Gang of Four- Shrinkwrapped (1995) MP3 & FLAC -For Jonathan-

Castle ~ 1995

Tracklist/Info

Shrinkwrapped  in FLAC:  Grab, Try, Then Buy!

MP3 (320kbps)

Gang of Four- Songs of the Free (1982) MP3 & FLAC

EMI ~ 2008/1982

Tracklist/Info

Songs of the Free  in FLAC:  Grab, Try, Then Buy!

MP3 (320kbps)

Gang of Four- Solid Gold (1981) / Another Day, Another Dollar EP (1982) MP3 & FLAC -For sradams777-

"Why work for love if it shows no profit? You'll only earn emotional losses."

On Gang of Four's brilliant debut, Entertainment!, arguably the best record of the original British Post-Punk movement, Andy Gill, John King & co. virtually wrote the book on fusing Punk-inspired iconoclasm with fractured, abrasive and passionate Agit-Pop. However, what made their debut even more distinctive was the subtle undercurrent of Funk percolating beneath all the atonal anarchy and politically-charged lyrics. In other words, Entertainment! somehow managed to be both didactic and danceable. While Gang of Four's follow-up, Solid Gold, continues along the same aesthetic lines, it does so by bringing the Funk influence a little more to the surface, and, in the process, emerges as slightly more polished and even more danceable than its predecessor. But don't let this fool you into thinking the socio-political commentary has been turned down a notch because it hasn't. For example, on "Cheeseburger," a scathing satire of America's emphasis on consumerism over class consciousness, Gill's hiccuping guitar takes a secondary role to the outwardly Funk -inspired rhythm section of Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham, creating a unique sound that would be emulated by countless bands a decade later. On the follow-up Another Day, Another Dollar EP, Gang of Four refines this sound even further with tracks such as "To Hell With Poverty" with its relentless dance groove and viciously humorous lyrics.  While Entertainment! is clearly Gang of Four's masterpiece, Solid Gold is, at times, a more confident and musically varied album, making it nearly as essential.

Gang of Four- "To Hell With Poverty" (1981) Live on Old Grey Whistle Test

Andy Gill has to be one of my favorite guitarists. To hell with poverty indeed!

Gang of Four- Entertainment! (1979) MP3 & FLAC -For reindeer man-

"The past lives on in your front room, the poor still weak, the rich still rule."

Nowhere is the ethos of Post-Punk better summed up than on Gang of Four's iconic debut, Entertainment! Sonically speaking, Andy Gill's razor sharp staccato guitar attack seems out to destroy every conventional assumption about what a lead guitarist can do in the context of a rock song. His is a trebly untampered sound that eschews both cock-rock excess and Punk-Rock minimalism while exploring a dynamically rhythmic approach that remains influential to this day. Lyrically, Entertainment! is subversive through and through, and I mean this in the best possible sense of the term. Always more interested in informing through ideology critique than in converting, Gang of Four reject the nihilistic anti-political stance that had come to be a Punk-Rock cliché by 1979, instead focusing their lyrics on the ideological constructs of late capitalism. For example in "Not Great Men," the band critiques the "personality theory of history," in which historical events and their causes are interpreted through the actions of those in power rather than taking into account the role of the working class as a force for historical change. In "Guns Before Butter," the target is the ideology of nationalism, a topic perhaps even more relevant today than it was in the late seventies, for what better way to describe the mood of post-911 America than the line, "Just keep quiet, no room to doubt"?  Entertainment! stands as the masterpiece of one of the most innovative and uncompromising bands of the rock era, and if you haven't heard this, better now than never.

Gang of Four- Peel Sessions Album (1990) MP3 & FLAC

"The past lives on in your front room; the poor still weak, the rich still rule."

Presenting Gang of Four at their scratchy, blunt, and angular best, The Peel Sessions Album, comprised of three separate John Peel sessions spanning the years 1979-1981, has long had the reputation for containing some of the best performances the band ever recorded. Gang of Four virtually defined the Post-Punk ethos- a jagged, acerbic deconstruction of the Punk movement's nihilistic tendencies, and on The Peel Sessions Album, perhaps even more so than on their justly iconic debut, Entertainment!, their "agit-pop" songs are offered up unpolished and positively seething with cerebral sarcasm. Tracks such as "I Found That Essence Rare" and "5.45" exhibit a more frenzied, slightly out of control feel that is largely missing on the studio versions of these songs. For comrades already familiar with Gang of Four's work, this album is a treasure-trove of fine performances by the original lineup. For those unfamiliar with this seminal Post-Punk band, there is no better point of entry.