Rock Art and the X-Ray Style is the debut album by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, released in 1999. This album featured the band in its first incarnation: Joe Strummer and Antony Genn on guitar and vocals, Martin Slattery playing keyboards and guitar, Steve "Smiley" Barnard on drums, Pablo Cook on other percussion instruments, and Scott Shields on bass. Richard Flack also did engineering on the album.
The record marked Strummer's re-emergence from a long absence in the music scene, his last record being 1989's Earthquake Weather. The album begins with "Tony Adams," a track which sounds not unlike Strummer's previous work with The Clash. Saxophone riffs are juxtaposed with reggae inspired guitar, as Strummer recites lyrics detailing a catastrophe hitting New York City. The rest of the record takes a winding journey, with songs that capture Strummer's genre mixing. "Sandpaper Blues" features hand drums and African chanting, "Techno D-Day" dabbles in electronic instruments, while "Road to Rock and Roll," another song written by Strummer for Johnny Cash combines acoustic guitar with turntables and electronic drums. "Yalla Yalla" Strummer himself once described as "an ancient British folk song....written in the year 1999." The song is rich in layers, which includes keyboards, synths, bass, drums, and a guitar with endless sustain (likely provided via an e-bow).
"Yalla Yalla" and "Tony Adams" were both releases as singles with music videos shot for each. The video for "Tony Adams" features Strummer walking down the street of New York City carrying a ghettoblaster. Rancid's Lars Fredriksen makes a brief appearence in the video.
A remastered version of the album along with Strummer's other two Hellcat released albums was released as a special 57 song digital download titled Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, The Hellcat Years on August 21, 2012 to celebrate what would have been Strummer's 60th birthday. Hellcat will also release each remastered album individually on CD and vinyl on September 25, 2012.
Read more about Rock Art And The X-Ray Style: Track Listing, Personnel
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