release date: Mar. 9, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Gorillaz
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 4. "Rhinestone Eyes" - 5. "Stylo" (feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def) - 6. "Superfast Jellyfish" (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul) - 8. "Glitter Freeze" (feat. Mark E. Smith) - 10. "On Melancholy Hill" - 11. "Broken" - 13. "Plastic Beach" (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simon)
3rd studio album by Gorillaz following Demon Days by almost five years is an album with a more 'experimental hip hop' and 'glitch pop' style on top of the 'art pop'. The album features a vast number of prominent guest appearances - including Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Mark E. Smith. Mick Jones and Lou Reed.
Naturally, Damon Albarn hasn't just stopped making music for nearly five years. He has been involved in all sorts of side-projects - initiating the lasting "super-group" The Good, The Bad & The Queen, being involved in projects connected to African music: Monkey Journey to the West (2008) and Africa Express (2009) - as well as re-joining Blur for live concerts. Albarn is a genuine music machine.
My initial thoughts about the album had me thinking of it as weak. I found that it didn't contain any evident hits, where "Stylo" and especially "Superfast Jellyfish" were the only tracks above the mediocre, but - like is the case with, I think, all Gorillaz studio releases except the debut - I have changed my opinion during the last 10 years or so. And possibly this album took me the longest time to embrace. No, it doesn't showcase a lot of memorable songs. And, I do find the bold focus on 'experimental hip hop' a bit tedious in the long run, which initially had me thinking of it as far from an immediate favourite; however, looking at it from a contemporary perspective and with a mindset on what Gorillaz did that worked, it's really not that bad, and I do find that it contains original fine tunes. Plastic Beach is really the band's first conceptual album in that it has its centre around modern society and the obvious pits of various types of pollution - be it the most literal: Plastic on the world's beaches, or the more symbolic themes about questionable lifestyles and what seems to be a stress on artificial material, which is underlined by utilizing synthesizers, loops, 'dub' programming, electronic beats and various types of electronic equipment.
And no, the hit material may be less evident, but the overall thematic tone and message is put at first hand, and that, I think works quite all right. There's a sensation of seriousness that isn't present on Demon Days or the debut, which makes it gloomier - less positive. I don't consider it among the absolute best by Gorillaz, as it generally points in all sorts of directions, but then again, this band is and never was about making cohesive albums, as much as showcasing what they have as their most potential strength: a platform / playground for near endless musical possibilities, and here they demonstrate an original perspective on modern life.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]
