hypersongs

Entertainment!

The debut album, with a re-recording of "Damaged Goods".
Gang of Four, 1979

King told Clash in 2009 that "Damaged Goods" first appeared on the Fast Product single, that the band was paid nothing for it and so re-recorded it for the album, and that they didn't want a pop structure; "At Home He's a Tourist" was recorded in a single take, and EMI wanted "I Found That Essence Rare" as the first single, which the band refused. It reached 45 in the UK and 35 in New Zealand. The Rolling Stone 2020 list ranks it 273, earlier 483, NME placed it fifth of 1979, and Treble's Jeff Terich in 2025 called it philosophical, and you can dance to it. The BBC in 2024 called it the most blistering debut album of all time. Frank Ocean sampled it. We did not obtain the tracklist times.

Track listing

  1. Ether
  2. Natural's Not in It
  3. Not Great Men
  4. Damaged Goods3:29
  5. Return the Gift
  6. Guns Before Butter
  7. I Found That Essence Rare
  8. Glass
  9. Contract
  10. At Home He's a Tourist
  11. 5.45
  12. Anthrax

More from Gang of Four

Anthrax Marxists (1980), Solid Gold (1981), Songs Of The Free (1982), At The Palace (1984), Mall (1991), Shrinkwrapped (1995), Return The Gift (2005), Content (2011), What Happens Next (2015), Happy Now (2019)

Sources

  1. Entertainment!, Wikipedia
  2. Gang of Four: Entertainment! track by track, Clash (2009-09-10)
  3. Gang of Four, Entertainment!, Hall of Fame, Treble (2025-03-06)