Gang Of Four Hard/Solid Gold CD

1983's HARD found drummer Hugo Burnham replaced by a drum machine. Additionally, the album's production substituted the band's previous angularity for a lush, polished sound augmented by backing singers and synthesizers, which longtime fans found hard to take. But both "Is It Love" and "Womantown" have a smoky mystery, while "A Man With a Good Car" is an energetic backward glance at the band's post-punk roots.

Gang Of Four were a British new wave band formed in 1980 by lead singer Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill. They had four albums hit the Billboard charts between 1981 & 1983. Two of those albums comprise this 2-on-1 CD. Hard is making its worldwide CD debut and Solid Gold has been out of print for years. Wounded Bird. 2003.

This twofer combines the seminal post-punk band Gang Of Four's second album with their fourth--the last studio album before their initial breakup in 1984. Though SOLID GOLD was originally less highly thought of than the band's debut, ENTERTAINMENT, it nevertheless contains two of their best songs: "Paralysed," Andy Gill's chilling narrative of the crushing effects of capitalism, and the joyful, whooping ersatz disco of "To Hell With Poverty."

Personnel: Andrew Gill (vocals, guitar, drums); Jon King (vocals, melodica); Chuck Kirkpatrick, Brenda White, Alfa Anderson (vocals).

Uncut (p.125) - 4 stars out of 5 - "SOLID GOLD catches them at their furious finest, shuffling between the personal politics of consumption and longing..."