Gorillaz Album: “Gorillaz”

I'm leaning against the wall of the bathroom wondering if I'm gonna throw up.

It's too much.

In order to write this little review I tried to grapple with this album, I tried to swallow it whole. I tried to digest it and I hurt myself. This album is too rich and too multidepthed to allow a simple synopsis. It's too complex to digest quickly. There are too many styles and too many layers. This is a dizzying collection of endless experimentation and surgically brilliant production. And it won't stop.

It's sheik and smooth like the models on the covers of magazines you don't buy but can't help staring at. It's funny too. It's funny in a covert coy way. Like a kid's tv show that secretly pokes fun at adult themes like sex and politics. It's funny enough to make you laugh. But just as your chest swells for a little cute giggle you catch the charred death scent of a cigarette and you can almost taste the burn of cheap whisky in the back of your throat: That's the dark brooding shadows this album casts as you spin it so idly.

And that's why my stomach and mind threaten to rebel (and expel.) How can you devour something with such a range of tastes? You can't eat something salty and sour, spicy and sweat, hot and cold... Maybe a few of these combinations are delectable but the whole array? It'd kill you... you'd choke...

Thank god the album doesn't force its schizophrenic characteristics on you all at once.

Instead the Gorillaz deliver these tastes in subtle sly hints and nudges. And most people would be utterly ignorant of the Band's brilliance if they did not provide the LP with multiple listens. It requires slow and careful consumption. Take your time. Don't try to stuff your face. You'll hardly know what your eating and surely be left uneasy.

Let your mind nibble on the acoustic guitars driving delicately before you tackle the pounding funky bass lines. And only then try to sample the electronic pops and pings. And if you can stomach all that and still keep your composure while adding the synth enhanced atmosphere of the keyboards ONLY THEN try to attack the vocal diversity that this album radiates with.

And if you can manage all that, go ahead and try the next song- cause its nothing like the last.

Underground hip hop savvy moments bob and nod beside blues and rock elements. All of which seem content to share elbow space with electronic and dub theatrics. Pop cues abound in clever debuts threatening cheapen the albums depth- but they are a ploy. They are lures for the unwary, daring you to grow complacent and assume your hearing something you've heard before. BUT these touches are a tease- almost like the masterminds of this album want to remind you that they COULD make hopelessly hip and catchy songs like "Clint Eastwood" all day, but then you'd miss the noir hauntings that inhabit the album's seedy underbelly in tracks like "New Genious (Brother)".

The Gorillaz's S/T first release screams and croons and beeps and blurts. It hums and bumps, drives and thunders. It is inspired and eons ahead of its time. This album either came from the future or is a masterpiece that will help shape the future.

Me? I'm out of the bathroom and adhered to my headphones. Don't be a fool. Take your time, drink plenty of water and enjoy one of the best albums of 2001, one bite at a time.

thank god i have mtv2 in my room, otherwise i would have never even heard of gorillaz. if u like hip hop or just punk, then this cd is for u. i do not like punk but this cd is very much influenced with a great hip hop vibe. the main reason why is bought this cd was because of del (the funky homosapien) who appears on two of the tracks. but even without del, i realized that there is still a good hip hop sense in here. here's reviews on the songs that i enjoyed the most.

-tomorrow comes today: great beat, nice harmonica sounds. cool lyrics. an all around chill song.

-new genious: i like the lyrics a lot on this song. nice, sad vocals and slow yet cool beat. nice use of violin.

-clint eastwood: perfect blend of alternative and hip hop. simple yet wonderful beat. well thought-out chorus and phat (i mean PHAT) rhymes from del. nice use of various music elements and intruments.

-sound check: starts out slow with only the piano background and moves into a phat beat laced wit nice scratching and mixing. smooth lyrics, creative beat.

-double bass: extremeley strange yet creative jungle groove. all beats and music, no lyrics. still, one of the stand outs.

-rock the house: my second favorite track. sick beat. i mean crazy beat. creative rhymes from del. extremely catchy and dancable chorus and creative use of the flute. so phat.

-19/2000: my favorite song on here. tyte music that sounds like a video game song. simple beat. great lyrics and an original approach to any kind of music. what makes it the most interesting is the unique vocal abilities of miho hotari. adds a real weird sense of being in an anime.

