This time I created a ranking for Gorillaz.
They are a masked band of cartoon characters.
The entity is a solo project of Damon Albarn of Blur.
Their songs are more appealing when you watch their promotional videos.
If you have time, please watch the video and listen to itｄ
This blog is an automatic translation of a Japanese blog into English.
Please understand that it may be difficult to read.
- 1 No.1「Feel Good Inc.」(Album:Demon Days)
- 2 No.2「19-2000」(Album:Gorillaz)
- 3 No.3「Rock the House」(Album:Gorillaz)
- 4 No.4「On Melancholy Hill」(Album:Plastic Beach)
- 5 No.5「Clint Eastwood」(Album:Gorillaz)
- 6 No.6「Desole」(Album:Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez)
- 7 No.7「Dare」(Album:Demon Days)
- 8 No.8「Tomorrow Comes Today」(Album:Gorillaz)
- 9 No.9「Sleeping Powder」(Single Only)
- 10 No.10「We Got the Power」(Album:Humanz)
No.1「Feel Good Inc.」(Album:Demon Days)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz(featuring De La Soul)
■Song Title：Feel Good Inc.
■Album Name：Demon Days
■Video link：「Feel Good Inc.」
This song was released prior to the second album and was a big hit at the time.
It won a Grammy Award in 2006, though its highest number was #2.
And let’s not forget the following commercial.
Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. Apple iPod + iTunes
At the time, being selected for an Apple commercial may have been a greater honor than a Grammy Award.
They were ahead of their time at that time.
No.2「19-2000」(Album:Gorillaz)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz
■Song Title：19-2000
■Album Name：Gorillaz
■Video link：「19-2000」
Their early music seems to have been influenced by De La Soul.
Speaking of De La Soul, they were also guests on the song “Feel Good Inc.” that I mentioned earlier.
One of the great things about De La Soul is that they took a Mondo Lounge-like song that was difficult to use and made good use of it.
Gorillaz may be a little similar in their use of material.
In this song, the melodica is used in a loop starting at the 10-second mark.
I think the original melodica is by Augustus Pablo, but I can’t remember the song title.
In the middle of the song, there is a loose female vocalist, Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto.
Cibo Matto was a pioneer of this kind of music.
No.3「Rock the House」(Album:Gorillaz)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz（featuring Del the Funky Homosapien）
■Song Title：Rock the House
■Album Name：Gorillaz
■Video link：「Rock the House」
This is a selection of songs from their first album.
Here, I would like to introduce them again.
Gorillaz is a virtual masked music project formed in 1998 by Damon Albarn of the British rock band Blur, who is in charge of the music side, and Jamie Hewlett, a comic artist and creator of Tank Girl, who is in charge of the visual side.
The members of the band are quite fluid, and it can be considered as Damon’s solo project in effect.
However, the band’s characteristic is to boldly emphasize guests from time to time.
In this song, Del the Funky Homosapien does the rap part.
Also, the looping trumpet in this song is impressive, but let me introduce you to the original source.
John Dankworth and his Orchestra – Modesty Blaise breaks
Not only are many of their original songs unusual, but their use of them is also brilliant.
No.4「On Melancholy Hill」(Album:Plastic Beach)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz
■Song Title：On Melancholy Hill
■Album Name：Plastic Beach
■Video link：「On Melancholy Hill」
This is a selection of songs from my third album.
This album may have a slightly different atmosphere from my previous works.
This album has a paradisiacal atmosphere, whereas the previous albums were a bit dark and gloomy.
This album also contains a song called “Stylo”, which is also a great song.
Bobby Womack’s vocals are wonderful on this one.
No.5「Clint Eastwood」(Album:Gorillaz)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz（featuring Del the Funky Homosapien）
■Song Title：Clint Eastwood
■Album Name：Gorillaz
■Video link：「Clint Eastwood」
This song was released as an advance single before the first album.
At that time, “Tomorrow Comes Today” had already been released, so I had some idea of the new direction the band would take.
However, I was still very shocked when this song was released.
If I had to describe them in their early days, I would say that they were a combination of rock and hip-hop with a lot of energy.
At that time, Blur hadn’t broken up yet.
This first album was released between “13” in 1999 and “Think Tank” in 2003.
At the time, I was disappointed with the performance of “13”, but I was relieved to hear this album.
No.6「Desole」(Album:Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz (featuring Fatoumata Diawara)
■Song Title：Desole
■Album Name：Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
■Video link：「Desole」
I don’t think “The Fall”, “Humanz” and “The Now Now” are that bad.
I just don’t want to listen to them repeatedly.
In “The Fall”, I felt that the songs became more fragmented and less suitable for singles.
The next album, “Humanz”, seemed to have too much of a focus on selling.
In recent years, it seems to be more of a collection of Damon’s produced songs than Gorillaz’ work.
The guest vocalist on this song, Fatoumata Diawara, is a singer-songwriter from Mali.
Here are some different songs with notable guests.
I am looking for addictive songs for them.
No.7「Dare」(Album:Demon Days)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz(featuring Shaun Ryder）
■Song Title：Dare
■Album Name：Demon Days
■Video link：「Dare」
They also have some incomprehensible songs, such as
I like those songs too, but I don’t think they are recommended for beginners.
On the other hand, “Dare” is an easy song to listen to, along with “Feel Good Inc.
It has reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart.
The song credits list Shaun Ryder as the featured artist, but he is not the star of this song.
Roses Gabor sings a wonderful song.
No.8「Tomorrow Comes Today」(Album:Gorillaz)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz
■Song Title：Tomorrow Comes Today
■Album Name：Gorillaz
■Video link：「Tomorrow Comes Today」
Some people were surprised at the time that they picked up hip-hop.
Maybe half of Blah’s fans were not so welcoming.
I welcomed the new direction.
I actually thought it was interesting music to listen to.
Their HipHop is different from regular HipHop.
You could call it alternative hiphop.
I think it’s a critical hiphop, similar to Trip Hop, De La Soul, and G-Love.
No.9「Sleeping Powder」(Single Only)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz
■Song Title：Sleeping Powder
■Video link：「Sleeping Powder」
They are a masked band of anime characters.
There are four members, and there are detailed settings for each character.
2D: Vocal.
A daemon. He has long sideburns.
Murdoc Niccals: Bass player.
The leader of the band. Very dangerous personality. Has a green face and a mushroom-like haircut.
Noodle: Guitar
At the time of her debut, she was a 10-year-old Japanese girl, but she has since grown into a mature woman.
Russel Hobbs: Drums
He is a man who is well-built but is liked by spirits.
For more information, please visit Wikipedia.
Now, I chose this song as a hidden masterpiece.
Here is another song that you can only hear in “The Singles Collection 2001-2011”.
By the way, this song “Sleeping Powder” is not on the Album.
It was cut as a single, but it is not included in the best-of album either.
No.10「We Got the Power」(Album:Humanz)
■Artist Name：Gorillaz（featuring Jehnny Beth）
■Song Title：We Got the Power
■Album Name：Humanz
■Video link：「We Got the Power」
Damon is a man of compositional skills.
He is able to combine mere fragments of sound to create extraordinary music.
Damon tries to cross existing boundaries by combining disparate elements.
His sense of editing is very sophisticated.
Now the lyrics of this song have a positive message.
His music has a lot of power, but it also has a powerful message.
The compositional power of the sound components, the alternative critique of hiphop, the disempowering sound and the positive message.
Their appeal is made up of these elements.
