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This
2 CD box set includes 40 songs. Part blistering live concerts,
part demo tapes, part greatest hits. Includes "To hell with
poverty", "Capital", "I love a man in a uniform",
"Armalite rifle", and much more.
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BACK
TO PUNK ALBUM COVERS
Gang
of Four were an English band that emerged in 1977.
Though they really couldn't be considered a punk band...
they combined punk's minimalist sound with a heavy
dose of American funk, and infused the results with
intelligent, politically sophisticated lyrics. At
left is the cover art for their 45 single, Capital,
it fails us now (the flipside being To
Hell with Poverty).
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| Gang
of Four produced some of the most thought provoking lyrics
in rock history, addressing issues like the alienation of
the individual under capitalism, the manipulation of history
by ruling elites, and the very nature of love in a society
where everything is commodified. They took their name from
the four Maoists leaders who were put on trial in China in
the wake of the cultural revolution... however, the band was
far from being Maoist in orientation. The band was also one
of the first to openly address the issue of sexism
in society, and the insightful lyrics to songs like Not
Great Men and At home he's a tourist, clearly illustrated
their pro-feminist politics. As Jon King (vocalist
for the band) put it, "The attitudes
and beliefs that people take as being 'natural' have been
inherited through the social structure they're brought up
in. An example is the man who believes that women are by definition
more suited to working in the home than to making decisions.
The belief in the natural puts all this outside the realm
of debate. Unless you have an awareness of your ideas as political
manifestations, you won't be able to change them." |
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