-latin simone: great beat. i mean great beat. very easy to bob ur head to this song. very relaxing and smooth. full of no lyrics other than a spanish ballad that fits smoothly into the jazz/soul/hip-hop vibe of this track. lotta versatility aand variety.

-slow country: reminds me alot of "rock da house" with the rhythmic piano sounds. cool lyrics, great chorus. tyte music elements in this song. dont knoe how to describe it exactly. but its great.

-dracula: great beat and music that really does give a sense of the horror of dracula. haunting sounds and lyrics make dracula seem real.

-left hand suzuki method: great hip hop beat. strong and loud, kinda reminding me of pharaoe monche's "get up." yet they ingeniously and sarcastically add a happy little "mary had a little lamb"-type sound. still, very good. great track. no singing, just a news reporter in the background every once in awhile.

* there is a hidden bonus track. wait till 5:30 has passed on "left hand suzuki method" and u will here the "ed case remix" of "clint eastwood." much faster and funkier. reggae/trip hop vibe. the only part i dont like is that del's rhymes are replaced with new rhymes.

very versatile cd. this is an essential to anyone who appreciates creative sounds. trust me you've never heard n/e thing like this before. hip hop and punk all in one. blended with jazz, classical, latin, and global sounds. at least give it a listen.

This cd is a must have. sure they're just a cartoon band, and don't really exsist, that doesn't stopp there music from bein great.the clean version isn'treally any different form the original except that some words are bleeped out.it's espically good 4 me cuz my parents are a little strictt about what i listen too. but they have no problem with this at all!there songs r fuuny and are very cool!!!! it's my favorite cd of all time!

It's tempting to judge Gorillaz -- Damon Albarn, Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett, and Dan "The Automator" Nakamura's virtual band -- just by their brilliantly animated videos and write the project off as another triumph of style over substance. Admittedly, Hewlett's edgy-cute characterizations of 2-D, Gorillaz' pretty boy singer (who looks a cross between the Charlatans' Tim Burgess and Sonic the Hedgehog), sinister bassist Murdoc, whiz-kid guitarist Noodle, and b-boy drummer Russel are so arresting that they almost detract from Gorillaz' music.

The amazing "Thriller"-meets-Planet of the Apes clip for "Clint Eastwood" is so visually clever that it's easy to take the song's equally clever, hip-hop-tinged update of the Specials' "Ghost Town" for granted. And initially, Gorillaz' self-titled debut feels incomplete when Hewlett's imagery is removed; the concept of Gorillaz as a virtual band doesn't hold up as well when you can't see the virtual bandmembers. It's too bad that there isn't a DVD version of Gorillaz, with videos for every song, à la the DVD version of Super Furry Animals' Rings Around the World.

Musically, however, Gorillaz is a cutely caricatured blend of Albarn's eclectic Brit-pop and Nakamura's equally wide-ranging hip-hop, and it sounds almost as good as the band looks. Albarn has fun sending up Blur's cheeky pop on songs like "5/4" and "Re-Hash," their trip-hop experiments on "New Genious" and "Sound Check," and "Song 2"-like thrash-pop on "Punk" and "M1 A1."

Despite the similarities between Albarn's main gig and his contributions here, Gorillaz isn't an Albarn solo album in disguise; Nakamura's bass- and beat-oriented production gives the album an authentically dub and hip-hop-inspired feel, particularly on "Rock the House" and "Tomorrow Comes Today." Likewise, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Miho Hatori, and Ibrahim Ferrer's vocals ensure that it sounds like a diverse collaboration rather than an insular side project. Instead, it feels like a musical vacation for all parties involved -- a little self-indulgent, but filled with enough fun ideas and good songs to make this virtual band's debut a genuinely enjoyable album.

i won't say there aren't a couple songs i don't fast-forward when i listen to this cd....but in general, this is one of the most extraordinary pop albums made so far this century.

the fact it was made 5 years ago truly amazes me. i'm totally unaware as to the cartoon-aspects of the band nor had i any idea who the legends were behind this work. that may or not be interesting to others but what is truly impressive here is the boldness by which this crew saunter through a mish-mash of styles and attitudes and almost always with deftness and purpose and cunning....and yes....some straight-up kicking joyous sounds.

there are no less than 5 classic hits here which deserve really tuning the stereo up...i mean way up. this is rock pop and hip-hop dub of a most extraordinary nature.

mcc>