Note: This is the original album review, which was sadly heavily edited by Thisisfakediy.You can read the edited version here and decide which you like best:
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/albums/gorillaz-plastic-beach
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Gorillaz are an interesting post modern concept. Through the flat cartoon exteriors lie some of the best crafted three-dimensional pop songs of the 21st century. For all of the poking fun at the manufactured pop culture, Albarn knows exactly what he is doing. Having only two subsequent releases, which have sold 15 million worldwide, Gorillaz are a bankable, safe outlet for Albarn et al to do more or less what he likes. And he does, with great aplomb. You can almost imagine that he is sometimes taking the piss and seeing just how far he can push the envelope through EMI’s proverbial letterbox.
Part of the success of this act are its guest vocalists. Because of which, Gorillaz are more synonymous with a consortium of musicians than cartoon imagery. A beautiful concept but with collaborations so obscure and leftfield, the bands releases are sometimes inconsistent. Album one catered for fans of Blur and the tweenager market. Album two saw them supersede the debut with some interesting and potentially catastrophic collaborations, which helped them break into mainstream consciousness. Plastic Beach has a stab at targeting a more mature audience (if the eclectic collaborations are anything to go by) whilst simultaneously keeping the older fans. It works, just.
Plastic Beach is made up of three thirds. One, a poppy rap affair with the likes of Snoop, Mos Def and De La Soul , world music and a more subdued lo-fi electronic sound, reminiscent of late Blur. Its an interesting mix, but one that occasionally fails to make an impact and makes the album sometimes forgettable. Snoop’s collaboration, “Welcome to the world of the plastic beach” is the best thing he has done for a decade and despite the backing vocals clearly inspired by Daft Punk’s vocoder, its a welcome opener. However, it’s the middle of the album is where it begins to shine. The collaborations with Little Dragon are sublime. Glitter Freeze, featuring Mark E Smith is completely barking, this albums “Dare”. Superfast Jellyfish raises the bonkers mark with SFA man, Gruff Rhys and rap pioneers, De La Soul who manage to fuse both of their unique sounds seamlessly, so much so, it makes you hanker for an entire album. Probably the most mainstream collaboration here is that of Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, playing together for the first time since The Clash. Something that could have been so amazing yet delivers so little.
Of the 16 tracks at least 7 are filler and with repeat performances, Plastic Beach does feel like a recycled chore toward the end. Do we really need two tracks featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def? Its more Blackpool than Hawaii. At the very least it is another album from an absolute British genius and should tide us over until the next
Blur album, which we all know deep down will never happen.
7/10
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