Whatever might urge someone to give this album one star out of 5 cannot possibly be validated. This is a ground breaking record - countless bands since have completely ripped off the Gang Of Four's sound - which, by the way, was entirely innovative at the date of its release. If you don't find it so innovative now, chances are you don't have a clue about what was happening in 1979, which makes me wonder why you'd even bother with this album.

Entertainment! stands up with Pink Flag, London Calling, Unknown Pleasures, all those albums that emerged from the post-punk scene to redefine what music was, and to influence so many alternative bands throughout the next 25 some years.

The reissue of this album comes at a perfect time, when bands like the Futureheads and Bloc Party are flourishing, while borrowing heavily from the sound of Entertainment!

i'm a vehement anti-communist loather of the Frankfurt School who think's Jean Luc Godard (GoF's primary inspiration) was the worst thing that happened to cinema, which means I hate pretty much everything these guys stand for ideology-wise, and yet I love this album. It absolutely rocks, even if their class analysis is for the birds. This just goes to show that in rock 'n roll, as with Italian opera, lyrical content counts for little, sound is more powerul than sense. GoF don't write lyrics, they write slogans, but they're as hooky and memorable as Andy Gill's scraping James Brown meets James Blood Ulmer guitar noises. Less like songs than funky ideological football cheers. And Hugo Burnham is an amazing drummer. If you really want to know what this band was all about, hunt down a copy of the video (don't think it's on DVD) "Urgh! A Music War," a multi-artist punk/new wave medley of concert footage from the very early '80's. GoF are utterly riveting, absolute madmen. Though The Cramps out-do them, as Lux's leather pants are only held on him by his member, and he sings an entire song with the mike stuck between his teeth. But that's for another review.

You know, I'd love to impose a ban on using mediocre modern bands as measuring sticks for the merit of bands past. In other words, no more "There'd be no Radiohead / Death Cab For Cutie / Rage Against The Whatever / if it weren't for Gang of Four (as if that's a GOOD thing!! Hey there'd be no Michael Bolton if it weren't for Otis Redding)! I mean, let's judge albums on their own merit. This is one of the most exciting records of the late 70's / early 80's. Gang Of Four's lyrics and messages, however sincere, come off as a bit preachy and naive, but WOW!! The guitar/drum attack is powerful! The sound of this record was unprecedented. This ranks as one of the top works of art of the post-punk era - whether or not it's the ancestral heritage of the Ditty Bops!

Gang of Four took punk and turned it onto its funky edge. This strongly political album came out in a year that also gave us "Fear of Music" (Talking Heads), "154" (Wire), "Setting Sons" (The Jam), "Armed Forces" (Elvis C.), "Unknown Pleaseures" (Joy Division) among other great works. But "Entertainment!" has a different kind of edge all its own thanks to Andy Gill's razor sharp guitar riffs and Dave Allen's awesome fluid, slithering bass, and Hugo Burnham's machine-gun assault on the drums. The lyrics are delivered unforgettably by Jon King. "I Found That Essence Rare", "Damaged Goods", "Anthrax" (with its double vocal track put much of today's music to shame. And, of course, "Not Great Men" is so funky it's indescribable. You have to move to it somehow. This album is "bloody essential" as the UK music mags like to put it. I'm just disappointed I couldn't see Gof live.

Just buy it. Track for track it's one of the greatest recordings ever laid down.