• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach [2010]

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Discotheque

Banned
That's cool I guess, it will definitely have a really trippy video. But I'd love to hear "On Melancholy Hill" or "Rhinestone Eyes" get some radio time.
 
O

Owen

Member
Discotheque said:
Wuuuut? Hell naww. The only thing I like about that is that we'll get to see animated Mos Def. What's the second single BTW?
Click to expand...

I think people are assuming Superfast Jellyfish since it was the second song they put up on YouTube after Stylo, but I don't think it's a confirmed single.

Man, that Stylo video was awesome for so many reasons. I actually love the 3D, which I initially thought was sacrilege when they first posted the trailer. Hope the next video picks up where this one left off and they turn up at the Plastic Beach. If all the videos from the album tied in together and created a narrative, that'd be awesome.

(I imagine Superfast Jellyfish would be next and would take place underwater on the way to the Plastic Beach, and then who knows what's next? If the Sweepstakes hint in the video is actually a hint and not just for fun, then I guess they would turn up at the Plastic Beach and run into Mos Def first thing.)
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Suairyu said:
That was so awesome it hurt.

Also - Robot Noodle??? The conspiracy continues...
Click to expand...

It's no conspiracy. It's all in the Q article. Noodle was killed by the helicopters in El Manana and Murdoc built an android from her DNA as a bodyguard. 2D was kidnapped and brought to Plastic Beach. Murdoc did all the beats himself, so there's no Russel on the record.
 
O

Owen

Member
Suairyu said:
That was so awesome it hurt.

Also - Robot Noodle??? The conspiracy continues...
Click to expand...

Noodle died in El Manana. For Phase 3, Murdoc created an android Noodle, haha.


edit: Beaten.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Owen said:
Noodle died in El Manana. For Phase 3, Murdoc created an android Noodle, haha.


edit: Beaten.
Click to expand...

It still boggles my mind that Murdoc is capable of this kind of music pretty much all by himself. (Yes, I probably take Gorillaz a bit too realistically...)
 
C

ckohler

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
It's no conspiracy. It's all in the Q article. Noodle was killed by the helicopters in El Manana and Murdoc built an android from her DNA as a bodyguard. 2D was kidnapped and brought to Plastic Beach. Murdoc did all the beats himself, so there's no Russel on the record.
Click to expand...
Why do some of the promo images for Plastic Beach include Russel?
 
O

Owen

Member
They've sort of changed the explanation for Russel over time. On the first album, Del was supposedly Russel (because he was the only rapper on the album). Then with Demon Days, since people knew Russel as the rapper/drummer but Del wasn't on the album and other rappers were, they explained it away by saying Russel is just an empty vessel that can be inhabited by different people/spirits/rappers at different times. Which sort of gelled with the very first video (Clint Eastwood) where you see Russel come to life as a spirit (Del) enters him. I think that's just sort of convenient to the excuse they came up with, but maybe that was really their intention all along. And now with Plastic Beach, they've basically dropped Russel altogether. He shows up in some promo art, but I guess the story is that he didn't have anything to do with the production of this album.

They've had to fudge a lot of the details along the way because I don't think they ever anticipated having different people guesting on each album (and more people guesting on each subsequent album).
 
M

mikeGFG

Banned
right away, i can tell you that this is the worst of the three albums.

coming off the producer pedigree of demon days and their self-titled, I feel this is huge disappointment. The 80s throwback style immediately strikes me as amateurish, rather than minimalist or whatever the hell they were trying to go for. And I was really hoping that, before release, Stylo would be some kind of trash synth-pop fluke, not at all indicative of the tone or depth of the whole album. Oh well.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Mike G.E.D. said:
right away, i can tell you that this is the worst of the three albums.

coming off the producer pedigree of demon days and their self-titled, I feel this is huge disappointment. The 80s throwback style immediately strikes me as amateurish, rather than minimalist or whatever the hell they were trying to go for. And I was really hoping that, before release, Stylo would be some kind of trash synth-pop fluke, not at all indicative of the tone or depth of the whole album. Oh well.
Click to expand...

Man, how can anyone hear the second verse of "White Flag" and not be completely incinerated by the pure awesome?
 
O

Owen

Member
Mike G.E.D. said:
right away, i can tell you that this is the worst of the three albums.

coming off the producer pedigree of demon days and their self-titled, I feel this is huge disappointment. The 80s throwback style immediately strikes me as amateurish, rather than minimalist or whatever the hell they were trying to go for. And I was really hoping that, before release, Stylo would be some kind of trash synth-pop fluke, not at all indicative of the tone or depth of the whole album. Oh well.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrTDm_W85uI


PS - I'm all for valid criticism, but what are you talking about, 'minimalist'? Far from minimalist, the production is some of the most nuanced and complex I've ever heard on a pop album. Makes it hard to take your critique seriously when you're so far off base on something that elementary.
 
J

Jenga

Banned
Mike G.E.D. said:
right away, i can tell you that this is the worst of the three albums.

coming off the producer pedigree of demon days and their self-titled, I feel this is huge disappointment. The 80s throwback style immediately strikes me as amateurish, rather than minimalist or whatever the hell they were trying to go for. And I was really hoping that, before release, Stylo would be some kind of trash synth-pop fluke, not at all indicative of the tone or depth of the whole album. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Good thing your opinion is in the minority ;3
 
P

Poimandres

Member
I've only listened to the album once on shitty speakers at work... but it's sounding good to me. I can tell this will be on high rotation for a while.
 
