I have to admit, Christmas just wasn't the same last year when on December 23rd I heard that Joe Strummer, legendary singer for the legendary Clash had passed away from a heart attack. Six months before I had seen him at the House of Blues in Las Vegas on Independence Day. What I take from that show I'll never forget in my life. Standing there on the front row, he looked right at me near the end of the performance and gave me this wolfish grin that made me smile from ear to ear. I'll tell you, that smile came right back to me after listening to this, his final album finished and released by his incredible band the Mescaleros. Right out of the gate on Streetcore it is apparent that Strummer was finally reaching his stride as a solo artist. "Coma Girl" and "Get Down Moses" are undeniably great reggae influenced sounding tunes. His acoustic cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" is humbling. And his voice had never ever sounded better than it does on "Ramshackle Day Parade." Others such as "Burnin' Streets" and "Midnight Jam" are straight forward tributes to old Clash tunes "London's Burning" and "London Calling" respectively. The dagger in the emotional heart though comes on the very last tune "Silver and Gold." When Strummer sings "I do a lot of things I know is wrong, I hope I'm forgiven before I'm gone/ I got to hurry up before I grow to old."It's hard not to shed a tear for something that beautiful. You're a damn legend Joe. If I make it to heaven, I wanna see that grin again, because I know without a doubt he's up there.