release date: Jun. 19, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Tom Girling, Jason Cox, Dan the Automator, Gorillaz
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Re-Hash" - 3. "Tomorrow Comes Today" - 5. "Clint Eastwood" - 10. "Rock the House" - 11. "19-2000" (4 / 5)
Studio album debut by the English "virtual" or: project-band Gorillaz crafted by Blur front-man Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett featuring various band members. The virtual band, an imagined but fixed four-piece consisting of 2-D on vocals and keyboard, Noodle on guitars and keyboards, Murdoc on bass and drum machine, and with Russel Hobbs on drums and percussion. In reality, Albarn is the main musical composer, who's credited as writer of nearly all tracks.
For this, two others contributed in the making: rapper Del the Funky Homosapien - for the album renamed Del the Ghost Rapper and American producer Dan the Automator (aka Daniel Nakamura).
The album showcases a huge mix of styles and genres but all done in a sophisticated manner, which makes it a fine whole. Several tracks stick out as near great, others contribute to the whole and a few sound like experimental fillers on a very interesting album debut.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, Q Magazine, Slant 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]
