Tour manager Johnny Green and drum roadie Baker found a new place to rehearse, Vanilla Studios, in the back of a garage in Pimlico.

[16] The band gradually rebuilt their confidence, with the styles of the session's early cover songs setting the template for the diverse material that would be written for London Calling.

[17] The band were also encouraged by a growing recognition of drummer Topper Headon's skills, which they realised could be used to perform music in a wide array of genres and styles beyond punk rock.

[18] The Clash wrote and recorded demos at Vanilla Studios, with Mick Jones composing and arranging much of the music and Joe Strummer writing most of the lyrics.

[24][25] The fifth song, "Rudie Can't Fail" features a horn section and mixes elements of pop, soul, and reggae music together.

[29] The Clash's embrace of specific musical traditions for London Calling deviated from what Greg Kot viewed as punk's iconoclastic sensibilities.

[33] In the opinion of PopMatters journalist Sal Ciolfi, the songs encompass an arrangement of urban narratives and characters, and touch on themes such as sex, depression and identity crisis.

[34] "Rudie Can't Fail" chronicles the life of a fun-loving young man who is criticised for his inability to act like a responsible adult.

[33] "London Calling", the album's title track and opener, was partially influenced by the March 1979 accident at a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

[38] According to music critic Tom Carson, "while the album draws on the entirety of rock and roll's past for its sound, the concepts and lyrical themes are drawn from the history, politics and myths associated with the genre".

[39] The album's front cover features a photograph of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his Fender Precision Bass (now on display at the Museum of London,[40] formerly Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)[41] against the stage at the Palladium in New York City on 20 September 1979.

[61] In the United States, London Calling peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart[62] and was certified platinum in February 1996.

[66] Reviewing the album for The New York Times in 1980, John Rockwell said it finally validates the acclaim received by the Clash up to that point because of how their serious political themes and vital playing were retained in innovative music with a broad appeal.

"This is an album that captures all the Clash's primal energy, combines it with a brilliant production job by Guy Stevens and reveals depths of invention and creativity barely suggested by the band's previous work", Rockwell said.

[67] Charles Shaar Murray wrote in NME that it was the first record to be on-par with the band's hype, while Melody Maker critic James Truman said the Clash had "discovered themselves" by embracing American music styles.

"[69] Some reviewers expressed reservations, including DJ and critic Charlie Gillett, who believed some of the songs sounded like poor imitations of Bob Dylan backed by a horn section.

Garry Bushell was more critical in his review for Sounds, giving the record two out of five stars while claiming the Clash had "retrogressed" to Rolling Stones-style "outlaw imagery" and "tired old rock clichés".

[68] At the end of 1980, London Calling was voted the best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.

[70] Robert Christgau, the poll's creator and supervisor, also named it 1980's best record in an accompanying essay and said, "it generated an urgency and vitality and ambition (that Elvis P.

[83] Don McLeese from the Chicago Sun-Times regarded it as their best album and "punk's finest hour", as it found the band broadening their artistry without compromising their original vigor and immediacy.

[73] PopMatters critic Sal Ciolfi called it a "big, loud, beautiful collection of hurt, anger, restless thought, and above all hope" that still sounds "relevant and vibrant".

[34] In a review of its 25th anniversary reissue, Uncut wrote that the songs and characters in the lyrics cross-referenced each other because of the album's exceptional sequencing, adding that "The Vanilla Tapes" bonus disc enhanced what was already a "masterpiece".

[84] London Calling is honored for many excellent reasons, not least its audacity: a double album by the band that personified punk anti-'commercial' brevity and defiance going long and ranging far in both songwriting and instrumentation—the horn-fed 'The Card Cheat' features M. Jones on piano!

In 1987, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times named it the fourth-best album of the previous 10 years and said, while the Clash's debut was a punk masterpiece, London Calling marked the genre's "coming of age" as the band led the way into "fertile post-punk territory".

However, Blender recommended consumers opt for the original edition instead, claiming "the demo versions ... sound like an incompetent Clash cover band rehearsing in a sock".