Gang of Four - Entertainment
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Artist: Gang of FourBrand: GANG OF FOUR
Edition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2005-05-17
Music Label: Rhino
Soundtracks:
- Ether
- Natural's Not In It
- Not Great Men
- Damaged Goods
- Return the Gift
- Guns Before Butter
- I Found that Essence Rare
- Glass
- Contract
- At Home He's A Tourist
- 5-45
- Anthrax
- Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time (Bonus Tracks)
- He'd Send in the Army (Bonus Tracks)
- It's Her Factory (Bonus Tracks)
- Armalite Rifle (Bonus Tracks)
- Guns Before Butter (Alternate Version) (Bonus Tracks)
- Contract (Alternate Version) (Bonus Tracks)
- Blood Free (Live) (Bonus Tracks)
- Sweet Jane (Live) (Bonus Tracks)
Free Music Notes for Entertainment
Free Music Review: How Am I Just Now Learning Of Gang Of Four?
Hit: 5 Stars
As I approach 40, I suspect I'm not alone in my utter lack of enthusiasm for the majority of the music that's been released in the past decade- or even two. More and more I find myself going back and excavating past eras of great music trying to dig up some gems that I may have missed. Recently, I stumbled upon a diamond mine in Gang of Four's, 'Entertainment'. I have known of the band for over 20 years, but somehow managed to never give them a listen until this week- after searching online lists of the greatest punk albums of all-time. Entertainment was near the top of damn near every list, accompanied by high praise for GOF as having forged a groundbreaking new sound at the time, a sound so influential that it immediately changed the landscape of punk music and beyond, and continues to reverberate in the sounds of a wide range of bands today who were influenced by bands that were influenced by GOF.
If I had read that sort of thing just once or twice, it may have been easy to write it off as the hyped up gushings of a few over-zealous fans. But this seemed to be a consensus- so I thought I'd better check it out. I bought 'Entertainment' a few days ago and I'm pretty sure I would feel like a complete idiot for having overlooked this album for so long- if I wasn't so damn busy listening to it over and over. I still know almost nothing about the story behind Gang of Four, but I can say that 'Entertainment' has been an absolute revelation for me. And what's crazy, is that I'm a musician and it became immediately clear that I have been hugely influenced by these guys without ever having heard them! I've listened to enough punk bands of the late 70's and early 80's to finally understand the significance of this one.
Right out of the gate, I was awestruck that I was hearing the unmistakable sound that I love, the sound that I hear fleeting glimpses of in many of my favorite bands; but this was the pure, undiluted, concentrated essence of that sound. It's an absolute onslaught of powerful driving rhythms, raw sounds, and tasty hooks. What's so unbelievably cool to me is the constant rhythmic interplay going on between all four elements (drums, bass, guitar, and vocals). Each always seems to aggressively attack the rhythm in it's own way- and then the real fun begins as the band layers these elements in and out in all sorts of configurations, each of which aligns it's own unique aspect of the rhythm: bass and guitar; drums and guitar; bass and vocals; bass, guitar, and vocals; then BAM!!- all four of 'em! And it just keeps working song after song.
This was such an amazing find! Better late than never, I think they say. Amen to that!
Entertainment Poster
Some of the most powerful, energized, and memorable music of the U.K.'s potent post-punk era of the late '70s and early '80s came from the trailblazing band Gang of Four, and it all started with 1979's stellar Entertainment! Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill, and Jon King fused punk, funk, explosive prog-rock, and literate and often incendiary lyrics into a signature, groundbreaking sound that would influence countless bands to come. The original album's brilliant 12 tracks are now remastered and bolstered with four tracks from the rare Yellow EP, plus four never-before-released-songs-making this watershed disc sound bigger and better than ever.The same year American college students and FM radio stations found hipness in the Clash's "Train in Vain," a quartet of students from England's Leeds University calling themselves Gang of Four released their debut album. Politically charged and pumped full of extremist theories and punk rock vehemence (and now out of print since 1997), Entertainment continues to rank among the most critically acclaimed and influential records of the post-punk epoch it helped to define. The record is funkified by stop-start rhythms and sharp vocals that mimic Joe Strummer's sing-to-shout shifts, a sound that has turned up in the music of a quarter-century of bands, from the Minutemen to Fugazi. The original 12-song track list--including the vehement slam on media and politics "I Found That Essence Rare" and the punk passion play "Damaged Goods"--is reinforced with all four songs from the band's 1980 EP Yellow, as well as four others never-before-released, including a live cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane." --Scott Holter
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