it could have been any sample-heavy 303 jam from the time... which kinda makes it last longer than most B.A.D., sadly.

I still love "Contact".

i can't believe this thread has been revived this week, of all weeks...

first, BAD gets bigged up on a private filesharing group i belong to, thus creating a discussion. I decide to load Megatop Phoenix up on the ipod and it's just fantastic, as great as I remember it - this might be their best full-length. there are better tracks on other albums, but this one hangs together the best out of all of them. *then* i notice this thread and read it eagerly, totally loving how the BAD-lovers make a comeback at the end. then, to top it all off, i meet Mick Jones at work, get to shake his hand, take a photo and tell him - "I was a big Clash fan as a kid, but I was a *bigger* BAD fan", which got me a huge grin & made my whole month.

BAD rules!

The Globe is one of my favorite records ever -- so I bought Higher Power and This is BAD and found both unlistenable and boring. Is there something else I should try?

It's really hard for me to figure out how not to like "Rush." The way the main theme wanders back in from the "not everything's singing, you know" section is breathtaking.

Yes, try Megatop Phoenix - I also listened to it on my ipod last week*, and concur that it still sounds great, and have always thought it's their best album by miles. Contact, which Alex loves above, is from that album. And the track that Mackro is so excited about is kinda a megamix of bits from it, too. Recommendation enough?

Higher Power is really, really bad (apparently Jones wanted it to be a four-track EP but Sony sent them back to keep forcing new material until they had a CD-length, unfocussed, collection of songs) but the first side of This Is BAD is the OG classics.

*when I ripped it years ago, I split it into side one and side two, because not only did I get to know it so well on vinyl, but it is so totally designed for the two sides - from the "Start" intro, every track flows into each other (usually via interstitial sample jams) until taking a breath at the end of the first side - then the guitar tyre squeals at the beginning of James Brown kick off another uninterrupted side, running through to the TV closedown.

change of atmosphere from kool-aid is still great.
its basically the full length 8 minute version of rush from the globe album.
also, there were some great songs on the unreleased final album, entering the new ride, when mick at last rediscovered the joys of bass again after several albums on which they forgot to plug it in or mixed it way back.

Hang on, in what universe is "C'mon Every Beatbox" terrible or inferior?

All I know is, I wouldn't want to live there. It's a great song. Cameo must've been kicking themselves that they didn't think of that chorus refrain before Mick Jones.
Incidentally, I have to say that BAD's lyrics have always suggested to me that Jones was the real intellect in the Clash. There's some very clever stuff on the first couple of albums.

I have to say that BAD's lyrics have always suggested to me that Jones was the real intellect in the Clash.

signs of a challopsoholic

Yes, well, I concede that it will always be a minority viewpoint.

nice to see i aint totally alone with my love for B.A.D.

Wow - after reading this thread I went to listen to Rush for the 1st time since 1991 - still remember all the words. There's kind of '91 Soup Dragon feel to it but I could also easily imagine it coming out in '98 and being mixed with Fat Boy Slim et al.

yeah, the Entering A New Ride album was totally "our time has come!" getting in tune with the zeitgeist, shame rule #4080 fucked it. they were playing out as a soundsystem at the time (Zonka & Custance DJing, I think, and Mick MCing - I had a 2xC90 of one show, believe me it's true!) and did the Boutique - saw photos of Fatboy hugging Jones with "my lifetime hero" quotage etc.

original line up back in action for 2011 : with 3 bands on the go at the moment, "keeping up with the joneses" takes on a new meaning

Three bands? BAD, Gorillaz, who else?

carbon/silicon

oh is that still going? Resiliance!

certainly seems to be an ongoing concern.
they have just launched a new c/s website, with promise of new material this year.

Would anybody be interested in a T/S poll pitting Big Audio Dynamite against Joe Strummer solo? I'm really interested to see where consensus comes down on that

I'd be interested to see the outcome, but I'm not sure how I'd vote. BAD > a lot of Strummer solo but then again Johnny Appleseed > everything

I'm on the fence myself. The first two Mescoleros albums were great, but Big Audio Dynamite may have the more impressive body of work overall.

Saw them 3 times on the reunion tour. Consistently pleased - I enjoyed the live show far more than the albums (which I couldn't really get into).

Also, there's talk of a reunion album. What do you guys think of the new song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2fAFmu0EOw

Nothing sonically about it ~feels~ like a BAD song -- especially not the original lineup -- and the title and themes make it seem very likely it was a Carbon/Silicon song that Mick had sitting around. But there are some vocal melodies, mainly in the first verses, that have a very classic Mick feel, both Clash-era and circa BAD II.

far more than the albums (which I couldn't really get into).

Most of the albums are OK-ish with great singles to ... actively bad with occasional gems. But Megatop Phoenix and Kool-Aid both work as entire LPs.

