Streetcore - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
Metascore
85 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. 100
    Streetcore negotiates a resolution between the ethnocentric beats that hallmarked the two previous Mescaleros albums and the classic Clash sound that remained pivotal to Joe's live performances. [Nov 2003, p.110]
  2. This is one of the best rock & roll albums of 2003, and truly the finest, most cohesive work he did after London Calling.
  3. Mescaleros Martin Slattery and Scott Shields have yielded a remarkably cohesive set of songs with arrangements that Strummer would have approved of. [Dec 2003, p.135]
  4. His best work since the Clash's London Calling.
  5. The 'world-music' excursions of the previous 'Global - A Go Go' album are less in evidence and 'Streetcore' is a sharper, leaner collection for it.
  6. Strummer's best solo effort and one of the best rock records of the year.
  7. One of the best albums of 2003, one of his best albums post-Clash, and as the highest note Joe Strummer could have exited on.
  8. Just the sort of punky reggae party he was born to throw. [24 Oct 2003, p.106]
  9. 'Streetcore' shows he was still producing vital music to the end.
  10. 80
    Streetcore is an amalgam of all that made Joe Strummer, the musician and the man, so great. [Nov 2003, p.131]
  11. Splits evenly into out-and-out rockers and downhome folk. [Nov 2003, p.123]
  12. 80
    An unnervingly powerful, cathartic final statement. [#61, p.107]
  13. It has so many promising moments, so few -- and I would say hardly any -- flaws, that I just can't help but think, "what if he saw it through?"
  14. 75
    Just as messy as the Mescaleros' first two stabs at relevance. [Jan 2004, p.102]
  15. His singing is a bit improved and the playing throughout is heartfelt and strong.
  16. Streetcore continues the band's lightly amplified muscular-acoustic sound.
  17. In a way, the tinny sound and half-finished feel makes it seem more touching and direct than the final result might otherwise have been.
  18. While the record fails at living up to the hyperbolic critical proclamations of London Calling's second coming, it does make for a pretty decent, if somewhat unexpected, sweat-soaked finale for The Clash's legendary golden boy.
  19. Streetcore isn't exactly London Calling, but with his sweet, ragged voice sounding as strident as ever, Strummer improves on such hit-and-miss affairs as 1999's Rock Art and the X-Ray Style.
  20. 40
    Without much international color or guest flourish. [Nov 2003, p.122]
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. LynnG
    10
    Joe went down with the last eerie words on this album "That's a take." And he was gone, just like that. Joe Strummer's great hero was Johnny Cash. And as in Joe's own tribute to Cash,"He cast a long shadow on the ground. Joe never forgot his core values, the downtrodden he was fighting for--he was a gentle and compassionate warrior. And if this album is any thing judge from, he went out at the height of his genius. R.I.P. Joe, we love you. Full Review »
  2. GuidovanEs
    10
    I listen to it now and it fills my ears with pure joy every time :)
  3. LawrenceP
    10
    Thanks for all the good music...Joe Strummer is the only musican that changed the way i lived my life.