The Good, the Bad & the Queen

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.

We won't make another record, and we didn't properly name the band, because a name is for a marriage. cool ethos for a super group. Northern Whale is a solid song. the drums on Three Changes are solidly wonky.

Imagine if Gorillaz was a mid-2000s alt rock band (think Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse) but take the dancing out of it. It's working overly hard at profundity, I think. It's okay... I mean, what do you do when you've reached that level of success? It's cool to take musical risks like this as the alternative is either more of the same or quitting altogether. At some points this album feels like it's going too hard for a contemporary sound, for example, shades of Radiohead on The Bunting Song. Hearing Simonon is the highlight for me, though, but it's altogether too laid bake and a little monotonous.

Not bad for some mellow alt

Decent album, but I'm not at all sure that this is a "must listen". Could have been any other Albarn side project, but maybe they're all on the list and I just haven't gotten to them yet.
Bass lines get this from 3 to 4.

After the smash hit both critically and financially that was the pair-up of Damon Albarn and Danger Mouse on Demon Days, you'd think another album with the two plus a slew of other characters would only be a knock out of the park, but the album leaves a lot to be desired, and quite frankly wastes the listener's time on every song. None of it is bad, but it all has the exact same setup of starting a song quiet, building it up over the course of the track, only to end the song before it actually goes anywhere. This doesn't matter whether the song is two minutes or seven, you will always be disappointed, and I'm just gonna come out and say I entirely blame Simon Tong. No clue how much he had at play in this album, but it reeks of Verve-isms, with boring track after boring track that only leave the listener waiting for something more, which never comes, as if the whole band is scared to get too loud and wake their parents who are just in the other room. Its inoffensive, but that wraps around and makes it aggravating, because you just sit there ingesting it waiting for something, anything to happen. I don't entirely blame Danger Mouse, as when the production itself is good, its good, but it could just use another voice somewhere teaching the lot here how songs have to end, not just stop. I will give it credit and say it sounds nothing like Albarn's other two major projects, but I'm also just gonna say there's a reason those are still famous today while this faded into obscurity on the 1001 Albums list, with very little other accolades to hold it up.

I thought I would have heard about this, but it apparently completely passed me by. It's quite subdued in general, and there's no real hooky elements to it, but it has a nice enough vibe. I quite like some of the quirkier elements of the production. It's not bad. It's ok. I won't be revisiting any of the songs or the album as a whole though.

Ihan okei homma, vähän pettymys kokoonpanon ajatellen.

I enjoyed this a lot. Great drumming from Tony Allen in Soldier's Tale. The title track is excellent; I love the guitar tone. Also, really obviously a Danger Mouse production (that's a good thing). A high 4

I've never heard of the album or the project. But it's a lot of fun. That's exactly the kind of thing I do with One Album a Day.
4/5

Having a hard time with this one. Well done, some cool stuff here but at times feels rudderless. Right when you think it'll resolve or a big chorus should break, it doesn't.

A very pleasant surprise. I heavily fuck with the vocals on this, something about his voice makes me happy

Another of Damon Albarn's (Blur/Gorillaz) experiments. It's fine, I suppose, but nothing to write home about. Easily forgettable. The band does feature Simon Tong from The Verve, and Paul Simonen of The Clash, but that doesn't help much. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't like Damon's experiments, or his music, much. But apparently this book seems to think that every jam session Damon ever had has to be on here. The album mostly consisted of Damon moaning.

Favourite songs: 80s Life, History Song

Least favourite songs: Behind the Sun, The Bunting Song

2/5

Damon Albarn jam sesh #37:
1001 authors: Straight on the list!

Way better than I was expecting - a state of the nation report for the late 00s. Nice dubby basslines, the best non-Blur thing Albarn has done maybe?

This might be Albarn's best work? Not as cringeworthy as Gorillaz and not as dated as Blur. As a concept album it has much-needed drive and focus. It was that perfect window where he could afford the good coke but wasn't too old.

How could it not be great? The king of drummers, a bass player with attitude and riffs aplenty, a guitarist happy to play his part without overstepping, and a vocalist and lyricist who barely writes a duffer. Oh, and one of the great producers of the era!
One of the defining supergroups - such a shame they shone so briefly.

Come on England

3.5

HL: “Northern Whale”, “Nature Springs”, “Green Fields”, title

May 21, 2024

Really overrated offering from one of the more overrated contributors out there. Not a lot redeeming about this one. 2/5