Got tickets for Kansas City yesterday. Good seats, too! I’m pumped.
Today, the Gorillaz app has been running the album nonstop, front to back, minus the bonus tracks from the Deluxe edition. Here are some immediate, song-by-song thoughts:
ASCENSION:
A fantastic opener, I can see this one dividing fans and newcomers immediately. Vince Staples is abrasive and so is the “SKY’S FALLIN’ BABY DROP THAT ASS ‘FORE IT CRASH” over-and-over. But get past the initial shock and you’ve got the adrenaline boost that reminds you – oh, yeah – this is a Gorillaz album. Possibly an acquired taste, Ascension has some politics, a catchy beat, and a decent chorus.
STROBELITE:
The first real Gorillaz song on the album, this is possibly my favorite on Humanz. Peven Everett’s vocals never fail during the song, though I bet you anything Damon wished Bobby Womack was still around to do the vocals on this one. The beat on this is infectious and if I use that word a few times during the course of this review, I’m sorry but the album itself is like a disease you catch and don’t want to get rid of.
SATURNZ BARZ:
Man, I love this track. Had never heard for Popcaan before but I’m a fan, currently. Similar to how I got into the guest acts from Plastic Beach, I imagine I’ll be investigating a lot of new sounds.
The beat on this one is incredible and a toe-tapping-to-full-body-dance groove. The chorus is great, nothing to dislike on this one.
MOMENTZ:
De La Soul, natch.
Like all their other Gorillaz tracks, Momentz is fun, poppy, and catchy as hell. Not quite the quality of either of their previous collaborations with the group, it falls short by having some odd female vocal choices. But the beat maintains throughout and gains it enough points to keep from being awful. And when De La Soul comes back as the vocals at the end and the groove starts getting all Sonic 3…? Gonna be a lot of clubs blasting this one.
SUBMISSION:
The first track that doesn’t sound like a Gorillaz song at its core. Kelela does an admirable job on main vocals, so it isn’t that the song is bad, it just feels like a random pop song. Catchy, good hooks, but not inherently a Gorillaz track.
I enjoy Danny Brown’s rap. Reminds me of Booty Brown from Demon Days.
CHARGER:
MAYDAY!
Grace Jones for some reason, because why not? I like this one for some reason, but I imagine my interest will fade as its pretty much repetitive noise. Does earn points for being the second song I like to feature a woman saying she’s gonna “take you for a ride” over and over again, though, after:
ANDROMEDA:
Best track of the album? Quite possibly.
Between this and Strobelite it is quite difficult to determine which has the better beat, but this one is pure Damon and its the thing this album is sorely missing. While I like almost all the guests on this album and the job they do, I end up missing the days of a primarily Damon album, though I suppose that – as a “virtual band” – the goal of this group was always to be more a cycling lineup? I dunno.
Having said that? Andromeda is great.
BUSTED AND BLUE
Back-to-back Damon vocals. Always a good thing. This one does sound like it would be better suited to a solo album rather than a Gorillaz release, but not so much that it feels “off” – its pretty, somber, and dark. And I love the Kelela backing vocals and the storm sounds.
The “all my life” repeat lyrics from Saturnz Barz is fantastic, too, and a subtle threat through the album as a whole.
Actually, I’m listening to this as I write this very sentence and, you know, this song is awesome. A stand-out.
CARNIVAL:
Dark, eerie, and creepily inching along, this is one that will grow on the listener the more times they revisit the album. Having said that, I can easily see this being a “forgotten gem” on an album of slam dunks and home runs.
LET ME OUT:
I’m glad Damon is leaving the BEEP BEEP BEEPs in instead of using Obama and Trump’s name on this because it makes it cute if you know what it means but it also allows this standout track remain timeless.
Having said that, its the weakest Albarn performance, which – thankfully – there isn’t much of him on the track.
One of the more political songs on here, aside from – obviously – Hallelujah Money, Let Me Out works as a great follow-up (directly) to Carnival because of the slow creep and as a companion piece to Ascension.
SEX MURDER PARTY:
This isn’t what you think it is, based on the title alone.
It takes a bit of time to really get into the song, but once it is there, it. Is. There. The slow build is totally worth it in the end and I hope this is a single just for the video we all deserve.
SHE’S MY COLLAR:
Man, I love this one. A dark, infectious beat. The techno groove is damn great and features the best of Damon’s lazy vocal style on the album. The music is constantly threatening to just overtake the vocals until the guest, Kali Uchis busts in. Her style is way more dreamy and syrupy, but the whole thing is just great. Gonna be a favorite of many people, I’d wager.
HALLELUJAH MONEY:
Ben Clementine is a weird choice and this whole song is strange. I don’t hate it, but its the most skip-able thing on the album. He has a great voice, but I have to say that this is just a nearly full-stop, a roadblock of politics and snail crawls.
The back half makes up for the first half, somewhat, but not enough to save this. The worst track and that’s a double sin because there isn’t even a close second on that list. This keeps the album from being an immediate masterpiece like Demon Days was.
WE GOT THE POWER:
Overly upbeat, this would be my second least favorite track on the album, but the gap between this and the previous track is almost impossibly huge. It is going to be way more amazing live, probably the biggest contrast between studio to stadium. It is trying to be Don’t Get Lost in Heaven and Demon Days from the latter’s title album and it doesn’t quite make it.
Having said that, its still catchy. And infectious. Not really on the second claim, but I wanted to use the word, again.
OF NOTE:
For some reason Ben Mendelsohn provides the narration during a handful of interludes between tracks. So you have this guy on a Gorillaz album and that’s amazing:
No Dennis Hopper but, then again, who is?
Overall, I’m super happy with this one. I love Plastic Beach, its probably my favorite of their albums (not their best, that’s obviously Demon Days) but I like this one right off the bat faster than I liked Plastic Beach, which took some time (I HATED Empire Ants for way too long, as an example, and no one should hate Empire Ants. Actually, here’s a live version of Empire Ants:
Your welcome).
But seriously, this is a great album, I’m excited to blast it at my house, excited for the Rag’n’Bone Man track from the Deluxe edition, and super pumped for TV appearances.
Oh, also, for Kansas City in September, baby! WOOP!
Added August 30, 2017
Updated title to add to new ‘A “Review”‘ category, placed it under the “Albums” sub-category. Added tags.
skylerbartels 