The Good, The Bad and The Queen
The Good, The Bad and The Queen
The Good, The Bad and The Queen.
[Beverly Hills, CA]: Virgin Records, p2007.
Damon Albarn spent the first half of his career as a pop provocateur, but he's spent the second half as a musician, and nobody seems more surprised about this than he is. After achieving Nineties stardom with Blur,, he's settled into a head-down, hardworking life of adventurous projects like Gorillaz and his new band, the Good, the Bad and the Queen. The group is an odd mix, to say the least - Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Africa 70 drummer Tony Alien, plus the production of Danger Mouse. But the eclectic elements combine for dark, muted balladry a la Syd Barrett or the Beatles' White Album, with a touch of dub. Fantastic tunes like 'Kingdom of Doom,' 'Nature Springs' and the doo-wop pastiche '8o's Life' set the tone for the album's strange beauty, but it peaks with the cinematic strings and megaphone-vocal melancholy of 'Herculean.'
Review from Rolling Stone -- Rob Sheffield
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