Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
70
AFI
65
Air
71
Alice In Chains
77
Amerie
70
Anjulie
85
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
75
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
56
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
72
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Brendan Benson
72
The Big Pink
96
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
51
Black Mold
59
Amanda Blank
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
77
A.A. Bondy
73
The Bottle Rockets
63
Box Elders
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
87
Brother Ali
70
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
78
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
79
Califone
68
Mariah Carey
84
Brandi Carlile
73
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
69
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
84
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
68
The Clean
84
The Clientele
71
Cobra Starship
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
80
Cymbals Eat Guitars
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
64
Desolation Wilderness
88
Destroyer
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
74
The Duke & The King
66
Bob Dylan
44
The Entrance Band
67
Esser
69
Fanfarlo
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
78
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
59
Frankmusik
77
Fruit Bats
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
59
Gloriana
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
66
Hockey
69
Whitney Houston
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
73
Jessie James
74
Jamie T
83
Japandroids
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
69
Daniel Johnston
76
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
65
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
76
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
84
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
75
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
76
Lightning Dust
73
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
73
Lyle Lovett
66
Lovvers
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
62
Maps
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
77
Malcolm Middleton
77
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
73
Modest Mouse
76
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
62
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
78
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
78
Nirvana
97
Nirvana
72
Nisennenmondai
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
68
Nurses
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
73
Osso
81
Owen
76
Paramore
76
Pastels And Tenniscoats
51
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
66
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
63
Julian Plenti
66
Robert Pollard
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
80
Q-Tip
80
R.E.M.
89
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
75
The Raveonettes
76
Jay Reatard
82
Reigning Sound
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79
Russian Circles
69
Buffy Sainte-Marie
73
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
75
Sian Alice Group
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
69
Slaughterhouse
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
62
Mindy Smith
83
Solillaquists Of Sound
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
73
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
65
Joss Stone
75
George Strait
83
Barbra Streisand
76
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78
The Swell Season
76
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
78
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
67
Third Eye Blind
68
Throw Me The Statue
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
42
The Twang
71
The Twilight Sad
58
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
70
Various Artists
74
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
71
Kurt Vile
67
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
76
Rufus Wainwright
59
Weezer
80
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59
Andrew W.K.
71
Patrick Wolf
67
Wolfmother
84
The xx
70
YACHT
75
Yim Yames
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Gimme Fiction
Universal acclaim
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 83 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Merge
Release Date: 10 May 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
Mike McCarthy returns as producer for the Britt Daniel-led band's varied follow-up to their acclaimed 2002 outing 'Kill The Moonlight.' Spoon fans will not be disappointed.
Also By This Artist: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Girls Can Tell Kill The Moonlight
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Spoon @ Merge
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Junkmedia
All eleven songs on Gimme Fiction are immaculately crafted, concise pop gems.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Each song glows with infinitesimal joys, tiny pointillist production flourishes noticeable only under close scrutiny. But in rounding out their sound, they brought the viewer close enough to see the brushstrokes and the smudges.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
What sticks out most about Spoon, five albums in, is how singular they sound, like a jut of brilliant rock standing unfazed by crashing tides of trends and hopeful hype.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Strings swoon, falsetto voices sigh, and counterpoint piano lines glide. Yet nothing sounds fussy. [20 May 2005, p.75]
PopMatters
Review #1: The sound of Gimme Fiction is as ideal a conceptualization of the band as could be imagined. [score=100]; Review #2: "Gimme Fiction" has a sense of mischief and curiosity that renders it more consistently varied and just plain more listenable than "Moonlight". [score=80]
ShakingThrough.net
Fiction finds Daniel and Eno exploring the tension between a tight rhythm section and chaotic production techniques (from messy guitar parts to bizarre samples). And that provides an edge to the music that not only makes for an attention-grabbing collection, but also rewards repeated listens.
Read Full Review >Uncut
A highly original band in its prime. [Jun 2005, p.107]
Filter
It's exactly the record that everyone hoped Spoon would make. [#15, p.98]
Planet
The best since their debut. [#10, p.70]
Q Magazine
It's a bewitching formula. [Jun 2005, p.120]
Dot Music
Free from the trappings of hype this is simply a great album. Rock 'n' roll: just like they used to make.
