Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years Box Set (7LP)

2022 marks 20 years since the passing of the legendary Joe Strummer. While best known as the frontman for The Clash, between 1999-2002 Strummer produced some of his most exciting work alongside The Mescaleros.

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years is the first comprehensive collection highlighting this intense period of creativity and brings together the albums Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001), the posthumous Streetcore (2003), and Vibes Compass, a brand new compilation of 15 B-sides and rarities, including never before heard tracks like "Ocean of Dreams" (featuring Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols on guitar) and early demos of some of the Mescaleros best-loved tracks ("The Road to Rock 'N' Roll", "X-Ray Style" and more), through to some of the original recordings from Joe's last ever sessions ("Coma Girl [Outtake]", "Fantastic" and "Get Down Moses [Outtake]"), all in one complete box set.

All albums are remastered by Grammy Award winner Paul Hicks (The Beatles / The Rolling Stones / John Lennon / David Bowie) and are packaged in a richly curated box set, featuring extensive new liner notes and interviews with Joe's friends, collaborators and The Mescaleros band members, plus never-before-seen handwritten notes, lyrics, and drawings by Joe taken from the Joe Strummer Archive. Also included are four reproduction lyric sheets and chord charts, and the LP box includes an exclusive 12" x 12" art print.

Joe Strummer 002 serves as a loving tribute to Strummer's final musical output, released in celebration of what would have been his 70th birthday year.

Joe Strummer 002 is worth its weight simply for containing remastered versions of all three Mescaleros albums, but the copious liner notes, ephemera, and bonus disc of demos and rarities make it essential.