London Calling was remastered just a year or two ago and sounds great. The single disc can be had for 10 bucks and I have a hard time understanding why someone wouldn't own one of these. The second disc on the el edition expensivo consists mainly of rough versions of the songs with a few unreleased tunes and is mainly of interest to serious fans.
I haven't gotten to the 30m doc yet but there is some fascinating fuzzy footage of album producer Guy Stevens bouncing around the studio, throwing things and yelling at the musicians, all in an entirely good natured way. Stevens died shortly after the release of LC and I've never been clear on his role but this gives a clue as to how he influenced this great band to give their absolute best.
I got the single disc because these guys didn't really care how they sounded as long as they were on the record. The anarchist in me don't want this album cleaned up or re-eq'ed for better sound-just play it loud! I wish I had kept the double album vinyl.
I actually have owned this in the past, I had it on tape for years, then I got On Broadway, and then From Here to Eternity... so I hadn't got to buying it on CD yet. Picked it up, and I'm pretty happy with the sound quality.
I understand what Charles White means about not wanting his punk rock cleaned up too much. My early Clash 45s have a punch that won't be found on CD. LC was much more professionally recorded than those records tho and I believe the CD captures it well. (and I have the Japanese vinyl that's good and loud )