-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Gorillaz |OT| Plastic Demon Beach Dayz Now Now Season1
- Thread starter Vectorman
- Start date
- Entertainment
It'd be hard to think of a music artist who has reinvented or experimented as much as Damon Alburn
Here's my opinion on "Humanz" that I didn't get to spell out fully in the other thread:
"Humanz" as an album is undoubtedly weak, because it doesn't contain the same amount of thematic depth as previous Gorillaz works. That being said, as a playlist a la "More Life" or "Culture II", it works a lot better. Damon himself said this album was like the soundtrack to the most epic party before the world ends. In that way, it is a playlist or a collection of tracks meant to get the party started. Once you excise the bonus tracks, it works a lot better as a playlist. That being said, it does have noticeable weak spots with this concept. For example, tracks like "Busted And Blue", "Hallelujah Money", and "Carnival" noticeably go against the party vibe. So, reframing the project works, but it doesn't make it a masterpiece. That being said, it has some of my favorite songs from last year on it: "Submission", "Ascension", "She's My Collar", "Charger", "Busted And Blue", and "Momentz."
It's a good album that is underrated, but it isn't close to the best work Damon and co. have produced.
"Humanz" as an album is undoubtedly weak, because it doesn't contain the same amount of thematic depth as previous Gorillaz works. That being said, as a playlist a la "More Life" or "Culture II", it works a lot better. Damon himself said this album was like the soundtrack to the most epic party before the world ends. In that way, it is a playlist or a collection of tracks meant to get the party started. Once you excise the bonus tracks, it works a lot better as a playlist. That being said, it does have noticeable weak spots with this concept. For example, tracks like "Busted And Blue", "Hallelujah Money", and "Carnival" noticeably go against the party vibe. So, reframing the project works, but it doesn't make it a masterpiece. That being said, it has some of my favorite songs from last year on it: "Submission", "Ascension", "She's My Collar", "Charger", "Busted And Blue", and "Momentz."
It's a good album that is underrated, but it isn't close to the best work Damon and co. have produced.
A storyline and thematic elements connecting. I kind of get what a "playlist of songs" vs. "album" is as arbitrary as it is. There are albums where songs flow into one another end to end and then have repeating motifs and such.
I dunno, I get it, even if it might come off as music snobbery.
I dunno, I get it, even if it might come off as music snobbery.
i disagree, ive found humanz to be as thematically rich as demon days or plastic beach. the epic party vibe is right, and the tone progresses as the last party in the world might. it starts off explosive, gets a little weird, the mood saddens, it gets angry, cruel, and finally resigned before theres a little anthem of hope.
I know it's probably not a serious question, but I believe there is a significant different.
An album is a vessel of sorts: it contains songs that are greater than the sums of their parts when listened to in order. It's a format to tell a story, express some emotions, or just embody a mood. Albums live or die based on their track order i.e. The Avalanches' "Since I Left You". Things flow into one another, either directly with transitions or indirectly with similar themes or ideas. Either way, things flow naturally into one another.
I gave it a quick listen to Hollywood from one of their concerts on Chile they gave last week and it sounds pretty good! It kinda reminds me of Stylo. Can't wait to listen the final studio version. So far so good and I'm already hyped for their new album now!
I hadn't heard anything about Hollywood until they started playing it live in front of me.
I won't forget that moment anytime soon.
I won't forget that moment anytime soon.
So apparently """leaks""" are saying the new album will only have 2 songs with collaborators, no singles, be out in 2 months time, is phase 5 and be one of their best albums.
:thinkingemoji:
Also theres allegedly a feature length docc coming out.
This would be the wildist shit if true
:thinkingemoji:
Also theres allegedly a feature length docc coming out.
This would be the wildist shit if true
R/gorillaz which allegedly gets it from Hewlett's son. Which is why the triple quotation marks
Sources are from r/Gorillaz and the old blur forum, they posted some info of the album and were asked to take down said info by people close to the band.
Ode to Idaho was released before Hollywood and is going to be on the new album.
Phase 5 gonna be a tv show, movie, album, everything.
