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This revisitation of the band's canon burns brighter than a thousand nuclear-rector accidents. [Nov 2005, p.218]
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Shows the Gang still do it best. [28 Oct 2005, p.84]
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80The best Gang Of Four tribute album... ever. [Nov 2005, p.96]
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80It shows a band building a new outpost atop the summit of their achievements. [Nov 2005, p.124]
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80Time has not dulled the group's scarily tight musicianship. [15 Oct 2005]
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80An impressive document of the band's discipline.
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Listening to the sharp separation of song and instrumentation elements that mark these recordings reveals the merit in Gang of Four reworking their own songs. [#11, p.107]
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One thing that remains unchanged, to no surprise whatsoever, is the enduring vitality of the material.
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70Return the Gift sees the foursome re-recording their original songs and, implausibly, making them better.
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So yes, they've still got it. But that still begs the question; do you need re-recordings of tunes that changed the face of rock music? Not as badly as you need the originals, that's for sure.
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60Bottom line is that if you've got the old albums and you want to experience Gang of Four again, better to shell out for the actual show than for the disc that approximates it.
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60Neither embarrassing nor unenjoyable, then, but still an exercise bearing a cautionary sting. [Nov 2005, p.98]
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60It's the musical equivalent of George Lucas's tinkering with the Star Wars DVDs--some flaws are best left uncorrected. [Nov 2005, p.135]
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60Does it replace the originals as the definitive Gang of Four collection? No way.
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I'm sure purists would prefer to snag the recently remastered originals as opposed to this Gift, even though those older fans would be able to appreciate this album most.
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60The problem is simply that Gang of Four got Entertainment! right the first time, whether they like it or not.
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It's a little like a Crimewatch reconstruction: very well put together, all in a good cause, vaguely entertaining, but really they're just hoping it'll vaguely remind you of something that happened years ago. [1 Oct 2005, p.47]
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Though, technically, the production is much "improved" here, meaning that the album is louder and clearer, it's still not a very enjoyable listen when the listener can't shake the idea that something's amiss.
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It's hard to see Gift as anything but an exercise in redundancy.
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It's disappointing to find Gang of Four recycling the past so bluntly, trafficking in a nostalgia industry they should be well above. [Dec 2005, p.122]
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 4
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Mixed: 0 out of 4
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Negative: 0 out of 4
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BrianS6
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slawekk8
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VoltMeter9