Mall
	Produced by Andy Gill
	Released on May 7, 1991
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
849 124-2 [high resolution scan]

T he trouble with growing old, beyond the belly and the baldness, is in watching our idols grow old before us. Gang of Four, the original plague rats of the Apocalypse, returned in 1991 as sardonic Mall rats who nibbled at the heels of harmless, long-dead villains like big American cars and Vietnam. Those who tuned in for the original Gang know that it ended poorly, with the band making mean-spirited disco music for fans who overstayed the party. It was all part of punk’s unraveling, in an age when the Sex Pistols (PiL) and The Clash (BAD) intentionally poisoned the once-pure waters of punk with funk and garbage, a final act of sabotage from those on whom the irony could not be lost. I don’t think the Gang had anything so high-minded up their sleeves, but sort of drifted into disco the way that OMD did, in part because it’s tiring to maintain a revolution when there’s only two of you. Today, it’s hard to hear a song like “F.M.U.S.A.” without thinking how much better The Clash treated the subject on “Straight To Hell.” Rolling Stone rubber stamped this record, as you might expect from a magazine that has become the musical equivalent of financial advice: we’re right unless we’re wrong, we bought into Dylan at two dollars a share, etc. I’m all for agitprop against consumerism, but nothing slows the spending habit like shoddy product. Apparently, Gang of Four had finally found a solution to stop people from spending their money on stuff they didn’t need.

849 124-2 lyric gatefold	849 124-2 back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. CADILLAC    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    5:28
2. MOTEL    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    3:30
3. SATELLITE    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    3:56
4. F.M.U.S.A.    (Andy Gill)    4:58
5. DON'T FIX WHAT AIN'T BROKE    (Jon King)    4:02
6. IMPOSSIBLE    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    0:52
7. MONEY TALKS    (Andy Gill)    3:33
8. SOUL REBEL    (Bob Marley)    4:03
9. HIROMI & STAN TALK    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    0:44
10. COLOUR FROM THE TUBE (Andy Gill/Jon King)       3:48
11. HEY YEAH    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    3:42
12. (JPN cd bonus track:) FAVOURITES
13. EVERYBODY WANTS TO COME    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    3:57
14. WORLD FALLS APART    (Andy Gill/Jon King)    6:14

CREDITS

ANDY GILL -- sleeve design
JON KING -- sleeve design
Black -- backing vocals
Dave Clarke -- backing vocals
Blair Cunningham -- drums
Gail Ann Dorsey -- backing vocals, bass
Martin Ford -- drums
Dean Garcia -- bass
Louise Goffin -- backing vocals
Hiromi -- backing vocals
Stan Loubieres -- backing vocals
Steve Monty -- drums
Linda Taylor -- backing vocals
Frank Tontoh -- drums
Neil Wilkinson -- drums
Jim Abiss -- engineer, mixing
Jeremy Allom -- mixing
Chad Jackson -- mixing
Bob Kraushaar -- mixing
Jock Loveband -- engineer, mixing
Mike Pela -- mixing
Mike Dignam -- engineer
Ted Hayton -- engineer
DKB -- sleeve design

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