Read Full Review >Drawer B
Gimme Fiction may not be your favorite Spoon record right now, but give it a few years.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
Like Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot into A Ghost Is Born, Spoon's fifth full-length finds further symbiosis between Britt Daniel's emotional obfuscation and the band's spare, uptown backbeat, then looses drummer Jim Eno to metronome the rest.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
Though I can imagine putting this on at year's end and remembering every song with a kind of surprised admiration, I can't imagine doing it any sooner--or any later either.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
Nearly every song comes off as unassuming in its rightful place. Each track has a designed role, and for that reason you won’t need to use the skip button.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
It torpedoes the often-justifiable notion that Spoon's music feels like it was made with safety in mind, and that its far-and-wide excursions are just that--temporary steps away from a safe, solid path.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Surely the power of Spoon’s miraculous songwriting skills are enough to keep the listener captivated, but the fact remains that the only surprise the album contains is the apparent lack of innovation.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Spoon continues to build one of the most consistent, and distinctive, bodies of work in indie rock -- the band makes changes and takes chances from album to album, but ends up sounding exactly how Spoon should sound each time.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
You know a good sound when you want to take out a second mortgage to buy headphones good enough to appreciate it.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Even the most direct songs here have a precision craftsmanship rarely heard in something that is still, at heart, a rock album.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The overall effect can be vaguely schizo -- many of these tracks seem more like cool fragments than true songs.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
There is no "The Way We Get By" on this record, as this is far more an album of interlocking pieces than an album of singles that neither makes a naked grab for the turnstiles nor an uprecedented reach for reinvention. [#9]
Mojo
Never less than fresh-sounding and curious. [Jun 2005, p.110]
Blender
This return to murky obscurantism, thankfully, comes with a return to guitar noise. [Jun 2005, p.115]
Spin
Fiction is less nervous than its predecessors but emotionally knottier. [May 2005, p.103]
Alternative Press
Some of [Daniel's] stripped-down material sounds gaunt. [May 2005, p.166]
Magnet
A quartet of droney sameness [in the second half] essentially grinds Moonlight's funkiest ingredients into a sluggish, repetitive pulp. [#68, p.111]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 83 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Grace L gave it a10:
It completely enamourmed me on my first listen. It just struck me as so raw and indefinably perfect.
Lyle B gave it a4:
very unlistenable
The Critic gave it a9:
Good cd... Haven't yet gotten their 1st of 2nd but they are probably good considering that I liked this one and they got better reviews then this one. I agree with Steve's review... the last few songs are forgetable unless you listen to them over and over again... almost like a Radiohead cd (except with much more... unweird... vocals. Radiohead is also one of my favorite bands!). So overall a very good cd that you should definately pick up. a quick song analysis: #1 The Beast and Dragon, Adored: a pop song on the weirder side. Still a decent song. #2 The Two Sides/Monseiur Valentine: A very good song. One of the cd's best. I love the piano with the guitar #3 I Turn my Camera On: Surprisingly, it's not one of my favorites... Not my style. It's almost a candy coated song. Still a decent song however. #4 My Mathematical Mind: Very unique piano. A good song plus they do it well live (see Austin City Limits on PBS). #5 The Delicate Place: Almost a Beatles sounding song until the guitar at the end that sounds like a Radiohead solo. A good track. #6 Sister Jack: the cd's most rockiest track, it's one of the cd's best tunes. I love the lyrics... especially the Drop D metal band! #7 I Summon You: Heard it on myspace and it originally was one of my favorites. I love the guitar... don't know if it is effects on an acousitc or a classical guitar but it sounds good with the drum beat. #8 The Infinate Pet: I like this song a lot though it is kind of weird. It has a lot of piano sort of like a Radiohead Kid A song. #9 Was it You?: Probably the worst on the cd... Where the album starts losing it's greatness. #10 They Never Got You: Another weak track... still it's sound surpasses Was It You?. #11 Merchants of Soul: Thankfully, in my opinion, Gimmie Fiction ends on a good note with this one. It is a good song that sounds kind of like a Raising the Fawn song. Well there it is. Overall it is a good cd 9 stars
steve gave it a7:
well 7.5 actually ... magical start, the album is carried by the strength of the first half, but seems to detune in the 2nd . but in saying that there are some absolutely mind-blowing, anthemic songs in there, easily worth the pingas spent and a joy to listen to . who needs drugs with this stuff
Ross gave it a10:
Spoon is the best band in the world, since At the Drive-In called it quits.
Patick R gave it a10:
The best album of 2005. Keep 'em coming Spoon.
jake h gave it a10:
extremely simple, yet complex, yet perfect in its matter. One of the best albums out right now. Gimme Fiction is less but more an amazing album to say the least