(actually the devolvement of the new song into repetition and fey terrace chanting probably does make it a fair approximation of standard BAD songwriting tbf)

Love everything up through The Globe, but am thinking they should now change their moniker to Big Audio Mistake.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, April 4, 2003 3:10 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark

would have been better linking to that noize post

http://www.amazon.com/Chrysalis-Years-1973-1979-UFO/dp/B0053V5Y20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330920528&sr=8-1

This thing rocks serious mullet, has all of the key Schenker UFO recors and get it delivered to your house in the US for like 20 bucks.

I've been giving it quite a few spins on the old Cd player over the last few weeks.

also: Basement 5

1) There's a deluxe 2Cd edition of This is... is is great but missing a couple of mixes that really should be in there (the original long version of Bottom line for one)

2) There is also a cheapie 5cd set of the first 5 albums (ignoring 'kool aid') for those who want to explore other albs.

Yeah, I almost bought that This Is "legacy edition" in London the other year until I checked the tracklisting vs price and decided it wasn't really polishing the legacy. It probably is the original 12" of Bottom Line, at a guess, just not the 12" remix... but to include demos at the expense of the Rick Rubin mix, the Super 8 mix of This Is BAD, and the first ever opportunity to press the Dust Head mix of Sudden Impact decently...

(though IIRC I actually taped the latter off my chainstore giveaway-only French 7" around 1999 for the US photographer bloke who'd done the remix, as he'd not heard it since turning it in to CBS in 1985, so the chances Sony even know it exists, let alone have a master, are perhaps slight)

wow, now I really wanna hear Mike Mills write a song called "Down At The 40 Watt" to a loop of "Radio Free Europe".
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, April 4, 2003 4:08 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It probably is the original 12" of Bottom Line, at a guess, just not the 12" remix...

Trust me, it's not.

I have those 12" singles, the original BL 12" took some finding (the remix one came free with e=mc2 normal 12")

There was a great remix of e=mc2 ("70mm widescreen remix") that came free as a part of the "Medicine show" 12" double pack (OK, it's confusing) that should have been on there, but I know why..

They basically tried to do an 'alternate' version of the album using all-remixes. (one was just a 'rough-mix', hmm...)

e=mc2 ("70mm widescreen remix")

yeah this is p much the touchstone version

And the truly bizarre thing is, it starts off exactly like "Life is a Rollercoaster" by Ronan Keating! (which came some years after)

Say what you want, but "Rush" is the jam. Except for all those weird interruptions, which are interesting but ruin repeatability

Some of my favorite guitar chords ever are the ones that begin "The Bottom Line".

Thread revival...

Mick always clearly had great taste. But his interpretations of cool were always borderline corny because he insisted on merging really blase pop with the flavor of the day. Take "Contact" - goes all acid in the end but before that it's like the most standard 20th century pop. Discuss!

What I didn't like about the latter BAD was how all the vocal were 'everyone sing' like a bad blokey bananarama.

all the vocal were 'everyone sing' like a bad blokey bananarama.

Megatop Phoenix : still totally works as an album.
also, pre-loudness wars, so, an album you can really crank and enjoy the space in the mix.

At sixty minutes on one record, loudness wars were the least of its problems on vinyl

this album was available on one slab of vinyl !?
for me, this is an album that needs the full uninterrupted 60 minutes listening experience.

yeah, basically sounds like it was pressed on paper.

this guy knows what's up:

when I ripped (it from CD for ipod) years ago, I split it into side one and side two, because not only did I get to know it so well on vinyl, but it is so totally designed for the two sides - from the "Start" intro, every track flows into each other (usually via interstitial sample jams) until taking a breath at the end of the first side - then the guitar tyre squeals at the beginning of James Brown kick off another uninterrupted side, running through to the TV closedown.

Think that’s bad?

My copy was one of those “Portugal” cheapies...

Following me reviving this thread a few weeks ago,
I ended up with a FLAC version of the unreleased album, 'Entering A New Ride', which I had but in scrappy lo-fi mp3 form.
All cliches aside, it's a massive return to form if you like the BAD thing.

I hadn't heard it before, and am definitely enjoying it - some shades of later Carbon/Silicon tracks in there, too.

Hey where can a brother get a copy of the unreleased BAD album? They are hugely underappreciated.

N.B. a new cleaner mix has recently been discovered of Rat Patrol at Fort Brag (only one G apparently) and it is great. I love Joe of course but Mick gets so much undeserved criticism.

broom air : the old semi official fan website provides all the information you need.

Thanks, Mark -- especially if you're also the Mark who cleaned up that Rat Patrol on the Clash site.

did you find relevant page?
i meant to post a link.
and no, sorry, i am not that mark.