Wednesday, 8 April 2015

G is for Gorillaz



Gorillaz are a virtual band created by Damon Albarn (frontman of the Britpop band, Blur) and Jamie Hewlett (a comic book artist famous for his work on the Tank Girl comics). The band itself is comprised of four cartoon characters, namely 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel. Their music is a blend of hip-hop, alternative rock, reggae and pop.

The band released their self-titled debut album in 2001. It contained their breakout single, Clint Eastwood, which peaked at #4 on the UK singles chart. The album would go on to sell more than 7 million copies, as well as producing further singles, 19-2000, Rock The House and Tomorrow Comes Today.

Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released in 2005. It received even more critical acclaim, with most of that praise being directed at its first single, Feel Good Inc. The song was given a Record of the Year nomination at the 2006 Grammys, but lost to Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. It still managed to earn them their first and only Grammy till date, in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category.

Gorillaz is very much a visual project as it is a musically-oriented one, and as such, their videos tend to showcase the sort of production values you'd expect to find in a big-budget animated film. And nowhere else does that fact become apparent than in their video for Clint Eastwood, with visuals that hold up surprisingly well despite its age.


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29 comments:

  1. Clint Eastwood is the only track I can name - but I love it, always sing along to it... singing now, in fact :-)

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    1. Clint Eastwood is easily one of their most recognizable songs, surpassed only by Feel Good Inc. And yay, I feel like I just earned brownie points for making you sing. :D

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  2. I learned of them from a friend that was totally into rock songs. I was more into soft rock, but somehow I loved their song - feel good

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    1. Your friend sounds totally awesome. You're awesome too of course, as should be anyone that loves the awesomeness of Feel Good Inc. :)

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  3. I think this may be the only song I know by them, but I love it and listen to it when I'm running a lot.

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    1. Nice. I typically prefer working out to something more up-tempo, but I'm glad you like it enough to run to it. :)

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  4. We have two of their albums. Interesting that in concert, they are in shadows so you can't see their faces.

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    1. They also use holographic projections for some of their live performances, which looks super sweet, despite the relatively early stage the technology is in.

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  5. Listening to "Clint Eastwood" and then researching Blur (to realize they were indeed the band that used to be touted as better than Oasis) made me realize I knew more than I thought I did about either one. I will probably have to listen to more at some point.

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    1. Glad I was able to spark an interest in their music. You should listen to Feel Good Inc. (and the entire Demon Days album for that matter) if you're looking for more of their good stuff. :)

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  6. I'm a big Blur fan and really like Gorillaz too even though it is very different. There's something in the music and visuals that kids like too, one of my stepkids' fave songs used to be Dare. And my 6-year-old recently heard Feel Good Inc and was laughing along with De La Soul's cackling. :)

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    1. I can totally see their music and visuals appealing to kids. I mean, heck, they've even got a song called Kids with Guns! As scary as that sounds. :D

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  7. LOVE the Gorillaz. "Feel Good Inc" is in my top 20 favorite songs to be sure. I liked Blur and De La Soul, so this is a natural extension I think. 19-2000 is also a good one, but I prefer the rarer "Soulchild Remix" version.

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    1. I too have a preference for the 19-2000 Soulchild Remix. And Feel Good Inc. would easily make my Top 20 as well. :D

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