The Donnas Matured on “Gold Medal”

Real Gone Music reissues their final Atlantic Album

There wasn’t a better time than the early 2000s for a band to break through like The Donnas. After honing their craft on their first four albums on the independent punk label Lookout Records, the big leagues at Atlantic Records signed the female quartet. Between the release of the Spend The Night album, “Take It Off” becoming their signature track, and placements in film and video game soundtracks, they managed to break into the mainstream, brandishing a hard rock sound with a punky edge. 

When The Donnas set out to work on the follow-up, Gold Medal, problems arose. Personnel changes within Atlantic left the band without the team that helped make Spend The Night successful, introducing a new group of people who didn’t know how to market the quartet. Each member also faced a respective setback. Vocalist Brett Anderson dealt with vocal issues, guitarist Allison Robertson became divorced, and bassist Maya Ford went through a bout of writer’s block. The most detrimental setback was for self-taught drummer Torry Castellano, who underwent wrist surgery for tendonitis brought on by improper stick technique, leaving her to re-learn her instrument correctly and play for short periods during recovery. 

Released in October 2004, Gold Medal opened The Donnas to musical experimentation. Due to Castellano’s setback, the group opted to write material in slower tempos, which allowed Robertson to experiment with her guitar style. For the first time, acoustic guitars and pianos enriched their creative palette, particularly on “Is That All You’ve Got For Me” and the title track. Instead of writing juvenile odes to one-night stands and partying, the lyrical focus shifted to writing about relationships in “Don’t Break Me Down” and “Out of My Hands.” Outside of these significant twists, their signature sound is exemplified on the album’s two singles, “Fall Behind Me” and “I Don’t Want To Know (If You Don’t Want Me).” Outside of breaking fresh musical ground, Gold Medal was the first time the band members dropped their “Donna” monikers, including the first initial of their last names, opting to use their real names.

A manufacturing defect eliminating the last 30 seconds of the closing track, “Have You No Pride,” on original CD editions of Gold Medal doomed the album’s release. Sales shy of 80,000 within the first year, roughly 20% of Spend The Night’s first-year sales, were enough to declare the album a failure. Gold Medal would be The Donnas’ last album for Atlantic Records, with the band splitting amicably from the label in 2006. 

Real Gone Music has been on a winning streak, reissuing The Donnas’ catalog back on vinyl. The label started with four Lookout albums and a singles compilation for Record Store Day in 2023. Atlantic licensed Spend The Night for a much-deserved reissue last year, so it only makes sense for Gold Medal to come next in the series. The artwork is faithful to the original 2004 pressing between the jacket, printed inner sleeve, and red/green Atlantic label. The only gripe comes from the black light insert printed on standard paper stock instead of the black velvet material in the original pressings. The “gold smoke” colored vinyl has more of a yellowish tinge but is still a visually stunning-looking pressing.

This reissue isn’t the first time Real Gone Music has had its hands on Gold Medal. Technically, the label reissued the album in 2020 before tackling the rest of their catalog. Except for a new catalog number, the copyright dates on the jacket and dead wax of the vinyl match the out-of-print 2020 pressing to the T. 

The rhythm section of The Donnas carries the sonic weight of this pressing. Bassist Maya Ford’s tone is well-rounded, and drummer Torry Castellano’s kit sounds punchy. The EQ rides somewhat in the middle, offering a pleasant sound but not too much rumble at the bottom or crisp at the top. The instrumentation separation, whether down to the vocal harmonies or Allison Robertson’s layered guitars, is incredibly impressive. Brett Anderson’s double-tracked vocals are one of the group’s production trademarks and offer plenty of depth, but they fight to be in the forefront when mixes of certain songs get busy. Her vocals can breathe on the title track, the warmest sounding spot on the album with its silk-like acoustics. The ultimate exercise in light and shade is “Revolver,” shifting between subtle acoustic verses and explosive electric choruses. 

Despite Gold Medal's commercial shortcomings, years later vocalist Brett Anderson viewed it as “really fulfilling”. Compared to the rest of The Donnas’ catalog, it stands out as their most mature album and is worth revisiting.