Gimme Fiction

"Merchants of Soul" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Merchant of Souls or The Merchants of Souls.
Gimme Fiction
Studio album by Spoon
Released May 10, 2005
Recorded July–September 2004
Genre
Length 43:52
Label Merge
Producer
Spoon chronology
Kill the Moonlight
(2002)		 Gimme Fiction
(2005)		 Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
(2007)
Singles from Gimme Fiction
  1. "I Turn My Camera On"
    Released: May 2, 2005

Gimme Fiction is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Spoon, released on May 10, 2005 by Merge Records. It debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200. "I Turn My Camera On" was released as a single, and has become one of the band's biggest hits to date. A deluxe reissue of the album was released on December 11, 2015 to commemorate its 10th anniversary.

Background

Britt Daniel began working on songs for Spoon's follow-up album to Kill the Moonlight in early 2003 when he received a letter from David Klowden in which he offered to let Daniel use his beach house if he wanted to "go on another writing stint". Daniel drove to Ocean Beach in San Diego and started writing songs for the next album in a small house that overlooked the ocean. He stayed there for a number of weeks and recalls working a lot but not feeling happy with the output of his work there.[1]

Before the title Gimme Fiction was decided on, the album was going to be named The Beast and Dragon, Adored after the opening track, but Daniel later decided that he did not like this title. Daniel decided he wanted to use the word "gimme" in the title of the album and thought that "Gimme Fiction" was a great title for the artwork. He also has stated that the album cover is his favorite to date.[1]

The title of the opening track, "The Beast and Dragon, Adored", came from an art magazine which Daniel found at his grandmother's house that contained a tapestry called "The Apocalypse: The Beast and Dragon Are Adored".[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[4]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[5]
Mojo[6]
Now4/5[7]
Pitchfork Media7.9/10[8]
Q[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
SpinB−[11]
The Village VoiceB+[12]

Gimme Fiction received widespread critical acclaim upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 30 reviews which indicates "universal acclaim".[2] Eric Carr of Pitchfork Media praised the album's musical diversity and cited "I Turn My Camera On" as one of the most "breathtaking" songs the band had ever produced.[8] Zeth Lundy of PopMatters named the album the band's "crowning achievement",[13] while Jesus Chigley of Drowned in Sound described it as "a nocturnal, introspective refinement of previous releases that still capitalises on Britt Daniel's classic pop song writing and sonic inventiveness."[14]

In a 2005 back page column for the magazine Entertainment Weekly, author Stephen King named "I Summon You" as his favorite song of the year.[15]

Legacy

In 2009, Rhapsody ranked the album at number 19 on its list of the 100 best albums of the decade.[16] As of December 2009, Gimme Fiction has sold approximately 215,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan.[17] In his oral history of the album titled Gimme Facts, writer Sean O'Neal named the album "a historic forward leap" for the band.[1]

On November 3, 2015, it was announced that a deluxe edition of Gimme Fiction would be released on December 11, 2015 to commemorate the album's 10th anniversary.[18] Joe Goggins of Drowned in Sound, reviewing the re-issue, wrote: "If ever there was a fork in the road for the group, this album was probably it; knowing, as we do with the benefit of hindsight, that they picked the right route, Gimme Fiction sounds even more invigorating on reflection."[19] Barry Walters of Rolling Stone called it a "transitional album that presaged 2007's pop breakthrough Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga."[20] GQ critic Miles Raymer dubbed Gimme Fiction "the most important rock record of the last decade".[21]

In pop culture

Track listing

All tracks written by Britt Daniel. 

No. Title Length
1. "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"   4:18
2. "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"   2:58
3. "I Turn My Camera On"   3:32
4. "My Mathematical Mind"   5:02
5. "The Delicate Place"   3:42
6. "Sister Jack"   3:35
7. "I Summon You"   3:55
8. "The Infinite Pet"   3:56
9. "Was It You?"   5:02
10. "They Never Got You"   4:59
11. "Merchants of Soul"   2:49
Total length:
 43:52

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes for Gimme Fiction.[24]

Spoon
  • Britt Daniel – vocals, guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11), bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), piano (1, 2, 7, 8, 11), keyboards (3, 10), Rhodes (1, 8), sound effects (3, 6, 9), yamonica (4), memory man (4), tambourine (7), kalimba (8), organ (8), flute patch (9), sleigh bells (9), Wurlitzer (9), slaps (11), Moog (11), shaker (11)
  • Jim Eno – drums (1–9, 11), high hat (10)
  • Eric Harvey – piano (4)
  • Josh Zarbo – bass guitar (4)
Additional musicians
  • Mike McCarthy – snaps (3), string swoops (4), programming (10), flams (10), xylophone (10)
  • Ames Asbell – viola (2, 11)
  • Sara Nelson – cello (2, 11)
  • John Painter – trumpet (4), trombone (4), saxophone (4)
  • Eddie Robert – "creepy bass" (9)
  • John Vanderslice – rings (9), feedbacks (9)
  • Scott Solter – delay drum (9)
  • Eric Bachmann – backing vocals (3)

Production

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[25] 44
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[26] 1

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 O'Neal, Sean (October 1, 2015). "At the dawn of 2003, Spoon found itself dealing...". Gimme Facts. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Reviews for Gimme Fiction by Spoon". Metacritic. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Gimme Fiction – Spoon". AllMusic. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Blender (37): 115. June 2005.
  5. ↑ Kot, Greg (May 16, 2005). "Gimme Fiction". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  6. ↑ Bungey, John (April 2016). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Mojo (269): 107.
  7. ↑ Liss, Sarah (May 5, 2005). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Now. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Carr, Eric (May 9, 2005). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Q (227): 120. June 2005.
  10. ↑ Gitlin, Lauren (May 19, 2005). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 26, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  11. ↑ Matos, Michaelangelo (May 2005). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". Spin. 21 (5): 103. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert (June 27, 2005). "Consumer Guide: Sustenance Enough?". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  13. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (May 11, 2005). "Spoon: Gimme Fiction". PopMatters. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  14. ↑ Chigley, Jesus (May 9, 2005). "Album Review: Spoon – Gimme Fiction". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  15. ↑ King, Stephen (February 1, 2007). "Stephen King on his picks for best music of 2005". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  16. ↑ "100 Best Albums of the Decade, 11–20". Rhapsody. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  17. ↑ Harding, Cortney (December 12, 2009). "Emerging Market". Billboard. 121 (49): 23–24. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Spoon announce 10th anniversary Gimme Fiction reissue". Consequence of Sound. November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  19. ↑ Goggins, Joe (December 14, 2005). "Album Review: Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Deluxe Edition)". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  20. ↑ Walters, Barry (December 22, 2015). "Gimme Fiction (Deluxe Reissue)". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  21. ↑ "It's a Great Day to Revisit the Most Important Rock Record of the Last Decade". GQ. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  22. ↑ Bones music season 1 Archived October 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ "The Music Of Veronica Mars: Episode 2-3: Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang". Mars Investigations: The (In)Complete Guide to Veronica Mars. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  24. ↑ Gimme Fiction (Liner notes). Spoon. Merge Records. 2005. MRG265.
  25. ↑ "Spoon – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Spoon. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Spoon – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Spoon. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
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