Hello and Welcome to The Gorillaz ERA OT!
This is where you can chat up and talk about all things Gorillaz with fellow ERA folks. There used to be a older OT for the Humanz album back on the site that shall not be named, so it was high time to get one started here, especially with some big things that are happening with the band. More on that later.
Who are Gorillaz?
Gorillaz are an English virtual band created in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. The band consists of four animated members: 2-D (lead vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards), and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). Their fictional universe is explored through the band's music videos, as well as a number of other short cartoons. Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, and the music is often a collaboration between various musicians.
Murdoc Niccals (aka Muds)
"Well, we went through a lot of names. But seeing as, musically, I wanted to swing through the jungle baring my arse, I thought Gorillaz was a perfect name."
Murdoc Niccals is the bassist and founder of the band. He was born in Stoke-On-Trent at a sanatorium "for the sick, the needy, and the incredibly bored". Murdoc dreamt about becoming a famous musician and leaving Stoke-On-Trent. After becoming a Satanist, he began making deals with the devil and came to an arrangement with him. If Murdoc was to become a famous rock star, he would offer Satan his soul. When the deal was finalized, Murdoc acquired Satan's bass guitar "El Diablo" and his middle name was changed from "Alphonce" to "Faust". Soon, he came upon the rest of the members and forced them all to join his band at his base of operations, Kong Studios, in a bid for global music domination.
2-D (aka Stuart Pot)
"A fan once threw me her knickers. They were a bit dirty so I washed them after the show and gave them back to her at the next show. Now she brings her laundry to every show. It's becoming a bit of a burden, especially the hand wash only items. The recent warm weather has made drying easier, though. So I count my blessings."
2-D is the lead vocalist and pianist of Gorillaz. Murdoc recruited him to be the band's vocalists after causing the incidents that lead 2-D to have his signature 'black eyes', which are 8-ball fractures also known as 'hyphema', although he could still see through them. When Murdoc first saw them, he knew he had his front man. "A blue-haired, black-eyed god", Murdoc recalls. Murdoc nicknamed Stuart '2-D', which stands for the "Two Dents" in his head. Rather amusingly, Stuart adored his new nickname, dropping the use of his birth name completely and even signing formal letters with the first name "Two" and surname "D". 2-D would appear to have a chronic history of violent blows to the head, coupled with a complete lack of natural intelligence. He has a blank sheet of paper where a brain should be.
Russel Hobbs
"Hey yo, Muds, where my eel at?"
Russel Hobbs is the drummer of Gorillaz. Known for his good manners and eloquent speech, he attended the Xavier School For Young Achievers, but was expelled after attacking several students while possessed by a demon. He fell into a coma for the next four years, at the end of which, the demon was finally exorcised from his body by a priest. After a drive by shooting incident where friends of Russel were killed and then inhabited his body, Russel was sent to the UK for his own safety to live with his uncle in Belsize Park. He got a job working behind the counter at Big Rick Black's Record Shack in London's Soho area. That's when he first encountered Murdoc. While asking Russel for an obscure 50s record, Murdoc slipped a bag over Russel's head and forced him out of the shop. Russel was taken back to Kong Studios and was impressed with the music that Murdoc was working on, so he chose to stay.
ヌードル (aka Noodle)
"Musically, I lay down the guitar and write songs. But psychologically, I'm like the big sister of the group. I comfort 2D when he has a bad dream, Murdoc when he has a bad trip, and I calm Russel down when he gets paranoid about the world's problems. If I need some 'me' time I meditate, study astrophysics, or oil my mini-gun. Whatever relaxes me."
Noodle is the lead guitarist of Gorillaz. Noodle spent a portion of her childhood in Japan as a subject of a classified Japanese super soldier project under the management of the Japanese scientist, Mr. Kyuzo. After the children were deemed too dangerous and unstable for combat, the project was scrapped. Mr. Kyuzo was then ordered to dispose of all possible traces of the failed experiment, as well as its participants. After killing the other 22 children, Kyuzo was reluctant in killing Noodle. Rather than killing her, Kyuzo placed her in a state of amnesia through the use of verbal commands. The phrase used to place Noodle in her state of amnesia was known as Ocean Bacon. After temporarily clearing her memory of the project, Kyuzo smuggled Noodle to the United Kingdom in a FedEx crate and falsely reported her death (along with the other 22 children) to his superiors.
Noodle arrived at the doorstep of Kong Studios in 1998. Once the crate was taken inside, Noodle sprung out of the box and performed a guitar solo (which 2-D described as "200 demons screaming in Arabic. Brilliant!"). She ended her solo with a 20-foot high karate kick and saying some words in Japanese before bowing and saying the word "Noodle". This resulted in her earning the name "Noodle" (her only currently known name) and the position of lead guitarist.
Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett
Damon Albarn is an English singer and songwriter who gained fame as the lead singer of rock band Blur (you know that band that plays the Woo-Hoo song) and later Gorillaz as well as a solo artist. Recently, he also has released an album with Blur called "The Magic Whip", and a solo album called "Everyday Robots". He is the 'music' side of Gorillaz as well as the frontman whenever there are live Gorillaz shows.
