The Good, the Bad & the Queen

Damon Albarn is easily one of the most important musical figures of this generation. He seems capable of doing just about whatever he wants to, while still letting everyone else have their place in the spotlight.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen is the perfect example of supergroups not having to be flashy and showing off individual skills. No one stands out in particular and that’s really part of what makes this album so good; it’s just excellent musicians creating incredible music.

Didn't think Damon Albarn was chill like that. This was a good surprise. Have to listen again.

Albarn is very... uninteresting, vocally.

Shocking that a group consisting of musicians from Blur/Gorillaz, Fela Kuti, and The Clash could make such a dull record.

3/5

Damon Albarn knows how to write a song - and then to embellish it. This time, though, it’s a rather understated affair, with a close look into the rear-view mirror and a nostalgic touch. You would be forgiven for not realising that it’s Tony Allen behind the kit (but then again there are songs like Nature Springs and Three Changes. These ornate, folky dub-pop marvels take their fair share of time to blossom. There is much to disassemble while listening: for example, in Kingdom of Doom, a soaring guitar cuts through the feeling of yonder times. Or the amazing drum work. Everything sounds analogue, warm, and a bit dusty - in the most positive sense (my favorite of said sounding bunch would be Green Fields).

I had never heard of this group. Pretty good! Enjoyed that one from start to finish.

Solid 3.5, will round up.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Great album, I remember buying it when it came out and enjoyed it, but haven’t revisited recently, and didn’t even know they made a second album.

I love the percussion, drums and bass. As you would expect Paul Simonon and Tony Allen are superb, Simonon’s bass is dense and deep, but with some softness, and Tony Allen’s slightly jazzy shuffle and swing is fantastic. He’s less heralded perhaps, but some of Simon Tong’s guitar is also excellent, at times slightly psychedelic and spacey like the Verve, but never too showy, it’s always embellishing the music. And it’s interesting that a lot of the piano and organ evokes Parklife and the Great Escape, but whereas there was an exuberance to those albums, this has a much wearier feel, like there’s a few more miles on the clock.

It also stands slightly apart from its contemporaries in the late 2000s, it’s influences are more folk and dub, with a bit of spacey rock, and its sounds less dated than a lot of music from that period. Despite the slightly downbeat themes and atmospheres it still has a degree of life and an emotional weight that other albums in those years are perhaps missing.

The first half of the record is particularly strong, History Song, 80s Life, Northern Whale are all great, and Kingdom of Doom and Herculean are absolutely superb. Herculean has a great, catchy melody and I love how it builds to a slightly frenetic close. The Bunting Song is also excellent, another great forlorn melody and melancholy feel, but with added electronic beeps and noises. It perhaps does stick too closely to the formula after that, not that any of the remaining songs aren’t very good, they are, but they tend to retreat into more hypnotic, repeating grooves, which are great, but it could perhaps do with a little more contrast and perhaps less restraint, although the fantastic title track does build on it’s evocative, doleful melody, building to a brilliant, expansive crescendo.

Despite the fact it stays largely within its own furrow this is a great album, melancholy and plaintive, but with some superb melodies, and some utterly fantastic playing. A high 4.
👑👑👑👑
Playlist submission: The Good, The Bad and the Queen.

Albarn plus others. Loved by hipsters & the music press at the time. Not that good.

The sum is somehow less than the parts. I like everyone involved with this album, but it feels like a bunch of b-sides. Not bad, just not memorable.

The vocals are a bit less polished than I'd like without leaning into aesthetic sensibilities that make that work

The Good: Duh, an album named after the band…
The Bad: That the band stole my concept…
The Ugly: Do I have to spell it out?

What can I say about this album? I had never ever heard of these guys before, and when I clicked the “Wikipedia” button and started seeing the bands Blur and Gorrilazzzz show up, my heart sank, as I am fan of neither.
So color me happily surprised with this mellow album, that is easy on the ears, and a great filler of space when you are just doing some work.

Sonically, I guess, just fine… just nothing special either.

3*

Truly, the best thing about this album is the cover-art.

So many great musicians in a band, such a forgettable experience.
I've known this album since its release, and I really did give it a good couple of listens over the last day, but nothing sticks or stands out.

Das Album ist ein faszinierendes Projekt, das mit seiner melancholischen Atmosphäre und britischer Nostalgie überzeugt. Die Band um Damon Albarn liefert ein Album, das musikalisch vielschichtig ist, aber auch bewusst Grenzen überschreitet. Songs wie "History Song" und "Herculean" mit ihrer düsteren Eleganz beeindrucken, fehlt es einigen Tracks an Dynamik und Wiedererkennungswert

Die Mischung aus Dub, Rock und britischem Songwriting ist einzigartig, doch das Album bleibt insgesamt eher zurückhaltend und könnte mehr Höhepunkte vertragen. Wer sich auf die ruhige, nachdenkliche Stimmung einlassen kann, findet hier jedoch einige musikalische Perlen und Vorsicht der Schluss-Song im Ska Stil verlangt dem Hörer seh viel ab

3.5

Just another ex-1001 album!™
http://1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie.wikidot.com/album-artists-a-z-ex

I like the idea of supergroups doing interesting things. While this was interesting in places, I found it overall boring.