Meanwhile Phase 4 was thrown out quicker then ever
Phase 4 gave us my favorite Gorillaz album, several neat videos, an incredible world tour, and most importantly of all, it gave Damon the motivation to do another record this soon. The new album is full of songs that were written and worked on while touring, a la The Fall, but Damon brought these songs into the studio and recorded them there. It won't be another Fall.
also people saying that Humanz lacks thematic depth may have misunderstood the record. It's incredibly dense with meaning and narrative, perhaps more than any other record Damon has ever done.
also people saying that Humanz lacks thematic depth may have misunderstood the record. It's incredibly dense with meaning and narrative, perhaps more than any other record Damon has ever done.
Eh, his other albums have tons of meanings. Hell, it's a bit of a rehash of everyday robots, with some Parklife thrown in
that's one of the strangest takes I have ever seen. Care to elaborate? I'm super curious
(just cause I know others reading might only listen to Gorrilaz and not other Albarn work)
Oh, I just meant how Everyday Robots was about how technology was integrating and changing humanity on a day to day basis, like how the z at the end of Humanz is supposed to represent us "evolving" or whatever and changing with technology (Damon said this in multiple interviews, I can find it later and post here but on my way out).
Parklife is just about society and kind of making due with what you have in a way, and Humanz is like that, but with the modern end of the world feel that America has thanks to current politics.
Sorry I did make a general statement, though I mainly agreed with your's up to point of being more then any Damon album. The man stuffs tons of meanings into his songs, but that's thanks to him being an observational song writer.
ah, I see. Yeah all this stuff is true, but I see a lot more in the songs. To me, the Zed at the end of Humanz also represents an ending - like, if we keep going down the path described on this record, we're all done for. Humanz is an album about a "party at the end of the world" but I think it describes the world ending for more reasons than simple politics. Humanz feels to me like a record about the decline of the human condition, and the constant lowering of human morale and morality. Even We Got The Power, a song about seizing the day and uniting to make the world a better place, has a cynical side with lyrics about choosing apathy over action and leaving the better future as a mere dream.
Yeah, I can see that. Albarn is really talented in his song craft and putting purpose into it. I feel like others do it, but I dunno, he has covered so many genres and can make a dance song (like you said) but it be about everyone's eventual demise and coming to terms with it.
I should run through his work again soon
Damon's definitely a master craftsman, watching Bananaz is all it really takes to prove that. Dude wrote the lyrics to El Manana in like 90 seconds
That and Saturnz Barz are unquestionably some of the best stuff in their discography.
Halfway to the Halfway House is incredibly overlooked because it's a little abrasive and very strange, but it's one of the most haunting and powerful songs I've heard in a very long time. The instrumental is anxiety-inducing and the vocals on it are so desperate that it sort of induces a feeling of fervor whenever I hear it. Just powerful stuff.
Their first album is good, second album is GREAT, and third album fairly mediocre.
One of these days I'll have to sit down and give Humanz a listen.
They stick in my mind most of all because a girlfriend in my late high school/college days was absolutely OBSESSED with the band; buying all the merch she could possibly get her hands on and referring to the band members as if they were actual people and she was just steeped waist-deep, if not higher, in the lore and backstory of the band.
One of these days I'll have to sit down and give Humanz a listen.
They stick in my mind most of all because a girlfriend in my late high school/college days was absolutely OBSESSED with the band; buying all the merch she could possibly get her hands on and referring to the band members as if they were actual people and she was just steeped waist-deep, if not higher, in the lore and backstory of the band.
it sounds like you dated the rule 63 version of high school hugh
Googling "High School Hugh" leads me nowhere. Explanation, please?
Kinda off-topic, but if we're talking about Damon, do you guys listen to Blur?
Obviously very different from Gorillaz, but Damon still rocks.
Obviously very different from Gorillaz, but Damon still rocks.
OHHHHHHHH, my bad.
She used to get uber-obsessed with things and moved from thing to thing every other year, Ghostbusters, TMNT, etc. Nothing wrong with that, of course. She's a cool chick and we're still friends.
