Track Listing

1. Dimestore Diamond
2. Heavy Cross
3. 8th Wonder
4. Love Long Distance
5. Pop Goes The World
6. Vertical Rhythm
7. Men In Love
8. For Keeps
9. 2012
10. Love And Let Love
11. Four Letter Word
12. Spare Me From The Mold

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1247 in Music
• Released on: 2009-06-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
Originally formed by vocalist Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Billie in 1999 in Olympia, Washington, Gossip is a hybrid of soul, gospel, rock, funk, disco, punk, passion and rebellion. This three piece from Portland, Oregon first garnered attention in the UK with the release of the breakthrough album Standing In The Way Of Control in 2006. The band is led by the inimitable Beth Ditto – larger than life, forthright, rebel rousing and infectious. Beth's vocals have been compared to such legends as Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner although her and the band's sound is uniquely their own. Recorded at the historic Shrangri La Studios in Malibu, Music For Men completely captures Beth Ditto’s powerful vocals and the Gossips fiery sound. Beth Ditto continues to pick up accolades across the globe, from topping the NME annual cool list to becoming an unsuspecting fashion icon landing major magazine covers around the world.
Music For Men is produced by multi Grammy Award-winner Rick Rubin.

Customer Reviews

Gossip Is Good For You
Gossip is a band. That's the main message here. A manifesto.

Ms Ditto has been clear in recent interviews that it's not
all about her. An impressive black and white portrait of
stunningly androgynous drummer Ms Billie gets the front page.
The symbolically/symbiotically cloned Paine/Ditto image, however,
is relegated to the backside but bears clear witness to their long
friendship and increasingly fruitful musical collaboration.

2006's breakthrough album 'Standing In The Way Of Control' paved
the way - 'Music For Men' takes a winning formula and pushes it
further with even greater clarity and energy.

In no small measure the vivid realisation of these 12 new songs
(+ 2 remixes) succeeds due to Mr Rubin's masterful production.

He brings out the best in all three band members.
Ms Ditto has never sounded better. Her unique and instantly
recognisable voice (with its wonderfully wayward tendencies)
has greater power and focus than ever before.

Mr Paine and Ms Billie provide solid support throughout
but we are left in little doubt, despite their best intentions
to persuade us, that Ms Ditto is indisputably the star of the show.

....and what a great show it is !!

From the four-square blues stomp of opening track 'Dimestore Diamond'
to the post-post-punk rollicking ride of 'Spare Me From The Mold'
( with Mr Nielsen's silly sax adding to the mayhem ) we know we are
in the presence of a great little band firing on all six cylinders.

There's no waste here. It's all good. It doesn't let up for a moment.
'Men In Love', 'Heavy Cross' and 'Four Letter Word', with its
grungy synthesiser arrangement, are all standout tracks.

Finely honed, consumately executed, elemental rock
played straight from the heart. Truly stonking stuff!

Highly Recommended.

Music for Everyone
Love her or hate her it can't be denied that Beth Ditto is a force of nature and a track like `Standing in the Way of Control' emphasises this in dramatic style. Her demanding vocals drove thousands of people to ecstasy when it was rereleased in 2007, propelling it to #7 in the UK charts. Now The Gossip return with first major label album `Music for Men', released on Music With a Twist (Sony Music Label Group). So has the move to a major done them any good? Well quite simply yes. The music is calmer, more minimalist and generally more focused. Generally it is a more appealing sound for a wider audience. This isn't to say that they have lost their dramatic edge just that it has become more restrained and better focused.

This album sees The Gossip using more open arrangements which allow you to hear the intricacies and clever touches which were in some cases lost on the previous album. Beth's voice is much calmer and more tuneful. The half shout technique has disappeared from her repertoire, and it's a good thing. If she were to use it over these more stripped back arrangements then it would feel too over the top and forced. One exception is 8th Wonder which builds towards the end of the track to rolling drum and guitar sections as well as Beth's unmistakable vocal shout. This will be a live favourite. The vocals instead are well pitched with more sweeps and general diversity. The real quality of her voice comes out. There are some clever touches in the lyrics as well such as in `Love Long Distance' where Beth seamlessly drops in a little bit of Marvin Gaye's `Heard it Through the Grape Vine', and `2012' steals the hook from Kiss' track `I Was Made for Loving You Baby' with different lyrics carefully grafted to that amazing tune.

There is a distinct 80s influence running through the whole of this album. Little synth lines can be found to varying degrees in most tracks. In `Pop Goes the World' the synth creates a dancy little lead line guaranteed to make you smile, where as `Four Letter Word' sees it used to accent the gaps between Beth's vocals creating a flow to the song that really grabs your attention. The movement from that track to `Spare Me From the Mold' is a clever transition as well. The use of a squealing trumpet on the latter also helps to push the track into a twisted frenzy.

There are just so many good moments throughout this album that will guarantee The Gossip's success this year. This album is a fantastic combination of calm pop music (`Love Long Distance'), dance (`Heavy Cross') and a mild dose of rock (`Vertical Rhythm'), oh and a healthy dose of pure originality. Be ready to dance your feet off when these tracks hit clubs. Whoever you are, you won't be able to resist.

Unacceptable bad pressing on side three
A very good album music wise, which makes it even more frustrating that the quality of the pressing on side three is very poor. I have sent back three copies of this album now, having bought it from three different retailers and I'm still left with an unacceptable fourth copy, which I also intend to return and continue to return until I find a good pressing. At best tracks two and three on side three have an unacceptable amount of surface noise that competes with the audio and at worst tracks two and three on side three are so distorted that they cant be listened too. It is such a shame because the quality of the other three sides is very good and as I said, it is a good album.

This is clearly an example of very poor quality either at the cutting stage or pressing stage. All the problems I have encountered are on the same side and over the same tracks. This unacceptable especially when vinyl is a premium price product! Sony please watch the quality, this is your premium product!