Details
Track Listing
1. Johnny Appleseed
2. Cool N' Out
3. Global a Go-Go
4. Bhindi Bhagee
5. Gamma Ray
6. Mega Bottle Ride
7. Shaktar Donetsk
8. Mondo Bongo
9. Bummed Out City
10. At the Border, Guy
11. Minstrel Boy
Album Notes
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Scott Shields (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass instrument, drums, loops); Pablo Cook (vocals, whistle, harmonica, drum, congas, bongos, guiro, shaker, tambourine, percussion, bells, sound effects); Joe Strummer (vocals); Martin Slattery (guitar, electric guitar, hammer dulcimer, flute, melodica, French horn, piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond b-3 organ, synthesizer, bass instrument, background vocals); Tymon Dogg (Spanish guitar, violin); Richard Flack (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Roger Daltrey (vocals).
Recording information: Battery Studios, London, England.
Even when he was leading the Clash, Joe Strummer always incorporated his interest in disparate musical styles into his work. 20 years down the road, he's achieved enough distance from the Clash to express himself fully and freely, so GLOBAL A GO-GO is Strummer's most stylistically diverse offering to date. The album opens with the American folk motifs of "Johnny Appleseed" before moving on to the churning, funky "Cool 'N' Out." The title tune combines hypnotic trip-hop keyboards, reggae guitar, and percolating percussion to celebrate the joys of international communication. "Bhindi Bhagee" successfully combines electronica beats with Eastern tonalities.
"Gamma Ray" is a surreal Cuban-style slow-burner that recalls the Latin Playboys. "Mondo Bongo" and "Shaktar Donetsk" sound like excerpts from a film noir soundtrack set somewhere in Morocco. The album closes with the epic 17-minutes-plus "Minstrel Boy," a folkish selection filled with atmospheric fiddle and acoustic guitar, nearly all instrumental. It continues the soundtrack-like feeling achieved by the earlier cuts, and leaves the listener flouting on a cloud of hazy Celtic mist. Throughout the album, Strummer evinces his trademark socio-political awareness in the lyrics, but he sounds much less angry than in punk's glory days. Sometimes maturity can work for you.
Industry Reviews
...Retains a concise musical vision that's as challenging as anything you'd expect from this longtime innovator...
CMJ (08/27/2001)
4 stars out of 5 - ...It's liberating to hear Strummer and his Mescaleros relaxing, nay reveling in unhindered melodic freedom...
Uncut (08/01/2001)
7 out of 10 - ...Full of the same totalizing ambition that made the Clash great...
Alternative Press (10/01/2001)
3 stars out of 5 - ...An internationalist concept album....its muso-y eclecticism offset by a groovy modern abandon reminiscent of...Black Grape...
3.5 stars out of 5 - ...Strummer is a magnet for local color as he slithers around exotic playgrounds and tense urban trouble spots...
Rolling Stone (09/27/2001)
Ranked #11 in Mojo's Best [40] Albums of 2001.
Mojo (01/01/2002)
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