Gotham!

For other uses, see Gotham.
Gotham!
Studio album by Radio 4
Released February 5, 2002
Recorded July 21, 2001
Genre Dance-punk
Post-punk revival
Length 49:26
Label City Slang, Gern Blandsten
Producer The DFA (James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy)
Radio 4 chronology
The New Song & Dance
(2002)		 Gotham!
(2002)		 Stealing of a Nation
(2004)

Gotham! is the second album by the dance-punk/post-punk revival band Radio 4

Released in 2002, Gotham! became mildly famous in underground club and dance scenes through the release of the single Dance to the Underground. In a similar way to their 2000 debut, The New Song & Dance, Gotham! was a critical success but not a strong commercial success. However, with their new angrier and more raw sound, the band escaped from critics that stated that Radio 4 were a carbon copy of The Clash. Lyrically, the album has a large amount of strong political content, commenting on such things as the NYPD and differences in social class.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Alternative Press[1]
Blender[1]
Drowned in Sound6/10[3]
Pitchfork Media6.1/10[4]
Playlouder[5]
Q[1]
Rolling Stone[6]
Stylus MagazineB[7]
Uncut[8]

Gotham! received positive reviews from music critics who saw it as an improvement from their debut album The New Song & Dance, praising the post-punk production and politically minded lyrics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 14 reviews.[1]

Peter J. D'Angelo of AllMusic praised the album for its production and lyrics, comparing them positively to The Clash, Mission of Burma and Gang of Four, saying that "Half dance party, half political rally, Gotham! is a rock record for a new era."[2] Leslie Gilotti of Playlouder praised the band for crafting songs that straddle the line between fun dance-punk and political topics surrounding Post-9/11 New York, concluding that "The right-on politics will definitely appeal to lefty sloganeering students, but Radio 4 never get tedious. 'Gotham!' is an infinitely danceable and certainly insightful record that gets better with each listen, on every frequency."[5] Brad Cohan of PopMatters praised the production of Goldsworthy and Murphy for deviating away from the debut album's sound to make it more hook-heavy and body moving, saying that, "Unlike The Rapture and Liars, who share in the movement philosophy but utilize a more angular and anarchic pose, Radio 4’s Gotham! is a near-perfect hybrid of perpetual rhythm, flow and hooks."[9]

The album was met with mixed reviews. While praising the first-half of the album for being more nuanced with its sound than its predecessor, Eric Carr of Pitchfork Media felt that the second-half was hampered by Anthony Roman's delivery of the more politically heavy songs being delivered with the "verbal subtlety of an eighth grader with an anarchy symbol stitched onto his backpack." He concluded that, "Gotham! is decent, catchy, and entertaining, but can't keep up the pace it sets from the beginning, which is just too damn bad."[4] Christina Rees of The Village Voice found the production tiring and derivative of bands like Gang of Four and The Clash and felt that Roman's performance failed to match that of John Lydon. She did give the band credit for creating a difficult sound that was a labor of love to them, concluding that, "The younger kids should enjoy the sound for the first time out, while new-wave nostalgiaheads can time travel. It's hard to dismiss such passionate effort. Just do me a favor and switch off the stereo on your way out."[10]

Tracklist

All songs written and composed by Radio 4. 

US version
No. Title Length
1. "Our Town"   3:42
2. "Start a Fire"   3:33
3. "Dance to the Underground"   4:52
4. "Eyes Wide Open"   3:42
5. "Struggle"   3:13
6. "Calling All Enthusiasts"   3:06
7. "Save Your City"   3:08
8. "Speaking in Tongues"   4:14
9. "Certain Tragedy"   3:30
10. "Red Lights"   3:08
11. "The Movies"   4:04
12. "End of the Rope"   3:04
13. "Pipe Bombs"   6:25
14. "New Disco"   2:50

Singles

Single Name Release Date Chart position
Dance To The Underground May 2001 UK #31
Eyes Wide Open (Europe only) May 2002 n/d
Struggle May 2002 n/d

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Reviews for Gotham! by Radio 4". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 D'Angelo, Peter J. "Gotham! - Radio 4". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  3. ↑ Dream, Alice (January 4, 2003). "Album Review: Radio 4 - Gotham!". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Carr, Eric (April 23, 2002). "Radio4: Gotham!". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Gilotti, Leslie (October 31, 2002). "Gotham! by Radio 4". Playlouder. Archived from the original on November 13, 2002. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (April 25, 2002). "Recordings: Radio 4, Gotham!, 3.5 stars". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on April 24, 2002. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ Gwillim, Keith (January 9, 2003). "Radio 4 - Gotham". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Radio 4 – Gotham!". Uncut. November 1, 2003. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ Cohan, Brad (April 10, 2002). "Radio 4: Gotham!". PopMatters. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rees, Christina (May 24, 2002). "Scene Not Heard". The Village Voice. Voice Media Group. Archived from the original on June 7, 2002. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
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