The Good, the Bad & the Queen

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.