where should I start? I don't own anything by them, I've just heard tracks and I'm intrigued.

1) Entertainment! (reissue coming out on Tuesday)
2) Peel Sessions (if you can find it...hard to track down)
3) Solid Gold

The rest are really bad and not even worth downloading.

Do NOT start with Hard

Please.

This is the common wisdom but its dead wrong. Entertainment and Peel Sessions are indeed their best, and Peel Sessions MAY be even better than Entertainment. Solid Good is very strong but depending on the day and my mood, I might put in anywhere from 3rd best to 5th best (Another Day, Another Dollar and Songs of the Free are the other two in top 5).

Gang of Four have never put out anything "really bad". I like everything they've done to some degree or other. Certainly don't start with Hard, Mall or Shrinkwrapped, and there are hundreds or maybe thousands of albums that are better than those that most people here don't have, but they still aren't "really bad." In fact, I'd say Gang of Four's worst album is probably still a better album that at least 75% of the stuff discussed on this board.

np: Yankees v A's

I'd almost agree with you, but this is the band that put out the album entitled Hard. I own the Hard/Solid Gold two-fer, and keep the volume turned all the way down until I have advanced to Track 1 from Solid Gold. Just hearing the opening "IS THIS....LOOOOOOOOOVE?" (I think that's what they sing - I obviously haven't given it a listen in a while) is deadly poison.

Edit: I failed to mention Another Day, Another Dollar. That's #4.

I have this on cassette--no lie; paid $3 for it.

Sweeeeeeet!