Damon Albarn could get done two things when his rule as the King of Indie Music ended with Blur dissolving amidst creative differences and Graham Coxon`s alcoholism. He could have matured and followed in the footsteps of great artists such as David Bowie, bringing out ingenious and well received albums for the following 20 days or so.
Or he could have become the Peter Pan of the pop music realm and dreamt up a virtual band that runs round the world kidnapping journalists and selling weaponry to third world dictators in society to produce money to create albums. He chose to do the latter.
Gorillaz is a ring made up of four animated characters drawn by Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett. There is Murdoc Niccals on bass guitar, Noodle on guitar and vocals, Russel Hobbs on drums and percussion and my personal favourite, 2D on lead vocals and keyboards. They are officially the most successful virtual band ever (which is not hard considering they are competing with Crazy Frog) and get sold over 15 million copies of their first two albums Gorillaz (2001) and Demon Days (2005). They are most noted for the genre-defying hits such as "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Dirty Harry", "Feel Good Inc" and "Daring" and they take in 2010 with their third studio album, Plastic Beach. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are pretty much the only constants in the Gorillaz line up but the range of collaborating artists is impressive once again and includes big names such as Mos Def and Bobby Womack.
The album begins with the instrumental "Orchestral Intro" and you see the sounds of waves and seagulls as you point out to sea. You`re met on the Plastic Beach by none other than Snoop Dogg as he tells you some how pollution in the sea has created the island in "Welcome to the Plastic Beach". This is a set back song with a classy vibe. Grime rappers Bashy and Kano, and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music are up next as the pace picks up for "White Flag" and Albarn`s increasing concern in African and Arabic music shows through. This is the start of my favorite songs on the album, the case that you`re prepared to turn over and again on repeat. Hip-hop is not my genre of quality but the beats in all of the songs so far are enough to enable this album to cross genres and entreaty to a broad audience.
Themes of contamination and ecology continue with "Rhinestone Eyes" which is a restoration to that classic lazy Gorillaz sound that we first heard in "Clint Eastwood". This song has a wicked bass line and backup vocals that get up to the chorus and is emphatically the best song on the album. The legendary Bobby Womack and Mos Def make their entrance next with "Stylo" which is the first one from the album. This set back and stylish song has the almost incredible video featuring Bruce Willis. We unfortunately can`t embed the whole video but hold out the trailer below.
"Superfast Jellyfish" is the following one from the album and is due out for passing on 9 May 2010. Featuring Super Furry Animals` Gruff Rhys and De La Soul, it starts off with a wonderfully retro sample advertising microwave breakfast and has a funky, cheeky beat. It is a pathetic song and surely a charge of fun. "Empire Ants" starts off really slowly with a piano background and beach vibes as Damon Albarn (as 2D) describes the cliche of every day life. The strain then explodes into an electronic carnival of voice as Little Dragon enter to express how our dreams of a better life simply make the machine. This is a splendid song and is another one to work on repeat. "Glitter Freeze" features The Fall`s Mark E. Smith and it has a driving, chaotic beat. Like "Empire Ants" before, it moves the album closer to the dancing and electronica genre and it is a strong, energetic song.
"Some Form of Nature" features the superstar Lou Reed. This call is a shift from the somewhat lunatic beats of the former two songs but there is even something about it as Lou`s vocals are distorted. The strain is roughly the deformation of nature and how people become phony and nothing lands up in the cast that it originally was. "On Melancholy Hill" is intended to be the third one on the album which is foreign as I suppose it is one of the weaker songs on the album. It is definitely poppy and may appeal to the mass but I consider it doesn`t actually do much. There is a post-apocalyptic feel that comes through in the album and this is increased by the cartoon landscape of the Plastic Beach and the tone of being stuck in a television game. With its mention of `the fall of plasma screens` and distance and broken love, "Broken" continues this topic with its slow, eerie sound.
"Sweepstakes" picks up the pace again and features Mos Def on his second appearance on the album and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. With an instant almost menacing beat the call is about how everyone is a success when in reality, nobody is taking at all. This call is an absolute winner! Once again, it is a definite rap song but it is funky enough to attract to a wider audience. Damon Albarn denied that this album was a green album but the title track "Plastic Beach" definitely refers to the floating landfills in the oceans when it speaks of `It's a Casio on a plastic beach, It's a Styrofoam deep sea landfill`. This is a trippy song that leads into the equally trippy "To Binge" featuring Little Dragon again. This song features perhaps the best line on the album `That shattered feeling, well, the case of it's a lesson learned`.
"Cloud of Knowing" features the close collaboration on the album with Bobby Womack and sinfonia ViVA. This is a really downbeat song but Bobby Womack`s vocals make it quite ovely. He sings of himself as if he is up in the sky looking down and wondering when he will be faithful to his bed again. The album ends with the cheeky and upbeat "Pirate Jet". This is an optimistic song yet speaks of departure the taps running for a 100 years. It pretty much sums up the whole album and so all too soon, it ends.
Plastic Beach is a fantastic album and I sincerely trust that the rumours about this being Gorillaz` last are false. It is a wild and inventive album that should appeal to younger audiences without being condescending but certainly appeals to the baby in me. Simply put, it is a shipment of fun and will certainly take a valued spot in my iPod over the class to come. You can see the Gorillaz website and bring their new online game Escape To Plastic Beach for more mind bending fun.
For being an absolute gem of an album, I give Plastic Beach 4.5 stars
All artwork by Jamie HewlettEMI Music Ltd / Jamie Hewlett
This review first appeared on Blogcritics.org. I was granted a transcript of the album to refresh and all opinions here are absolutely my own.
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