Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by the English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records.

During the tense recording sessions, Clash manager Bernie Rhodes and Strummer fought each other for control over the band's songwriting and musical direction.

Epic Records hoped the album would advance the Clash's success in the United States, and planned an expensive video for a lead single.

Although it is still generally regarded as the band's worst album, contemporary critics have praised Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance, especially on the tracks "This Is England", "Dirty Punk" and "Three Card Trick".

The Clash's internal difficulties during 1983 led to two of its core members being fired: guitarist Mick Jones was seen as adopting rock star posturing that lead vocalist Joe Strummer considered anathema to what the band stood for, and drummer Topper Headon had developed a heroin addiction which left him unreliable.

In response, Strummer wrote the song "We Are the Clash", which, along with "Three Card Trick", "Sex Mad Roar" and "This Is England", was debuted during live appearances in January 1984.

They were in part inspired by the communal sing-alongs the Clash performed during their busking tour the previous year, and thus evoked memories of a less tense period in their career.

[5][28] Although Jones's use of synthesizers and samplers was one of the main reasons behind his dismissal, those instruments brought him critical and public acclaim with his next band Big Audio Dynamite.

"[30] Strummer ultimately lost control of Cut the Crap to Rhodes,[30] and became so disillusioned that at one point he asked Jones to rejoin the band, but was refused.

[5] Simonon does not appear on any of the final recordings; the basslines were performed by Norman Watt-Roy, former member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, who was not credited on the sleeve.

[36] Many of the guitar overdubs have been considered unnecessary, given that Sheppard and White were both using Gibson Les Pauls and as such their sounds were tonally similar, and there was not significant variation in either their chord progressions or riffs.

[n 2] Knowles suggested that adding reverb would have helped to create a more organic "roomy" sound, so the songs wouldn't feel "so canned and phony".

[42] The album cut omits the live version's bridge, changes the drum pattern, and replaces most of the guitar parts with atonal synth lines.

[47] Clash biographer Chris Knowles disliked Rhodes's production but admired Strummer's songwriting, and considers the album version as a lost opportunity given that the song had been a "killer" live favourite.

[16] "Cool Under Heat" is a reggae-ballad whose production choices have been criticised as cluttered and confused, several writers noting that its strong lyrics and tune are buried underneath a jumble of extraneous instruments and studio effects.

[49] Fletcher called the lyric "excruciating" given that Strummer was then a successful rock star, but resigned himself with the observation "fortunately for [him] not enough people were listening to be truly offended.

[52] Lennox described it as a "tuneful, beautifully crafted overview of social decay in England, where political philosophies joust for hegemony while the country sinks into ignominious decline and millions of youths turn to the dole.

"[42] The lyrics convey societal alienation, lamenting the national mood in 1985; the line "South Atlantic wind blows" refers to the Falklands War.

[53] Jucha said that the live version was good enough to have appeared on any Clash album, and that Strummer had developed a real skill for writing mid-tempo songs.

Its chorus, stylistically akin to the punk subgenre Oi!,[58] was described by Popoff as a "curious thumping party rocker that makes little sense" and begged the question why a songwriter of Strummer's ability would write "such banalities".

The artwork was sub-contracted to Eddie King[60] and Jules Balme, the art director for Stiff Records,[61] who had earlier overseen the covers for Sandinista!

Epic Records anticipated that both the three-year gap since Combat Rock (1982) along with their updated sound, would result in critical acclaim and high sales.

[37] Most critics and fans were disappointed on its release—especially with its sound and production values, and the omission of stand-out live tracks "In the Pouring Rain" and "Ammunition", usually titled "Jericho" in contemporary bootleg recordings.

"[31] Robert Christgau, a longtime champion of the Clash in the US, offered only restrained praise in a Village Voice review that alluded to the negative word-of-mouth and summarised most of the album as "stubborn and jolly and elegiac and together".

[75] The absence of Jones and Headon led many to regard it as a Joe Strummer solo album—an impression further solidified by Simonon's involvement being limited only to the pre-production stage.

"[77] Similarly, Richard Defendorf of the Orlando Sentinel described the record as a "sometimes embarrassingly anachronistic ... attempt to rekindle the Clash's punkish, militant energy.

The writer Jon Savage praised the album in his influential 1991 book on the history of punk, England's Dreaming,[58] highlighting the "innovative use of rap rhythm and atmosphere".

"[30] He was particularly upset that people had thought the "Jose Unidos" pseudonym credited as a producer was him rather than Rhodes, and said "it wouldn't have been so bad if Bernie had just got the blame but that was unbearable.

Finally, given that Rhodes had so heavily revised the original songs and used so many samples and studio effects, he and Strummer disagreed on how the tracks should be played live.

"[n 4] They briefly considered the possibility; Rhodes made the suggestion to Simonon, a position the bassist resolutely refused[84] until Strummer officially disbanded the group.