As far as the Clash goes (and I realize I'm late to the dance here), I've actually always thought that the Stranglers, the Damned, and the Buzzcocks were better bands. Though I have an extreme fondness for Joe Strummer and I think the band wrote some incredible songs, other than the first LP, every other one of their records had some flaws. If you were to put up the Damned's "Black Album" vs. "Sandanista", I'll take the Black Album any day of the week. Same thing with "Machine Gun Etiquette" over "London Calling", or "Strawberries" over "Combat Rock". But I know I'm probably in the minority.
