Punk warriors The Clash will go all LL Cool J on a new box set, overseen by guitarist Mick Jones. 

The Sound System box set will feature the band’s first five LPs – that’s The Clash (1977), Give ‘Em Enough Rope (1978), London Calling (1979), Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982) – remastered from the original tapes by Jones. The set will also include three CDs of rarities, demos and singles, a DVD featuring previously unreleased footage, and a fresh edition of the band’s iconic Armagideon Time zine. Art direction has been co-ordinated by Clash bassist Paul Simonon, who has elected to design the box in the shape and style of a vintage boombox.

According to Jones, the “concept of the whole thing is: best box set ever”:

“Remastering’s a really amazing thing. That was the musical point of it all, because there’s so much there that you wouldn’t have heard before. It was like discovering stuff, because the advances in mastering are so immense since the last time [the Clash back catalogue] was remastered in the 90s…We had to bake the tapes beforehand – the oxide on them is where the music is, so if you don’t put them in the oven and bake them, that all falls off, because they’re so old.”

The box set will be accompanied by The Clash Hits Back, a 33-track 2xCD compilation. The album has been sequenced in line with the band’s set at Brixton Academy (then the Brixton Fair Deal) on July 1982, albeit with a glut of extra tracks stuck on at the end.

Both Sound System and The Clash Hits Back are due on September 9. A trailer for the former is available to view below. [via The Guardian]

Tracklist:

Disc 1 
1. London Calling
2. Safe European Home
3. Know Your Rights
4. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
5. Janie Jones
6. The Guns of Brixton
7. Train in Vain
8. Bankrobber
9. Wrong ‘Em Boyo
10. The Magnificent Seven
11. Police on my Back
12. Rock the Casbah
13. Career Opportunities
14. Police & Thieves
15. Somebody Got Murdered
16. Brand New Cadillac
17. Working for the Clampdown

Disc 2 
1. Ghetto Defendant
2. Armagideon Time
3. Stay Free
4. I Fought the Law
5. Straight To Hell
6. Should I Stay or Should I Go?
7. Garageland
8. White Riot
9. Complete Control
10. Clash City Rockers
11. Tommy Gun
12. English Civil War
13. The Call Up
14. Hitsville UK
15. This Is Radio Clash