S

Stealth

Member
So far after listening to this all afternoon I'd say Glitter freeze is the only song that makes me itch to hit the skip button. Everything else is smooth sailing. Really solid, cohesive album. I don't know if I could ever love this more than Demon Days, but it's definitely got more consistency than their debut, which to me was always a collection of huge hits and sorta-misses.
 
S

SpeedingUptoStop

will totally Facebook friend you! *giggle* *LOL*
Stealth said:
So far after listening to this all afternoon I'd say Glitter freeze is the only song that makes me itch to hit the skip button. Everything else is smooth sailing. Really solid, cohesive album. I don't know if I could ever love this more than Demon Days, but it's definitely got more consistency than their debut, which to me was always a collection of huge hits and sorta-misses.
Click to expand...
Pretty much this, although for me it's the track after Glitter Freeze. Me and Mark E. Smith just don't agree, i guess.
 
C

CB3

intangibles, motherfucker
am i the only one who thinks On Melancholy Hill is the best song on the album?
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Stealth said:
So far after listening to this all afternoon I'd say Glitter freeze is the only song that makes me itch to hit the skip button. Everything else is smooth sailing. Really solid, cohesive album. I don't know if I could ever love this more than Demon Days, but it's definitely got more consistency than their debut, which to me was always a collection of huge hits and sorta-misses.
Click to expand...

Exactly how I feel. There's no Feel Good Inc but there's no White Light either. Which, to me, makes a truly incredible hour's worth of music.
 
M

mikeGFG

Banned
Owen said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrTDm_W85uI


PS - I'm all for valid criticism, but what are you talking about, 'minimalist'? Far from minimalist, the production is some of the most nuanced and complex I've ever heard on a pop album. Makes it hard to take your critique seriously when you're so far off base on something that elementary.
Click to expand...

Coming off self-titled and demon days, every single part of the production has taken a step backwards, from instrumentation/percussion, arrangement, and tone. I guess minimalism was the wrong word? What i was trying to get across was: whether it's intended stylistically, or merely a side-effect in the changing of producers Dan the Automator and Danger Mouse on Gorillaz and Demon Days respectively, I didn't like the sound of the album.
 
O

Owen

Member
Stealth said:
So far after listening to this all afternoon I'd say Glitter freeze is the only song that makes me itch to hit the skip button. Everything else is smooth sailing. Really solid, cohesive album. I don't know if I could ever love this more than Demon Days, but it's definitely got more consistency than their debut, which to me was always a collection of huge hits and sorta-misses.
Click to expand...

Whaa? I love Glitter Freeze. Totally unexpected upon first listen, but awesome. Basically sounds like Damon screwing with the knobs on an oscilloscope for 4 minutes while Mark E. Smith rambles in the background. :lol

Plastic Beach is interesting to me because (in my opinion) there are only a few songs that stand out on their own. Every track is fantastic, but probably half of them really need the context of the entire album. It's difficult to explain what I mean. Some of the songs just feel like the right song at the right time because of the track right before or after. It makes me want to listen to the album as a whole and enjoy it that way rather than pick out specific tracks to listen to (though there are a few that work that way).
 
S

Stealth

Member
On Melancholy Hill is what I imagine The Good, The Bad, and The Queen would sound like if Damon were to flip the script entirely: it's all steel drum sounds and lyrics about the water, submarines, etc. It's like the Anti-Kingdom of Doom. :lol

Also, headphones do SO MUCH for this album. The bass lines especially.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
lunarworks said:
- Pause -

Bruce Willis!?

WOW. I knew he was on the album, but this is damn impressive.

Also, one of these days they're going to have to flesh-out the entire story of Gorillaz.
Click to expand...

He's not on the album.
 
A

ATF487

Member
On my first listen, very good so far. I was hoping that Glitter Freeze would have more MES but I'll take what I can get; it sounded like something that could have been on that Von Sudenfed LP
 
T

thestopsign

Member
I fucking love this album so far. Definitely more consistent than their self-titled album, probably on par with Demon Days in terms of quality, but I'll have to listen to it a few more times before I make any definitive statements.
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Exactly how I feel. There's no Feel Good Inc but there's no White Light either. Which, to me, makes a truly incredible hour's worth of music.
Click to expand...
On first listen, Empire Ants felt part O Green World (actually my favorite song from Demon Days) and part Feel Good Inc. IOW, it feels perfect. :D PEACE.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Holy shit, do I love that "Oooooooh just like that" on "Welcome To The Plastic Beach". It hooks you so immediately.

(I'm not sure that's exactly what 2D is singing, but shit, it is so lovely.)
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
That remix is alright, but overall I'm not a fan of any of these Stylo remixes at the moment.

Also regarding the album, when I hear "Some Kind of Nature" I picture Lou Reed as a Disney villain just breaking off into song about his vices with Albarn as the backing character such as a seashell or bird or something.

And the protagonist is backing away in horror :lol
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Discotheque said:
Also regarding the album, when I hear "Some Kind of Nature" I picture Lou Reed as a Disney villain just breaking off into song about his vices with Albarn as the backing character such as a seashell or bird or something.

And the protagonist is backing away in horror :lol
Click to expand...

:lol

Holy shit, spot on.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Fan recreates Gorillaz's cancelled Rhinestone Eyes video based on storyboards
16
4K
Guess Who replied
  • Locked
Gorillaz-Humanz |OT| After All
2
2K
Poimandres replied
  • Locked
Spin's 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014)
4 5 6 7 8
366
32K
Suzaku replied
  • Locked
The League Season 6 |OT| P in the V goes in the #EBDB
2 3 4 5
207
44K
Bladenic replied
  • Locked
Q4 2013 Rap-Up: I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In
31
3K
HiResDes replied
Top Bottom