Content

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Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 35:08

eMusic Review 0

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Andrew Perry

eMusic Contributor

12.11.10
Gang of Four make an exhilarating return
2011 | Label: Yep Roc Records / Redeye

Gang of Four's fifth album marks an exhilarating return to the jagged grooves and incisive lyrics of their first two — 1979's Entertainment! and the following year's Solid Gold. Those initial albums were ferocious but funky benchmarks; critically lauded as the height of political/sonic extremism, they found new life in the last decade as source material for countless "post-punk" revivalists.

Content, then, is on one level an act of repossession, but it delivers on plenty of other thrills, too. For gnarly guitarist Andy Gill, it's a matter of getting stuck in some ultra-rhythmic, super-corrosive, amp-at-11-and-a-half riffing at which, after many years stuck behind the producer's desk, he remains terrifyingly masterful. He leads an all-new rhythm section with a sturdy swing, to which it would surely be nigh-on impossible not to surrender on the dancefloor.

King, meanwhile, strikes a unique voice: far too esoteric to be party-political, yet always acerbic, questioning, thought-provoking. As before, his microscope zeroes in on the motivations and dislocations in human relationships every bit as much as on Western culture's deepening consumerist crisis. "You Don't Have To Be Mad" needles at male paranoia in casual sex, while "She Said ‘You Made A Thing Of Me'" spotlights how a man's… read more »

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unexpected

Verdunguy

Reformed bands tend to sound like tributes to themselves, and old (post)punks weren't supposed to happen... We were too cool to end up trying to relive our youth. So I was leery of downloading such an important band from 30 years ago. I shouldn't have been. This one has a life of its own. They're excellent again - like Wire, they still play with energy, like the old Gang of Four, they speak up. Maybe I'm timewarped - we'll see from other reviews. But old school Gang of Four fans should not hesitate to download this. It's a rooted outgrowth of a long misplaced (but clearly not lost) sound. If you don't know the band, you should check out "A Fruitfly..." or "Who am I?"

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VBR V2 Rip

_lotek_

Excellent album! Sounds like a perfect successor to Solid Gold. Should be VBR V0, though.

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They Say All Music Guide

More than 30 years after their revered breakout and 16 years after their last studio effort, post-punk veterans Gang of Four returned with a new album, funded by fan donations. While the integral rhythm section of Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham have been out of the picture since the ‘80s (with the exception of some live shows and a re-recording session for Return the Gift), a new incarnation for 1995’s Shrinkwrapped showed that founding members Jon King (vocals) and Andy Gill (guitar) could keep the music aggressive and interesting. With bassist Thomas McNeice and drummer Mark Heaney on board for 2011’s Content, performances are generally middling, but a few songs show a glimmer of the band’s former jagged glory, particularly the opening “She Said ‘You Made a Thing of Me,’” the upbeat “Who Am I?,” and the caustic “I Can’t Forget Your Lonely Face.” – Jason Lymangrover

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