Jamie Christopher Hewlett is an English comic book artist and designer, as well as the co-creator of Gorillaz.
Hewlett created Tank Girl, an anarchic strip about a teenage punk girl who drove a tank and had a mutant kangaroo for a boyfriend. The strip proved instantly popular and quickly became the most talked about part of Deadline. Hewlett's quirky style (he was a fan of Brendan McCarthy) proved popular and he started to work with bands such as Senseless Things and Cud providing covers for record releases. By 1992 Hewlett had become a major creator in the comics industry, and one of the few to break into mainstream media. He is the 'art' side of Gorillaz, whose mind came up with the lovely images and videos you see today.
During their time sharing a flat in the late 90s/early 2000s, Damon and Jamie Hewlett became bored of MTV. They were disillusioned with the lack of connection that manufactured bands had with the creative side of their music, and were finding the music videos they were watching increasingly lacking in substance. So they decided to push things the other way: they created a band so manufactured that the lines between fiction and reality became blurred. Albarn would work upon the music, while Hewlett would come up with character designs, and both came up with ideas for the members of the band. Gorillaz was born.
This was phase 1 of Gorillaz. Where it all started.
The Music
Gorillaz
G-Sides
Laika Come Home
911 ft. D12 with Terry Hall
The Videos
Clint Eastwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UclCCFNG9q4
Tomorrow Comes Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiNdcBg3xC8&list=RDUclCCFNG9q4&index=9
19-2000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL6305F709EB481224&v=WXR-bCF5dbM
Rock The House
https://youtu.be/lRlmM88zzbY?list=PL6305F709EB481224
This was Phase 2. The one that mostly helped place Gorillaz into the minds of many.
The Music
Demon Days
D-Sides
The Videos
Rock It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ue714d1V6I&index=15&list=PL6305F709EB481224
Feel Good Inc.
https://youtu.be/HyHNuVaZJ-k?list=PL6305F709EB481224
DARE
https://youtu.be/uAOR6ib95kQ?list=PL6305F709EB481224
Dirty Harry
https://youtu.be/cLnkQAeMbIM?list=PL6305F709EB481224
El Manana
https://youtu.be/Jm5IkOqEVmA
Phase 3. The most ambitious of the phases. Also the phase that nearly ended Gorillaz permanently.
The Music
Plastic Beach
Doncamatic ft. Daley
The Fall
DoYaThing ft. Andre 3000 and James Murphy
The Videos
Stylo
https://youtu.be/nhPaWIeULKk?list=PL6305F709EB481224
On Melancholy Hill
https://youtu.be/04mfKJWDSzI?list=PL6305F709EB481224
Rhinestone Eyes
https://youtu.be/yYDmaexVHic
Doncamatic
https://youtu.be/OJQyTnD74gk
Phoner to Arizona
https://youtu.be/SAeUwuUGSaM
DoYaThing
https://youtu.be/0nOGy52xygY
Phase 4: Where Gorillaz got their groove back...at least in some fans' minds. Others were wondering why there were so many collabs on the album.
The Music
Humanz
Sleeping Powder
The Videos
Hallelujah Money (Not on Youtube)
https://vimeo.com/200190282
Saturnz Barz
https://youtu.be/5qJp6xlKEug?list=PL6305F709EB481224
Strobelite
https://youtu.be/DAXjiVuzlPw?list=PL6305F709EB481224
Sleeping Powder
https://youtu.be/GzJGWAfmBco?list=PL6305F709EB481224
Garage Palace
https://youtu.be/qoAxRICB9j8?list=PL6305F709EB481224
TV Show (Maybe?????????)
http://exclaim.ca/music/article/gorillazs_animated_tv_series_and_clothing_line_are_coming_says_artist_jamie_hewlett
New Music, New Album
TO BE CONTINUED.....
With all of the lore that honestly makes no sense, it can be hard to follow. So let this guy sum it up for you in less than 25 mins...
If you're more interested in the real life folks behind Gorillaz, look no further than Bananaz, a documentary that follows Damon and Jamie as they actually try and figure out this 'virtual band' thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=288QlF_v1og&list=PLFuRFPWE_kqfUp3uJykff8Fq7Ocg8Acoi
As well as the making of Plastic Beach and Stylo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVtnHUHTv3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSbQoqjy5A
Other Helpful Links
Gorillaz's Main Site
http://www.gorillaz.com/
G-Foot (Merch Site)
http://us.gfoot.store/
Hallelujah Monkeyz (Fan Podcast)
This last link is mostly a shoutout to friends who do this podcast. They run the gambit in terms of talking about the albums, b-sides, curiosities, and random collaborators' album talk. Check them out here:https://soundcloud.com/hallelujahmonkeyz
This pretty much wraps up everything I really want to put into the OP for now. This will be updated if anything new does come out...hopefully soon!
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