Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Combat Rock

1982 studio album by the Clash

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera — Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas

Record originEnglish Wikipedia

Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0

Source revisionSep 12, 2026

Entity authoritySource title only

Source-derived summary

Combat Rock is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Clash, 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. The album was propelled by drummer Topper Headon's "Rock the Casbah" which became a staple on the newly launched MTV. Combat Rock continued the influence of funk and reggae like previous Clash albums, but also featured a more radio-friendly sound which alienated Clash fans.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Combat Rock” is 1982 studio album by the Clash. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Combat, Rock and studio, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Combat, Rock and studio is the immediate research focus.

Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1982 studio album by the Clash” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1982.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for

Identifying works and editions
Tracing reception history
Finding collection records

Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

Establish the record: confirm the title “Combat Rock”, its source revision and the description used here.
Expand the search: follow Combat Rock primary sources, Combat Rock archive and Combat research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Combat Rock”?
Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?

Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Combat Rock history →Combat Rock primary sources →Combat Rock archive →Combat research →Rock research →studio research →album research →

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Combat Rock” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.