Il y a un mot qui, dans le monde du rock, me fait à la fois saliver d'envie et trembler de peur : "supergroupe". Sur le papier, c'est la promesse d'un fantasme. Imaginez un peu l'affiche en 2007 : au chant et aux claviers, Damon Albarn, le parrain de la Britpop avec Blur, fraîchement réinventé en génie mondial avec Gorillaz. À la basse, le flegme et la dégaine incarnés, la légende punk Paul Simonon de The Clash. À la guitare, l'architecte des cathédrales soniques de The Verve, Simon Tong. Et à la batterie, excusez du peu, le coeur battant de l'Afrobeat, le maestro Tony Allen, batteur du grand Fela Kuti.

Rien qu'avec ce line-up, on était en droit d'attendre l'album du siècle. Un truc qui allait redéfinir les frontières de la musique.

Et puis le disque est arrivé. Et le résultat est... compliqué.

Ce premier album de The Good, The Bad & The Queen n'est pas le monstre de rock hybride qu'on aurait pu imaginer. Au contraire, c'est un disque sur la pointe des pieds, une collection de chansons profondément mélancoliques, une déambulation fantomatique dans un Londres gris et pluvieux. On nous l'avait vendu comme un "Parklife 2" centré sur l'Ouest londonien, mais on est à des années-lumière de l'énergie et de la satire de l'album de Blur. Ici, c'est la gueule de bois après la fête, la nostalgie d'un monde qui s'efface. Une ambiance feutrée, presque ouatée.

Il faut reconnaître une chose : le son est une pure merveille. Le producteur Danger Mouse, alors au sommet de son art, a fait un travail d'orfèvre. Il a su créer un écrin sonore aéré, inventif, subtilement teinté de dub et de soul. Et surtout, il a compris que le véritable trésor de ce groupe, c'était sa section rythmique. L'alchimie entre la basse reggae/dub de Simonon et le groove hypnotique et complexe de Tony Allen est un miracle. Écouter ces deux-là jouer ensemble est un plaisir en soi, c'est souple, c'est élégant, c'est d'une musicalité folle.

Mais… sur cette rythmique de rêve, il se passe finalement assez peu de choses. Le disque tourne un peu en rond et ne décolle jamais vraiment. On a l'impression d'assister à une jam session de luxe, où des musiciens de génie installent un groove sublime sur lequel Damon Albarn vient poser de jolies mélodies tristes qui, malheureusement, peinent à se transformer en grandes chansons. L'ambiance est là, indéniablement, mais les morceaux, pris un par un, donnent l'impression de se ressembler un peu tous. Ils partagent la même langueur, la même dynamique contenue.

C'est un album qui ne crie jamais, qui ne s'énerve jamais, il reste dans une sorte de flottement permanent. C'est un disque d'atmosphère, un parfait compagnon pour un dimanche après-midi pluvieux. Il est plaisant à réécouter, oui, parce que le son est riche et que le groove est imparable. Mais il manque les pics, les moments de fureur ou d'extase qui transforment un bon disque en un classique inoubliable. On attend l'explosion, l'étincelle qui va mettre le feu aux poudres, mais elle ne vient jamais.

C'est pour cela que la note de 3 sur 5 me semble juste. C'est la note d'un album plus réussi en tant que "projet" ou "concept" qu'en tant que collection de titres forts. C'est la réunion de quatre immenses talents qui ont produit un disque agréable. C'est un peu décevant, mais c'est déjà pas si mal. Il faut l'écouter, ne serait-ce que pour le plaisir d'entendre Simonon et Allen jouer ensemble. Mais il faut se faire à l'idée : ce n'est pas le chef-d'oeuvre qu'on était en droit d'espérer.

Radiohead and Gorillaz had one baby and it grew up with good insurance and was able to attend therapy and find a decent SSRI to mitigate its tough times. Nice album.

I get that this dude does some cool shit, with Gorillaz mostly, but not everything he does is list-worthy. This album is not bad by any means, but I wouldn't include it on the list.

Definitely a mood on this. I've always really liked it. Very British and glum.

It took me a few songs to get into it, and I didn't realize at first who the lead singer was (just listened to it blind.) Since I'm a fairly big fan of Blur, it wasn't really surprising to me that I ended up liking this album quite a bit by the end and found myself putting it back on again shortly after. There's something here that is very compelling and I will revisit.