Growing up as a punk rock kid, you were either a Wire guy or a Gang Of Four guy. Never mind the fact that the two bands sound nothing like each other, but they were for some reason always compared to each other. I fell into the Wire camp; Minor Threat covered them, so did the New Bomb Turks, to me they were closer in the Hardcore ethic (musically, at least) than Gang Of Four. All I had ever heard from Gang Of Four was their later "disco" sounding stuff, copies of "Entertainment" and "Solid Gold" weren't exactly easy to come by when your 16. But finally in the late 90's cheap reissues of a lot of "post punk" stuff starting emerging at a non import price. I picked up Gang Of Four's "Entertainment" album and was hooked. "Solid Gold" took me a lot more time to get into, it was just never a priority to get. I've been waiting for a cheap copy of it to come my way and Amazon paid off for me. $1.23, not including shipping! This album, their second, isn't as hectic as "Entertainment", there aren't a lot of hits on here, but the title lives up to the name, nothing but solid gold on this record. I really love "Cheeseburger" it's like a horrible portrait of what someone who has no idea of living in the US is really like is in their minds. Not quite insulting, but maybe just misinformed. The production on this album is a bit more refined than on "Entertainment", making it a bit less stellar than that album, but it's still a good listen.A great one actually. Also included on this CD is their "Another Day/Another Dollar" e.p., which has one of my favorite Gang Of Four songs of all time "To Hell With Poverty!" As a matter of fact, that e.p may be my fave Gang Of Four record. It's perfect. Great songs, not too long, and has the best elements of both of their first two albums.
15 songs total makes the count at 17410...
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