Gimme Fiction

Spoon | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Label: Merge Records
• Total Length: 43:48
• Genres:
  • Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi
  • Rock
• ASIN: B000U7TZYK
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,732 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gimme gimme gimme May 13, 2005

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Spoon is one of the best, and also the most underappreciated, bands in the wide world of indierock. And after the twin masterpieces of "Girls Can Tell" and "Kill the Moonlight," they had a lot to follow up on. They could have easily rested on their laurels, and produced a new album full of nothing new at all.

But they didn't. And the result is worth waiting for.

Their newest album, "Gimme Fiction," actually takes that kind of rock and builds on it. Nowherer is it more obvious than in the opener, "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," where lead singer Britt Daniels sounds eerily like John Lennon. If I didn't know that it was actually Daniels, I might have thought that someone found a lost Lennon song that happened to sound like Spoon.

It's followed up by a stream of slow-burning rock, with angular guitars and sharp percussion. But Spoon gets to experiment with those different styles too. There's a deep funk vibe in "I Turn My Camera On," but it instantly switches to some piano and drums in "My Mathematical Mind" and the blasts of guitar rock in "Sister Jack."

In other words, Spoon has taken the time to experiment. "Gimme Fiction" is more musically lush than "Kill the Moonlight," which was wonderfully stripped-down. But unlike many bands who try to evolve their work, Spoon hasn't lost their edge. There's still a lo-fi, angular sound to their music; it's not quite on the same level as their prior albums, but even "only good" Spoon is the stuff of retro-rock dreams.

Since it's Spoon, it's dark and rather dismal. But those lo-fi grooves are so much fun that it's virtually impossible to actually think of them as dark. The riffs are sharp and complex, with lots of little hooks to draw listeners in. They can burn slowly, then rev up into brief blasts. It's backed by unstoppable basslines, acoustic guitar and memorable percussion, with frontman Daniels' moody vocals over it all.

Daniels is still in top form in "Gimme Fiction," and it seems that his talents are not running dry. He seems very introspective and thoughtful this time around: "You've got the weight of the world/coming down/like a butterfly," he croons. He even feigns a Prince-like falsetto early on, but somehow the scratchy, flexible sound suits him better.

"Gimme Fiction" pokes into some new territory for Spoon, while keeping on safe ground. Dark and fun, catchy and rough, it's a must-have for fans of good rock.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insanely Good June 1, 2005

By BookNerd

Format:Audio CD

Let me put this as clearly as possible: I'm an avid music fan who tries to listen to anything that makes a blip on the critical radar. With this in mind, I'm here to tell you that "Gimme Fiction" is not only Spoon's best cd, and that it will surely hold the top spot on many best of the year lists, but that its first seven songs (count `em) are so insanely good, so packed with pleasurable hooks and grooves, so smart, so delicious, so intricately designed and performed, that it will, I predict, achieve the rank of a classic. BUT...this isn't a cd that reveals itself on the first, second, or third listen. Only with multiple listens does it become clear that each song is comprised of a multitude of perfect choices: the prefect riff or beat, the perfect lyric, the perfectly-chosen little guitar growl or half-buried answer-back chorus. (You'll hear a similar high-standard and perfect knack for arrangement in the music of Wilco). "Gimme Fiction" is the sort of crafty, buoyant, deeply satisfying cd you hope for every summer but rarely find. It is a great rock and roll record.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars So Good! May 10, 2005

By yocorro

Format:Audio CD

This album is a near-masterpiece, earning four stars in my book only because it does not quite reach the pinnacles of Spoon's undeniable masterpiece, 2001's "Girls Can Tell" (if you are new to the band, I might start with that one, but "Fiction" would serve as a good introduction, as well). "Gimme Fiction," like most of the band's other records, succeeds so well because you have that constant tension between the catchy pop of the melodies and the sexy, dangerous edge of Britt Daniels' voice (as well as the vicious drumming). It doesn't even matter what he's singing in a song like "I Turn My Camera On"......the song as a whole just sounds so f*cking amazing, you can get lost inside it. Also, I must give highest praise to the band for keeping the total run-time on this album mercifully short, in the style of, say, a classic Beatles album. Spoon clearly are craftsmen, recognizing that "less is more;" that just because a CD allows for 80 minutes of music doesn't mean you must utilize all 80. I look forward to playing this album all summer and singing along, loudly.