Post-punk grave-robbing and ho-hum covers

Gang of Four's story is one of the greatest and saddest in rock music, mostly because they put out two fundamentally amazing albums and then proceeded to shred their legacy with horrendous (I'm talking so bad it can't be described) subsequent albums.\n1979's Entertainment! is one of the most solid and jaw-dropping debuts ever committed to tape, and its follow up Solid Gold was of equal quality. It was only in the '90s when albums like Mall and Shrinkwrapped came out that music fans were forced to tears. It's no surprise that the new retrospective album Return the Gift revisits the first two records (almost all the tracks are from Entertainment!), to the point that the artwork is even a retread of their debut.\nIf it were up to me, they wouldn't have neglected songs like "Glass" or "Contract," considering they're also examples of the tightness of their product. The best way to get to know this band is to just buy their first two records.\nStill, if you've never heard of Gang of Four, it's as nice an introduction to the band as U2's 1980-1990 was for them. Best-of collections are always simplistic (and always manage to piss off hard-core fans), but I'm happy to see Gang of Four get more attention. Their original sound was one of phenomenally tight rhythm, squalling, angular guitars and some very strange lyrics that dehumanized sex, politics and even disco. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers always credited his band's early sound to the techniques they stole from Gang of Four's aesthetic.\nNot that it really adds much to it, but along with this CD you also get an absolutely ridiculous cover disc with bands like the Dandy Warhols and Yeah Yeah Yeahs making you hate the songs you're supposed to like. Yeah Yeah Yeahs's take on "I Love a Man in Uniform" manages to make it devoid of excitement. Tony Kanal's remix of "Ether" might as well have been taken from the droning techno background music of a hip department store.\nIt's no surprise that V2 Records would want to capitalize on the bitchin' street cred of a post-punk band and add even more hip bands to maximize potential appeal. It's also no surprise that Gang of Four would be complicit, since they've already demonstrated their willingness to defile everything that made them great.\nIn the end, though, the strength of their first records is enough to make me encourage anyone who hasn't heard them before give this record a shot.