Back catalogue: Rock

Review: Album number five from legendary British post-punk and New Wavers The Clash was first unveiled on 14th May 1982. 40 years on it finds itself the centre of attention once more, re-released both in this original version and an extended edition with bonus record The People's Hall. Sticking to this outing, fans will likely already know that the record as it was first intended remains the band's most successful of all time, outselling all that came before or after and charting higher than any other in the US and UK alike.

Respectively hitting number seven and number two in the charts of the day, and spending 23 weeks in the top 40 albums in Britain and a mammoth 61 weeks in the LP league tables Stateside, today it's a double-platinum testament to just how potent the combination of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon was. The last record to feature that iteration of the outfit, tracks like 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' remain utterly timeless.

Review: Whilst it's now impossible to view Leonard Cohen's final album outside the context of his passing, the fact of the matter is that this lugubrious sage had been ruminating on the nature of endings and goodbyes for much of his near half-century of artistry, and it's hard to think of a figure who's been quite so eloquent and wise in this endeavour. 'You Want It Darker' seem may a fitting way to bow out, but moreso it bears testimony to the fact that Cohen's questing spirit remained undimmed right until the last, and his travails in the exploration of faith, romance and the human condition were never to lose their finesse and bite.