Combat Rock
| Combat Rock | ||||
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| Studio album by The Clash | ||||
| Released | 14 May 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1980; September 1981 at Ear Studios in London; November 1981–January 1982 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City; April 1982 in Warnford, Hampshire | |||
| Genre | Post-punk | |||
| Length | 46:21 | |||
| Label | CBS, Epic | |||
| Producer | The Clash, Glyn Johns | |||
| The Clash chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Combat Rock | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Alternative Press | 3/5 |
| Blender | |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Select | 4/5 |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 |
| The Village Voice | B+ |
Combat Rock is the fifth studio album by the English rock band The Clash. It was released on 14 May 1982 through CBS Records. In the United Kingdom, the album charted at number 2, spending 23 weeks in the UK charts and peaked at number 7 in the United States, spending 61 weeks on the chart.
Combat Rock is the group's best-selling album, being certified double platinum in the United States. It contained two of The Clash's most popular songs, the singles "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go". Combat Rock was the last Clash album featuring the classic lineup when Topper Headon and Mick Jones are fired from the band.
Following the triple-album Sandinista! (1980), singer/guitarist Joe Strummer felt the group was "drifting" creatively. Bassist Paul Simonon agreed with Strummer's dissatisfaction towards the "boring" professionalism of The Clash's then-managers Blackhill Enterprises. Strummer and Simonon convinced their bandmates to reinstate the band's original manager Bernie Rhodes in February 1981, in an attempt to restore the "chaos" and "anarchic energy" of The Clash's early days. This decision was not welcomed by guitarist Mick Jones, who was becoming progressively estranged from his bandmates.
During this period, drummer Topper Headon escalated his intake of heroin and cocaine. His occasional drug usage had now become a habit that was costing him £100 per day and undermining his health. This drug addiction would be the factor that would later inspire his bandmates to fire him from The Clash, following the release of Combat Rock.
The album had the working title Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg during the recording and mixing stages. After early recording sessions in London, the group relocated to New York for recording sessions at Electric Lady Studios in November and December 1981. Electric Lady Studio was where the band had recorded its previous album Sandinista! in 1980.
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