Gravity The Seducer

Ladytron | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B005152C6O
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,962 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #89 in Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica

Editorial Reviews

Ladytron's 5th studio album, Gravity The Seducer, is the follow up to 2008's Velocifero. After the 3/29/11 release of Best Of Ladytron: 00-10, the new studio album is another chapter after a decade's worth of evocative, instinctive yet deliberate electronic pop music. Gravity the Seducer is more of a jump than the last album - more ethereal & melodic, a touch more abstract in places - baroque 'n' roll. Ladytron recorded the album in Kent's countryside, with co-producer Barny Barnicott (Artic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) at the helm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BEING SEDUCED BY LADYTRON, September 13, 2011

By 

nin/ja77 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gravity The Seducer (Audio CD)

Ladytron release album number 5 "Gravity The Seducer" which is the follow up to 2008's excellent "Velocifero" and comes after a spell of hanging out with legendary producer Brian Eno(who thinks they are brilliant!), who was once a member of Roxy Music who are the band that Ladytron got their name from as they have a song called "Ladytron". His influence can be heard on the album that sees them add new scope to their sound. It's an album that sees them experiment with different styles than ever before.

This is evident on the smooth opener "White Elephant" the song features a haunting sounding keyboard sound in the background. Ladytron listeners will already be familiar with "Ace Of Hz" as it was already included on carear retrospective "Best of 00-10". The Brian Eno influence is really heard on the 3 instrumental tracks on the album the pick of which is "Transparent Days", "Ritual" would probably have worked better with vocals from either Helen Marnie or Mira Aroyo. the third instrumental track is album closer "Aces High".

If any movie director is looking for a good horror style track then they should take a listen to the chilling and haunting "Moon Palace" which really is helped by Mira Aroyo's cold style of vocal. The song "White Gold" is also haunting sounding in a weird eighties sounding way. "Ninety Degrees" is a track that well get repeated listens with both vocalists on fine form. The album recalls elements and influence from Kraftwrek, Gary Numan, Curve, Brian Eno and The Human League but still having an original feel.

With "Gravity The Seducer" Ladytron may have released their most experimental album to date and longtime fans might be disappointed that the big beats have been replaced by a more mellower sound but it's an album that on repeated listens will show that Ladytron have plenty left to offer and will continue to evolve.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Ladytron to Date, September 21, 2011

By 

John - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gravity The Seducer (MP3 Download)

Gravity the Seducer is Ladytron's best effort to date with a mix of songs that push musically beyond anything that they've put out before. Favorites of mine include 90 Degrees, Mirage, Ace of Hz and White Elephant. Only reason I don't give 5 stars is that there is some filler material but all in all, a very strong effort!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not your average Ladytron album... but that's okay, September 20, 2011

By 

K. Pildner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gravity The Seducer (Audio CD)

This is going to be one of those albums, I think, that tends to polarize fans. On the one hand, it doesn't sound like any of the band's previous CDs, so those who were expecting 604.2 or The Return of Witching Hour will be disappointed. On the other hand, it's also an obvious experiment in working with the Ladytron sound, so, like Radiohead doing The King of Limbs or Bjork doing Volta, the question isn't whether or not this sounds like your personal favorite Ladytron album, but whether or not the album is successful on its own terms.

Words that come to mind when I listen to this CD (and I've listened to it quite a few times in the past week) are: ethereal, glacial, shimmering--even, at times, transcendent--but most of all, it's elusive, much like a strange yet appealing dream you try to cling to as you're waking up from it, even as it fades from your memory. It doesn't have any obvious singles (with the possible exception of "Ace of Hz," which nonetheless isn't as strong an offering as, say, 604's "Playgirl" or Velocifero's "Ghosts"). Still, within the context of the album, the song works, as do all of the songs on Gravity the Seducer, IF they are taken as integral parts of a cohesive whole.

This isn't to say GtS is a concept album--far from it. But there is a uniformity in sound and scope that most readily recalls Witching Hour without the muscle. It's not that GtS is a weak album; the melodies, while not exactly pop, are strong and they grow on you once you get used to the approach, much like Witching Hour, with its near constant barrage of fuzzed-out three-chord rock, eventually grew on me (albeit after I shuffled the song order around a bit).

If there's one thing I could fault the album for, it would be a general lack of variety in the tempo and instrumentation of the songs. But again, if you approach GtS as, not a collection of individual pop songs songs, but as a complete musical thought set to a variety of warm, inviting melodies, then it is a success. So, if you can, leave your expectations by the door, as they say, and let the songs lift you away on their own airy, mystic effervescence.