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On Music for Men, the band's devotion to being itself has finally found it a place in the mainstream.
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For most of the album the band reveals new levels of craftsmanship and detail, mastering one unexpected style after another, mostly from the 1970s and ’80s: house, disco, funk, T. Rex glam, synth-pop. After the surprise wears off, the hooks of the songs linger.
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Punk purists may hate it. But dance-floor revelers will drown them out.
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It stands out as a piece that’s refreshing, bold in musicality, and still defiant as ever--just the way we like our Gossip.
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While it isn't quite as honed as "Standing in the Way of Control," on Music for Men the Gossip sound perfectly at home in their new digs, while remaining true to their essence.
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This is a truly astonishing effort; a crowdpleaser and a call to arms--now let's go and change the world.
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Brace yourselves, naysayers, for a tour de force.
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Ditto’s lyrics are still a blend of sex and politics, always delivered with enough passion to fill the dance floor and keep it sweaty.
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Q MagazineDitto's one-of-a-kind voice still bestrides everything, sometimes gutsy and soulful, sometimes oddly sweet. [Jul 2009, p.130]
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Any such growing pains are largely negated by Ditto’s singular voice, which continues to expertly guide Gossip’s ongoing dance-punk explorations.
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Superproducer Rick Rubin adds some more-cowbell boogie to the blues-punk power trio's major-label debut, Music for Men, though the band's rough-diamond magnetism loses some of its pull in the process.
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Ditto's huge voice can't do soft, so it shoots skyward on 'ove Long Distance,' and coupled with a mechanical piano and canned beat, the band starts to sound a bit catatonic. But the rest of Music for Men is a tightly wound disco-punk conjugation.
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Music For Men is a sugar-coated dance record that echoes with universality.
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As a musical statement of intent to the throngs of the newly interested, Music For Men shows a clear picture of who Gossip want to be--a New Millennial Madonna for whom Danceteria never closes. But for those who have been following Gossip's career, waiting with bated breath to see how the band will evolve, this new record may feel a little too much like they are still Standing in the Way of Control.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 15
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Mixed: 3 out of 15
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Negative: 0 out of 15
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Jun 16, 2017
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Oct 18, 2012
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Jun 12, 2012