The Rebirth of Venus

The Rebirth of Venus
Studio album by Ben Lee
Released	6 February 2009
Genre	Indie pop
Label	New West Records, Universal
Producer	Brad Wood
Ben Lee chronology
Ripe (2007) The Rebirth of Venus (2009) Deeper into Dream (2011)
Singles from The Rebirth of Venus
"I Love Pop Music" Released: 20 December 2008

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	43/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Alternative Press	[3]
The A.V. Club	D– [4]
The New Zealand Herald	[5]
Paste	7.3/10 [6]
PopMatters	6/10 [7]
Slant Magazine	[8]
Spin	[9]
Sputnikmusic	2.5/5 [10]
Uncut	[11]

The Rebirth of Venus is the seventh studio album by Australian indie pop musician Ben Lee, released on 10 February 2009 by New West Records. ^[12]

A portion of the proceedings attained from the record are to be donated to FINCA International's village banking program. A press release said FINCA "offers financial services, not charity, to the world's lowest-income women entrepreneurs. This creates jobs, builds assets and generally improves the standard of living in these destitute communities." ^[13]

Critical response to the album has been largely negative, with particular mention of the song 'I'm a Woman, Too' (which Andrew P Street of Time Out Sydney described as reaching "a conclusion so baffling that it defies any criticism that isn't expressed via a crowbar to the jaw").

The album features Missy Higgins, Nic Johns, Cary Brothers, Patience Hodgson, John Alagia (Ripe producer) and Lara Meyerratken. ^[13]

Track listing

• All songs written by Ben Lee, except where noted.

1. "What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)" – 4:39
2. "Surrender" – 3:16
3. "Sing" – 3:15
4. "I Love Pop Music" – 3:35
5. "Rise Up" – 4:25
6. "Yoko Ono" – 3:42
7. "Boy with a Barbie" – 3:27
8. "Bad Poetry" (Lee, Carrick Moore Gerety) – 3:41
9. "Blue Denim" – 4:03
10. "Wake Up to America" (Lee, Jason Schwartzman) – 4:27
11. "I'm a Woman, Too" – 3:21
12. "Families Cheating at Board Games" – 5:42
13. "Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe" – 3:38

Bonus CD (Limited 2CD version)

1. "New Wave" (originally by Against Me!)
2. "Rock Boys" (originally by The Grates)
3. "Ben Lee" (originally by The Ataris)
4. "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (originally by John Lennon)
5. "Kids" (originally by MGMT)
6. "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (originally by Hunters and Collectors)

Personnel

• John Alagia, Cary Brothers, Justin Carroll, Michael Chavez, Brian Conrad, Missy Higgins, Patience Hodgson, Laura Jansen, Melissa McCarty, Eric Robinson, Ione Skye, Maria Teresa Suarez, Olivia Asta Wood, Vanessa Wood: backing vocals
• Jack Graddis: guitars
• Nick Johns: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, autoharp, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion
• Ben Lee: electric and acoustic guitars, piano
• Travis Aaron McNabb: drums, percussion
• Lara Meyerratken: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion
• Jason Nesmith: slide guitar
• Kate Netto: percussion, backing vocals
• Ezra Reich: guitars
• Chick Wolverton: percussion
• Brad Wood: electric and synthesized bass, drums, percussion

Production

• Produced and mixed by Brad Wood
• Recorded and engineered by Nick Johns (drums), Mike Terry (drums) and Brad Wood
• Mastered by Greg Calbi

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [14]	21
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [15]	47

References

1. "The Rebirth Of Venus by Ben Lee". Metacritic . Retrieved 3 October 2016.
2. "The Rebirth of Venus". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
3. Lee's cutesy folk and piano pop leaves us cold. [Mar 2009, p.106]
4. Rizov, Vadim (10 February 2009). "Ben Lee: The Rebirth Of Venus". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
5. Hunkin, Joanna (18 March 2009). "Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
6. Lankford, Loren (10 February 2009). "Ben Lee: The Rebirth of Venus". Paste . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
7. Staff, PopMatters (28 April 2009). "Ben Lee: The Rebirth of Venus". PopMatters . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
8. Keefe, Jonathan (27 April 2009). "Review: Ben Lee, Rebirth of Venus". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
9. "Ben Lee, 'The Rebirth of Venus' (New West) - Doggedly cheerful, colossally annoying salute to fairer sex". Spin. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
10. K., Rudy (10 February 2009). "Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved 16 June 2025.
11. There's a winning way with '70s soft-rock chord changes, but his staggering lyrical banalities makes most of this virtually unlistenable. [May 2009, p.89]
12. "Ben Lee - Rebirth Of Venus Press Release". New West Records. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
13. "Ben Lee Announces The Rebirth of Venus". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
14. "Australiancharts.com – Ben Lee – The Rebirth of Venus". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
15. "Ben Lee Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 September 2022.