100 Flowers Bloom: Anthology [Box set]

Gang of Four | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 3, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 3, 1998
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000DGST
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,278 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Not Great Men

2. I Parade Myself [Alan Moulder Catwalk Club Mix][#]

3. Paralysed

4. To Hell With Poverty! [7" Single Version]

5. The History of the World [Live]

6. Return the Gift

7. Natural's Not in It

8. Capital (It Fails Us Now)

9. Anthrax [Live][#]

10. Woman Town

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. At Home He's a Tourist

2. Why Theory?

3. F.M.U.S.A. [Ben Grosse Remix][#]

4. Ether

5. Tattoo [Paul Schroeder Remix]

6. I Love a Man in Uniform [Steve Sinclair-Hugo Burnham Remix]

7. Contract [Live][#]

8. He'd Send in the Army [Live][#]

9. Better Him Than Me

10. Call Me Up [Live]

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For Autocratic Completists Only., March 1, 2002

By 

Alan Koslowski (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Flowers Bloom: Anthology (Audio CD)

It's generally understood that box sets are intended for two types of consumer: neophytes and/or completists/zealots. Neophytes want a representative overview of an artist's work, while completists want all the rarities and unreleased material contained in most box sets (what's the point in buying music you already have). A 100 Flowers Bloom will appeal to some GOF disciples because it does contain a some previously unavailable material (previously unreleased songs, re-mixes, live recordings, etc.). But for neophytes, this is a disorganized and largely redundant collection of music.

First, it's at best questionable that GOF deserve a box set. It's generally agreed by all but the most zealous fans that GOF made two essential albums: Their debut, Entertainment! (1979) and it's slightly weaker (though still excellent) follow-up, Solid Gold (1981). GOF's subsequent albums range from marginal to lousy. Since much of Entertainment! and Solid Gold is available on the excellent single-disc compilation, A Brief History of the Twentieth Century (1990), is an 140-minute, two disc box set really necessary?

The first problem with 100 Flowers is it's sequencing. Unless, I'm missing a really subtle theme or plan, the tracks aren't sequenced in any meaningful order, but seemingly at random. If they were arranged chronologically, we could at least see more clearly how GOF developed over time. Instead, the sequencing seems disorganized, without regard to time, theme, or anything else. Secondly, 100 Flowers draws more or less equally from all GOF's albums; we get an over-generous amount of great, mediocre, and egregious material. Ultimately, 100 Flowers is too unnecessarily long and haphazardly arranged for the neophyte.

What about the completist? While I'm sure some will defend this release because it does contain previously unavailable tracks, that material is probably of limited interest, even to the most devoted zealot. GOF was supposedly formidable in concert, but you wouldn't know it from the live tracks assembled here; most are languid compared to their studio counterparts (the poor sound quality doesn't help either). And the remixes? While one or two definetly improve on the original version (notably, "I parade myself"), most aren't terribly interesting. The previously unreleased songs? A couple are worthy of GOF's early work (though none are as good as anything on Entertainment!), but they only compose a minimal amount of the material in this bloated collection.

Apart from the tracks taken from Entertainment! and Solid Gold, the only other worthwhile aspect of 100 Flowers is the accompanying booklet by fan Jon Savage, who describes GOF's history with great detail and insight. I'm sure most completists already have this, so I'll direct my closing comments to neophytes:....A Brief History of the Twentieth Century is a more economical and efficient introduction. Even an import copy of Entertainment! (which costs nearly as much) is still a better value than this unnecessary box set.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Box contains the bad as well as the great., November 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: 100 Flowers Bloom: Anthology (Audio CD)

The basic problem for any discerning Gang of Four fan is resolving the difference between the astonishing music they recorded from 1978 to 1982 with the virtually unrelenting dreck they put out from 1983 to 1995. The inclusion of most of the later product dooms a project like "100 Flowers Bloom". For a much better idea of what Gang of Four meant to a post-punk fan in the early eighties, or what their legacy is, the compilation to have is 1990's "A Brief History of the Twentieth Century". While everyone lamented the misguided attempt at R&B on 1983's "Hard", the unspoken reality is that the last two albums ("Mall" and "Shrinkwrapped") are soaked in ugly American-style rock that owes as much to Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine as the original sound owed to James Brown. What is especially puzzling is the compilers' failure to include the only redeeming songs from "Hard" and "Mall", namely "A Man With A Good Car", and "Cadillac". And why include an inferior remix of the best "Shrinkwrapped" track, "I Parade Myself"? And while I'm at it, this would have been a great place to give a real release to the enigmatic flexi-disc track "Lord Make Me a Cowboy" from 1982. The book and packaging are nice, but this box is too out of focus to be a deserving Go4 memorial.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get the originals, December 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: 100 Flowers Bloom: Anthology (Audio CD)

First of all let me just state for the record that Gang of Four is one the greatest bands of any era, in any genre. As Michael Stipe put it, "Entertainment (Go4's first album) shredded everything that came before it."

The absolutely must have Gang of Four CD is the Entertainment release on American that includes the yellow EP. They got *most* of the good stuff on this, but I can't live without "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time" and the missing tracks from Entertainment.

BTW, it sure is cool they got Hugo Burnham's comments up here. I'm a drummer and Hugo changed my life. Nice job Amazon.