The road to me becoming a fan of Gang of Four and their debut album "Entertainment!" was a circuitous one. At the beginning, the only song I listened to on that first record with anything approaching active enjoyment was "I Found That Essence Rare," which was also the album's simplest, most straightforward song. The second album, "Solid Gold," didn't help much, even though some of my Berkeley dorm-mates were disappointed (way too disappointed, if you ask me) that I wouldn't try harder to enjoy them. One went so far as to say, "hey, I spent time listening to Springsteen like you wanted me too, and now I actually like him...you need to work at this!"
It was really 1982's "Songs of the Free," featuring the great single "I Love a Man in a Uniform," that won me over. For the band, that was pretty much it, although they did release an album in 1983 and have reunited on occasion. But once that album pushed me beyond the first layer of the onion, I was "all in," and now think the 1980 debut is pretty close to being a masterpiece.
Needless to say, this kind of music isn't for everyone. But even though it took me a while to get there, I like it.
"Anthrax," Gang of Four, from the summer of 1980.
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