The Good the Bad & The Queen - Good the Bad & The Queen
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Free Music Notes for Good the Bad & The Queen
Free Music Review: Excellent album
Hit: 5 Stars
Captivating, accessible and enjoyable CD. Reminiscent of Les Negresses Vertes. Great stuff.
Free Music Review: Great Record. The more is listen the better is gets
Hit: 5 Stars
Great mix of new and old style, some killer dub influence.Free Music Review: "If you don't know it now, then you will do."
Hit: 4 Stars
The Good, The Bad & The Queen is pretty close to what you might imagine you'd get if Gorillaz was a slightly depressing-sounding rock band instead of... whatever the hell they are. There's a lot of strummed acoustic guitars, heavy bass, nice production touches courtesy of Danger Mouse, vintage Damon Albarn crooning, and solid work from the rest of the crew. Apparently it's not a self-titled album, as it was originally an Albarn solo project that was turned into a group work with no name for the group yet. I'm not sure what it is with me and Danger Mouse, I have four albums by four different artists that he's produced. It's not that I intentionally seek him out, he just seems to work on things that interest me. It's a bit of a concept album in that it seems to keep referring back to life in England, although there's no real story or coherence to it. Some of the songs tend to blend together and feel a bit samey, but there are plenty of really catchy moments and it's pretty solid musically.
"History Song" is a good first track with nice guitar in the verse and deep bass and what I guess is an organ in the chorus. "80's Life" starts with a piano and a bit of an older vibe. "Northern Life" is basically a Gorillaz song. "Kingdom of Heaven" is another old-timey song with a nice chorus. The next few tracks are a bit of a lull, not bad but nothing really stands out. "Three Changes" brings it back with the organ-intro leading into a pretty great beat and uniquely infectious song. The title track closes out the album interestingly. It's seven minutes long but vocals are scarce. It starts with an extended piano intro and ends with several minutes of jamming before it breaks down. Pretty solid release.
Free Music Review: 4.5 star all star effort
Hit: 4 Stars
First thing you notice is the dub bass of Paul Simonon then Albarns dark understated vocals- and throughout this excellent album the odd arrangements and sounds form a hybrid with electronic and disconnected classical strings hanging from very simple songs. Theres dub- a little britpop but mostly an odd kaleidoscope of sounds and a Kingston meets the eastend vibe. Organic folky roots music with a post 911 feel of gloom. This is Gorillaz without the trends or guest stars- this is a well assembled cast of excellent musicians creating a unique experience- timeless but modern.
This will take a few listens as the pace is slow to mid tempo and pretty dark- almost blurred at times. Albarn is an excellent songwriter and this may be his best work yet and former clash bassist Simonon is superb and looks great despite his broken nose in the cd photo. Tong (ex) of the Verve and Tony Allen both add exactly what is needed- nothing fancy but nothing common or predictable. Theres an abundance of piano but not in the coldplay vein- more traditional english music hall. To sum it up this resembles the perfect mix between later period Blur and the moody slower Gorillaz material put through producer Danger Mouse's sonic treatment. So far the best album of the last few months by quite a distance. The whole album is consistent in tone and style and is once again a very special project that transcends the history of its members.
Free Music Review: Six degrees of...
Hit: 4 Stars
It might be a little hard to keep track of Damon Albarn because musically, he has so much going on, from being the frontman of rock band Blur to being a member of hip-hop outfit Gorillaz to recording his own songs. Now he comes at us with a new project, The Good, the Bad & the Queen.
Well, I don't know if I can really call this a "new" project after all because it was recorded in 2005. And I really can't tell whether the editorial reviewer likes or DISlikes the album, but anyway, if you're a big fan of Blur or Gorillaz, I'm not sure you'll quite be able to get into this album not because it's bad, but because it doesn't sound much like either "standard" rock or hip-hop (thus, don't expect to find a "Song #2" or "Feel Good Inc" on here). This album sounds more like something that Moby or LCD Soundsystem would make, but it's great nonetheless. Highlights include "Nature Springs", "Northern Whale" and "80's Life".
In fact, the only real flaw I could find is that the closing track, which is also the title track (or SELF-titled track; whatever), has a few too many minutes of instrumental going on after the actual song ends. But Damon still put together a great album (I don't feel like writing out the whole album title again). If you're into great music that deviates from the norm, you shouldn't have a problem with this.
Anthony Rupert