[Review] Gang of Four: Solid Gold (1981)
Paralyzed by the high cost of freedom? Solid Gold will get your mind and body moving.
Kronomyth 2.0: I hope they keep down the price of Gang of Four tickets.
The first album from Gang of Four was a revelation. The revolution continues on Solid Gold. You get both tracks from their last single—Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time, He’d Send in the Army—plus a new volley of incendiary songs to lead the charge against our patriarchal, profit-driven masters. It feels like a throbbing headache half the time, an incestuous marriage of punk and funk the rest of the time, but at no time does it ever feel safe. There were very few bands that sounded like Gang of Four; maybe Killing Joke and, to a less violent extent, Talking Heads. (When the Gang replaced Dave Allen with Sara Lee, the Heads connection became clearer.) Their sloganeering once again produces some memorable bits: “I need someone to bill my time” (What We All Want), “Why work a love if it shows no profit” (Hole in the Wallet), “Show me a ditch and I’ll dive in it” (In the Ditch), “Paradise, if you can earn it” (Paralysed). Just random thoughts to fill the spaces between the succession of meaningless tasks that mark our lives. The first two Gang of Four albums represent some of the smartest and most principled “punk” music to come out of the 80s. As their name would suggest, they were a politically astute group who understood that oppression takes many forms. That’s the difference between a riot (cf. Sex Pistols) and a revolution. But a revolution needs constant fuel to keep it burning; otherwise, it becomes a torch and, finally, a flame. I’ve been holding a torch for Gang of Four ever since their first two albums were released, though I’m still waiting for that revolution…
Original elpee version
A1. Paralysed (music by Andy Gill, lyrics by Andy Gill/Jon King) (3:20)
A2. What We All Want (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Jon King) (4:56)
A3. Why Theory? (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Andy Gill/Jon King) (2:33)
A4. If I Could Keep It for Myself (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Jon King) (4:07)
A5. Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Jon King) (3:16)
B1. Cheeseburger (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Andy Gill/Jon King) (4:04)
B2. The Republic (Music by Andy Gill, lyrics by Jon King) (3:20)
B3. In the Ditch (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Jon King) (4:21)
B4. A Hole in the Wallet (music by Andy Gill, lyrics by Jon King) (4:01)
B5. He’d Send in the Army (music by Gang of Four, lyrics by Andy Gill/Jon King) (4:25)
The Players
Dave Allen (bass guitar, vocals), Hugo Burnham (drums, vocals), Andy Gill (guitar, vocals), Jon King (vocals). Produced by Jimmy Douglass, Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill and Jon King.
The Pictures
Design by Andy Gill and Jon King. Layout by Keith Breeden.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette in May 1981 in the UK (EMI, EMC/TCEMC 3364), the US (Warner Bros., BSK 3565), Canada (Warner Bros., XBS 3565) and the Netherlands (EMI Electrola, 064 07460). Reached #190 on the US charts. (First appeared in 5/16/81 issue of Billboard.)
- Re-packaged with Another Day, Another Dollar EP on expanded, remastered compact disc in 1995 in the UK (EMI, 837006) and the US (Infinite Zero, 43035).
- Re-packaged with Hard on 2-for-1 compact disc in 2003 in the US (Wounded Bird, WOU 3916).
- Re-issued on remastered compact disc on January 29, 2014 in Japan (Parlophone, WPCR-80057).
- Re-issued on 180g vinyl elpee in 2015 in the EU (Parlophone, EMC 3364).
