Global a Go-Go

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

Barnes & Noble

Second acts in punk rock are rare, but after a lengthy intermission, Joe Strummer is once again in the spotlight. When he had nothing to say -- a span that lasted a good decade -- his lips were sealed. But having gotten back into the groove on 1999's Rock, Art and the X-Ray Style, the raw-throated punk pioneer seems to be committed to restoring his legacy -- a goal he achieves on this lively outing. The former Clash frontman, who once provided the voice for "the only band that matters," proves that two decades on he's still got a flair for fuel-injecting roots-based sounds until they speed around the synapses at a NASCAR-ready pace. As befits the title of this, Strummer's second Mescalero-enhanced outing, he engages in a bit of globe-trotting, much as he did on the Clash's sprawling Sandinista! and presents his ragged vocals in a Tom Waits-like mélange of country fiddle, dark tropical percussion, and wheezy accordion, to name just a few of the sonic surprises. Stopovers include the Caribbean (whence springs the sultry "Bhindi Bhajee"), old Havana (the underpinning of "Mondo Bongo"), and the Emerald Isle (the source of the Celtic melody that buoys "Minstrel Boy"). The vistas are scenic, but the vigor that pulses through more straightforward numbers like the folk-punk thrasher "Johnny Appleseed" shows that the fire in Strummer's soul burns brightest when he stays close to home. Even so, one glance at Joe Strummer's Global A Go-Go vacation pictures makes many punk pretenders' artistic statements seem like pale snapshots. Welcome home, Joe. David Sprague

All Music Guide

In many ways, it's easiest to appreciate Joe Strummer's album Global a Go-Go if you forget that it was made by Joe Strummer. This isn't meant to insult the music in question, which is often engaging and always passionate, or suggest that it doesn't bear any significant signs of Strummer's personality; if you loved the syllable-drenched wordplay of songs like "The Magnificent Seven," "Lightning Strikes," or "Car Jamming," you're in for a treat, because here you get nearly a whole album of it. But if you're expecting the former leader of the Clash to be backed by two guitars, bass, and drums and playing something easily recognizable as rock & roll -- not a difficult assumption to make -- then you're flat out of luck. Best described as eccentric internationalist folk-rock, Global a Go-Go is dominated by acoustic instruments (Tymon Dogg, the fiddler from the Clash's "Loose This Skin," is all over this album like a pillowcase) and a wild gumbo of flavors from Africa, Latin America, and the West Indies, and while a few tunes have a prominent electric guitar (particularly "Cool 'n' Out"), most do not. And if you're hoping for lots of punk-wise sloganeering from the usually provocative Mr. Strummer, there isn't a great deal of that, either, though it's obvious from the Dylanesque density of his wordplay that Strummer's got a lot on his mind, and the one-world perspective that shines throughout is food for thought in itself, especially on the tasty "Bhindi Bhagee" and the globetrotting title cut. And while the epic instrumental "Minstrel Boy" wouldn't lead you to imagine it's the work of one of the great icons of punk rock, it at least proves Strummer is willing to mess with his audience's expectations, which is a very punk rock thing to do. Global a Go-Go is an intelligent and uniquely absorbing record, but listening to it is like eating sushi or escargot for the first time -- knowing what it is might shape your expectations in the wrong direction. Mark Deming