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The Clash / The World According To The Clash

Botched reissue of 1982 promo hits compilation

By Jamie Atkins

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Baffling sort-of-reissue of 1982 promo LP

Sony will release the promotional compilation The World According To Clash in November.

The World According To Clash was originally put together by the band’s US label, Epic, back in 1982 and distributed to radio stations across the States just prior to the release of Combat Rock. Over time, the set – an all killer, no filler compilation featuring 11 of the band’s most enduring songs – has become sought-after among Clash completists.

OLD (left) and NEW (right) covers. An improvement? Leave a comment…

But puzzlingly, rather than a straight reissue of the original promo, which would at least have felt like a charming curio – Sony have rejigged the title, the tracklisting and changed the artwork. So ‘Magnificent Dance’, ‘This Is Radio Clash’ and ‘Police On My Back’ have been excised from the running order and replaced by ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘The Guns Of Brixton’ and ‘Spanish Bombs’ – perhaps an improvement in terms of the quality of the songs, but one that leaves the whole premise of the reissue a little moot. As does the change of artwork – rather than the bootleg-like original, a black and white image of the group has been photoshopped onto what looks suspiciously like an AI-generated illustration of a map of the world (see what they did there). It’s all rather underwhelming, neither-fish-nor-fowl compilation which doesn’t bode well for any 50th anniversary editions of The Clash’s catalogue.

Still, it’s available on CD (with poster of the new cover) and LP – pressed on either red (via indies) or orange vinyl.

The World According To The Clash is out on 13 November 2026 via Sony Legacy.

Tracklisting

The World According To The Clash The Clash /

    • Side A
      1. Rock the Casbah
      2. Clampdown
      3. Train in Vain (Stand by Me)
      4. Brand New Cadillac
      5. The Magnificent Seven
      Side B
      1. I Fought the Law
      2. The Guns of Brixton
      3. Spanish Bombs
      4. London Calling
      5. Lost in the Supermarket
      6. Should I Stay or Should I Go

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