Gang Of Four "Return the Gift" (V2)
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Tuesday. Oct 11, 12:43 PM
Back to murder the imitators.

Yes, it's the original line-up. And yes, the album is completely made up of new recordings of old songs already in their catalog. If any other band had tried to pull this off, the world would have free reign to scoff and dismiss it as arrogant and pretentious. Alas, this is the rare instance where such reaction does not apply.

Because it's Gang Of Four we're talking about.

All too aware of their widespread influence – apparent now more so than ever (and if I need to drop names here, you clearly aren't paying enough attention) – Gang Of Four are back to remind everyone where all this herky-jerky angular stuff came from in the first place. And why would they try to make this point clear by writing new songs when they can just rerecord their classics and show you EXACTLY where all of this started?

Largely consisting of songs from their first two albums, Entertainment! and Solid Gold (arguably their best), Return the Gift’s track sequence reads like a setlist. This is great not just because it's probably songs that the band will be playing on their U.S. tour this fall, but because the album sounds like a live performance. The recording is big and dry. The band is vibrant and electric, like they've just been dying for 20-odd years to make their point again. Energy flies off of this recording. In fact, after the opener “To Hell With Poverty,” I immediately put the jacket down because it sounded so much like a live show that I wanted to preserve the element of surprise and wait to see what classic they would hit me with next.

This is exactly what the band wanted, apparently. In V2's one-sheet for the album, vocalist Jon King said "...we agreed to play together again on one condition: we had to be great."

Not only is Return the Gift great, but one can only hope that it will draw attention back to Gang Of Four and away from their imitators. If you are not already a fan, I have no problem suggesting this record as a starting place: just make it mandatory that you go back and buy the originals to contextualize what the band sounded like then versus now. If you are already a fan, then you probably are already aware of the greatness that awaits you.
www.gangoffour.us
www.v2music.com

Click here to buy this album on iTunes!

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Jason Smith

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