Sorry man, it's just a bit too esoteric for my tastes. I felt like the first two albums were really cohesive but Plastic Beach seems to be missing that. It's not awful, just not my jam.
Magic Whip is great but I really love Y'all Doomed - the weird quirky little b-side from that record
I agree with him, I think Plastic Beach is a rushed and sloppy album. It's still pretty good stuff, but definitely the worst of the mainline Gorillaz records for me.
Plastic Beach is the best Gorillaz album
The first album isnt good, it has 15 songs and maybe 5 of them are memorable.
The first album isnt good, it has 15 songs and maybe 5 of them are memorable.
how dare you, that first album is filled with special little treasures.... only Rock The House really stands out to me as being fairly mediocre. I suppose Sound Check is a little meh as well, but still solid and interesting.
I'm so excited that they're already moving on from Humanz. Having to wait so long for a follow-up to an album as perfect as Plastic Beach was torture and to have it be so disappointing was even worse.
Honestly
Demon Days/Plastic Beach>>Humanz/Self Titled.
Plastic Beach is literally the single most cohesive collection of music and theme the band has put out thus far and is just as much of a masterpiece as Demon Days. It just works all too well and it really felt like they were firing all cylinders on all fronts. Ill never understand people who don't love this album but like their other work. I don't even listen to it much but I have a vivid memory of just about each and every song should I pick a title and try to play it back in my head. I don't know that the band will ever attain something like that again.
Demon Days/Plastic Beach>>Humanz/Self Titled.
Plastic Beach is literally the single most cohesive collection of music and theme the band has put out thus far and is just as much of a masterpiece as Demon Days. It just works all too well and it really felt like they were firing all cylinders on all fronts. Ill never understand people who don't love this album but like their other work. I don't even listen to it much but I have a vivid memory of just about each and every song should I pick a title and try to play it back in my head. I don't know that the band will ever attain something like that again.
Plastic Beach was very literally assembled as a random assortment of tracks, as admitted by Damon himself. There's a serious lack of cohesion, actually, in the flow of the album. Sure, all the songs sound like they belong together, but the way those songs are placed makes for a really unbalanced listen. White Flag being the second real track on the album is one of the worst track placements I've ever seen on any mainstream release. Demon Days and Humanz are definitely much more deliberately sequenced, and the way Humanz especially flows is a genuine treat to experience each time I put the album on.
They're all great records, ST may be the weakest of the bunch but that's only because it's Damon's first attempt at something different from blur, it's got Clint Eastwood and Latin Simone which are amazing tracks (BTW, if you haven't heard the Demon Days Live record you should do it right now). Anyone who says Plastic Beach is trash should be ashamed of themselves.
I love blur man, I bought blur 21 the other day, been listening to it ever since.
I love blur man, I bought blur 21 the other day, been listening to it ever since.
As weird as it sounds I feel like the Beatles and Kanye are the only other huge acts I can think of that have managed to keep reinventing and experimenting while staying culturally relevant over their entire careers.
Every song on Plastic Beach fits a very particular theme, that's what I mean in terms of cohesion. I don't really care too much that as an album it doesn't have any sort of linear narrative because it comes off as more of a laid back slice of life experience. That works well for the theme of the characters being on a "vaccation" to an isolated island. On top of the environmentalist themes weaved throughout the album and the reflection of modern day human existance and somewhat existentialism. On top of that from a musical perspective, many songs are beautifully instrumented and feel meticulously crafted and neatly put together to a degree far greater than I can say for any other album. The voices of the guest features were sprinkled perfectly throughout the album and a number of these performances are just phenomenal. Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Bobby Womack. Plastic Beach is an incredibly special album and not that I have anything against Humanz but it really doesn't compare.
Humanz is more of a laid back and fun project, which fits the party theme. I don't think its a bad album but there are definitely valid criticisms and points of contention. I just don't feel its as nearly as strong of a product as Plastic Beach. But I don't really blame them for going that direction. Plastic Beach pretty much bankrupt them, made their label go under and had 2 albums of unused material that we'll never hear because of the prior two points.
