“On Melancholy Hill”

The album I listened to for this review is Plastic Beach by the Gorillaz. I did not listen to the iTunes Deluxe Edition, because frankly I’ve been putting off listening to this album for too long, and at 56 minutes I think I have all I need to form some opinions on the album. As an aside, this is a disturbing trend I see in the digital music age: artists making multiple (deluxe) versions of their albums. If the Gorillaz and Apple wanna make some extra bills selling B-sides, I have no beef with that, but an album should have a set number of tracks. That’s what an album is, a number of songs that have been put together in a certain order that makes each song better because of its place within the album. Inclusion of these songs in a “deluxe edition” just cheapens the whole experience.

I think an interesting way to think about Gorillaz is the way in which this project has evolved over the years. (Speaking of years, this is the third Gorillaz album in nine years, and it’s been five years since Demon Days… when you couldn’t have the radio on more than 10 seconds without hearing “Feel Good, Inc.”) If you can remember back to the first Gorillaz release, you may recall that the group was made up of four fictional characters: 2D, Russell, Murdoc, and Noodle. On that album there were two real-life contributors credited (you may remember Del tha Funkee Homosapien for the vocals he provided on “Clint Eastwood”). The reason I point this out is that Gorillaz at that point was more alternative, and less hip-hop and electronic. Plastic Beach, according to Wikipedia (this is my blog, I’ll cite Wiki if I want) has about 30 guests featured on the album. Some of these are for the orchestral introduction, but the album also includes appearances by Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, and De La Soul.

Gorillaz, on this album, trade memorable vocals and rock hooks for synth bass and… more synth. Listening to this album, I couldn’t help but feel like this sound is tailor-made to be played in clubs. Doing my listening and writing of music reviews, I’m laying on the couch, about as far from a club atmosphere as humanly possible (and I like it that way). Honestly, I’m just not even sure how to go about critiquing it. I think I’ll start by saying the album has very little variation. The “meat of the album” tracks are driven by up-tempo synth bass beats, with some “rapping” over it. Perfect example of why I don’t care for this album: the first time I started listening to “Plastic Beach” I was enticed by the introduction and thought the song had potential. Then the vocals came in, and I thought maybe I could just ignore them. Then the vocals were purposely auto-tuned OUT OF TUNE, which I guess is supposed to make it sound more interesting, but part of me thinks the producer is just trying to f*ck with me, perhaps to test what he can get me to pay to listen to. My opinion of this album would greatly increase if all vocal tracks were just dropped, and I could put the instrumental version on in the background and ignore it.

Whether you disagree with my overall assessment of the album or not, one thing is irrefutable: this album doesn’t carry some of the “single-power” of its predecessors. “Clint Eastwood” remains my favorite song by the group, and Gorillaz also carried with it “19-2000” which was good. I shouldn’t have to mention how big “Feel Good, Inc.” became when Demon Days was released. I just don’t see this album as having that kind of song on it. “Stylo,” the first single, made it to #24 on the U.S. Billboard Alternative list. By comparison, “Feel Good, Inc.” made the top 50 on seven U.S. Billboard lists, all higher than #24, including a #1 on the “Hot Modern Rock Tracks” list.

Coincidentally (or not), the few songs I was okay with on the album were either singles, already named as future singles, or potential singles. “On Melancholy Hill” uses the same formula as many of Plastic Beach’s other tracks, but gets it right. “Stylo” rides a decent beat, and has some good guest vocals from Bobby Womack. “Rhinestone Eyes” has a lot of potential, but again I’m not able to get around the vocals. If you’re uninterested in any of these three songs, I would find it difficult to believe that you’re really going to enjoy the rest of the album.

Anyway, I have little else to say about the album. I’m disappointed in it, as well as with my inability to put my criticisms into words, although this is only my third review. Because there has been such a holdup on getting this review done, I’m hoping to put out another in the next couple days, which will likely be the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.

Recommended Songs: “On Melancholy Hill” (featured above), “Rhinestone Eyes”, and “Stylo”