Some of the most memorable music of the late-'70s British postpunk era came courtesy of Gang Of Four. The band's 1979 debut, Entertainment! , poured punk, funk, and politics into a groundbreaking sound that continues to influence such worthy modern rock descendents as Hot Hot Heat, The Rapture, and !!!. Rhino's 2005 issue of Entertainment! has been digitally remastered and expanded with bonus material, including the rare Yellow EP and four previously unreleased tracks. Booklet contains vintage   [ read more ]

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Gang of Four's debut album, Entertainment!, immediately made them a name to be reckoned with in post-punk circles after its release in 1979, and the group's third set, 1982's Songs of the Free, was their most popular, adding a bit of polish to their Spartan and metallic "neo-Marxist funk" and scoring a hit single in the process with the edgy-but-danceable "I Love a Man in a Uniform." This two-fer CD, then, features "the other two albums" (from the group's original run, that is), the ones t   [ read more ]

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Driving their guitar spangles and jangled lyrics into the new wave morass of the early '80s, Gang of Four hoped to spin magic one more time with their 1983 swan song. The last studio album the band recorded before it disintegrated in 1984, Hard came under fire from critics and fans alike, both camps skewering this foray into lighter, more dance-oriented territory, screaming bloody sellouts and death-of-our-heroes up and down the streets, without once stopping to see the album for what it really    [ read more ]

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Gang of Four's existence had as much to do with Slave and Chic as it did the Sex Pistols and the Stooges, which is something Solid Gold demonstrates more than Entertainment! Any smartypants can point out the irony of a band on Warner Bros. railing against systematic tools of control disguised as entertainment media, but Gang of Four were more observational than condescending. True, Jon King and Andy Gill might have been hooting and hollering in a semiviolent and discordant f   [ read more ]

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Entertainment! is one of those records where germs of influence can be traced through many genres and countless bands, both favorably and unfavorably. From groups whose awareness of genealogy spreads wide enough to openly acknowledge Gang of Four's influence (Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine), to those not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it (rap-metal, some indie rock) -- all have appropriated elements of their forefathers' trailblazing contribution. Its vaguely funky rhythm   [ read more ]

CD $45.58

Why let others reheat your back catalog when you can do it yourself? Maybe that's one of the questions Gang of Four asked themselves before recording Return the Gift, a self-tribute album involving re-recordings of their earliest and best work. While the reunion of the original members synched up with the popularity of several bands that were appropriating some of their ideas, one of the greater music-related motivators behind this release was...wait for it...correcting the drum sound. Drummer    [ read more ]

CD $18.98

Entertainment! is one of those records where germs of influence can be traced through many genres and countless bands, both favorably and unfavorably. From groups whose awareness of genealogy spreads wide enough to openly acknowledge Gang of Four's influence (Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine), to those not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it (rap-metal, some indie rock) -- all have appropriated elements of their forefathers' trailblazing contribution. Its vaguely funky rhythm   [ read more ]

CD $26.58

Gang of Four's existence had as much to do with Slave and Chic as it did the Sex Pistols and the Stooges, which is something Solid Gold demonstrates more than Entertainment! Any smartypants can point out the irony of a band on Warner Bros. railing against systematic tools of control disguised as entertainment media, but Gang of Four were more observational than condescending. True, Jon King and Andy Gill might have been hooting and hollering in a semiviolent and discordant f   [ read more ]

CD $45.58

Gang of Four emerged from the wreckage of punk rock in the early '80s with a sound all their own. Characterized by blatantly political lyrics that were chanted, sung, and yelled over spare, funky drumbeats and Andy Gill's scratch-and-kill guitar, the Gang's particular brand of angular dance punk was as refreshing as ice water in the face, and as this collection shows, still holds up well almost 20 years later. Back when the members of Rage Against the Machine were still in grade school,   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

Why let others reheat your back catalog when you can do it yourself? Maybe that's one of the questions Gang of Four asked themselves before recording Return the Gift, a self-tribute album involving re-recordings of their earliest and best work. While the reunion of the original members synched up with the popularity of several bands that were appropriating some of their ideas, one of the greater music-related motivators behind this release was...wait for it...correcting the drum sound. Drummer    [ read more ]

CD $50.33

Only within the context of Entertainment! and Solid Gold does Songs of the Free seem truly weak; otherwise, it has its merits and lasting value but doesn't hold up in invention and influence like its predecessors. Clunky rhythms, lumpen tempos, and morbid existentialism dampen some the songs, making the record seem less assertive and defiant. Funk plays more of a definitive role here, defenestrating the frenetics that characterized the earlier records. With bassist Dave Allen out of the fold    [ read more ]

CD $12.33