Gold Medal

by

The Donnas

Edit

Ever since hearing Spend The Night, I've been a fan of The Donnas. I find their music fun to listen to and hum along. They may not be revolutionary nor groundbreaking but they don't have to be. These 4 ladies can more than hold their own weight in a male-dominated industry, and for that I say, good for them.

And now The Donnas are back with Gold Medal, their highly anticipated new album. Before I go on, I should say that the only Donnas album I own (other than Gold Medal) is Spend The Night, so my comparisons will be only to that album. That out of the way, I think Gold Medal lives up to the hype for the most part. One thing you'll notice, perhaps the first thing you'll notice, is that this album has a mellower feel than Spend The Night, even during the heavier songs. At first I wondered why this was so, and then realized it's because of the slightly less-polished production than Spend The Night. I can't help thinking of the overall sound of Gold Medal as 70's "fuzz" guitar. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. It's as if The Donnas want the listener to focus on the music itself this time, rather than just the chunky, loud power chords that Spend The Night consisted of. Which one is better? That will be a personal preference, but I have to say that I liked the production on Spend The Night better. Don't get me wrong though, Gold Medal sounds great too. It's just another type of "great" if that makes sense.

Lyrically, The Donnas have injected a little more maturity into their songwriting, although their desire to party is still ever so present: case in point, the opening lines of "It's So Hard":

"I'm not obsessed, I could care less. I just want to get you undressed." If that's not trademark The Donnas, I don't know what is! But it's all tongue-in-cheek, so why not just go along with it.

This album has been released in a limited edition "Dual Disc" version in addition to this single disc version. Unless you're an avid collector of limited edition releases (or just love The Donnas so much that you absolutely must own both versions), I would recommend just getting this single disc edition. It has an enhanced section with the video of "Fall Behind Me" (which is WAY COOL), a link to their website and a link to ring tones. So basically all the multimedia stuff you would want. The Dual Disc edition offers a dual-sided disc with the album on one side and a DVD on the other. The DVD offers the entire album in Surround Sound (really not that different in terms of sound quality, unless you own top-of-the-line speakers), the video of "Fall Behind Me" and a making-of segment for the album. Sounds good at first, but there are some drawbacks. For one, the Dual Disc format is nothing new, and I along with many DVD owners HATE them. They are much easier to scratch and get fingerprints on, since one can't touch either side. Anyone who has ever owned a DVD film on a dual disc format will know exactly what I'm talking about. And if that's not bad enough, the DVD will not play on certain models, nor on certain models of DVD-Rom drives on one's PC. The only real bonus of the DVD is the making-of segment, but this will only appeal to die-hard fans. For everyone else, the single disc edition is the way to go.

The Donnas' sixth album Gold Medal isn't really what it promises. This isn't even silver...It's more like Bronze...The album starts with a great punk track "I Don't Want to Know..." which I find a very positive track although the lyrics aren't so happy. "Friends Like Mine" is quite basic rock stuff but then comes "Don't Break Me Down", "Fall Behind Me", and "Is That All You Got for Me" which are all good. "It's So Hard" is again a boring track. "The Gold Medal" is somethin' new. It sounds like Garbage but has the attitude of The Donnas. The song "Revolver" is quite a good one but the rest of the album isn't that good. If you liked "Turn 21" excellent, you probably like this one too. I like more the albums "Spend the Night", "Get Skintight", and "American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine". This album isn't so bad but may be a disappointment for some fans...it sounds too poppy...just like some Blondie fans were disappointed for "Parallel Lines" after Blondie had made two punky albums.

Stars: I Don't Want to Know (If You Don't Want Me), Fall Behind Me, Gold Medal