Solid Gold (album)

Solid Gold is the second album by the British post-punk band Gang of Four, released in 1981. Two of its tracks, "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time" and "He'd Send in the Army", are re-recordings of songs previously released as a single in the UK.

This article is about the Gang of Four album. For the Nikki Yanofsky EP, see Solid Gold EP.

Solid Gold
Studio album by
Gang of Four
ReleasedMarch 1981 (1981-03)
RecordedJanuary 1981
StudioAbbey Road (London)
Genre
Length38:43
Label
Producer
Gang of Four chronology
Yellow EP
(1980)		 Solid Gold
(1981)		 Songs of the Free
(1982)

The album was issued in an CD expanded version by the EMI Records and Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings labels in 1995, which added the songs from Another Day/Another Dollar EP.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideA[4]
Pitchfork9.5/10[5]
Record Mirror[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[9]
Uncut[10]

The Boston Globe wrote that, "even if musical experiment on this album generally succeeds, there are few memorable riffs, let alone much that's hummable or danceable, unlike the Gang's first album."[11] The Globe and Mail opined that "the guitar work is consistently scratchy and feverish, busting out of the mix at crucial points to carry along some of the duller items."[12]

Pitchfork listed Solid Gold as 24th best album of the 1980s.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jon King; all music is composed by Gang of Four, except as indicated

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Paralysed"Andy Gill, King3:22
2."What We All Want" 4:59
3."Why Theory?"Lyrics: Gill, King2:33
4."If I Could Keep It for Myself" 4:09
5."Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time" 3:19
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cheeseburger"Lyrics: Gill, King4:05
2."The Republic"Music: Gill3:21
3."In the Ditch" 4:22
4."A Hole in the Wallet"Music: Gill4:05
5."He'd Send in the Army"Lyrics: Gill, King4:28

On the original EMI (UK) pressing of the LP, "Why Theory?" is track 5 rather than track 3.

The EMI Records and Infinite Zero/American 1995 reissue includes songs from the Another Day/Another Dollar EP.

CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."To Hell With Poverty!" 4:59
12."Capital (It Fails Us Now)"Gill4:04
13."History's Bunk!"Gill, King2:59
14."Cheeseburger" (Live) 3:40
15."What We All Want" (Live) 5:24

Personnel
Gang of Four
Technical
  • Jimmy Douglass - engineer
  • Andy Gill, Jon King - design

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard Pop Albums 190

Single

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "What We All Want" Billboard Club Play Singles 30

References
  1. Lester, Paul (2008). Gang of Four: Damaged Goods. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120205. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  2. "SPIN Magazine iss. 5 vol. 19". 2003. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  3. Kellman, Andy. "Solid Gold – Gang of Four". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1990). "Gang of Four: Solid Gold". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  5. Tangari, Joe (9 February 2003). "Gang of Four: Hard / Solid Gold". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  6. Ludgate, Simon (7 March 1981). "So Four, so good". Record Mirror. p. 14.
  7. Miles, Milo (6 August 1981). "Gang of Four: Solid Gold". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 April 2003. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  8. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Gang of Four". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 321–22. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Kreilkamp, Ivan (1995). "Gang of Four". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 163–64. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. "Gang Of Four – Solid Gold". Uncut. No. 216. July 2004. Archived from the original on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. Horowitz, Ben (6 August 1981). "Records". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 1.
  12. McGrath, Paul (30 May 1981). "Solid Gold Gang of Four". The Globe and Mail. p. F6.
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