Plastic Beach (studio album) by Gorillaz

Without ever threatening to go over the top, the great Gorillaz continue to they manage to experiment and move on, while maintaining their very original and distinctive sound. Although "Stylo" stands out particularly, all the songs are good.

Other exceptional tracks: "White Flag", ·Rhinestone Eyes", and "On Melancholy Hill".

How this band do not have more success on Top 40 radio is a tragedy. Nevertheless their already long period of outstanding musical output is likely to continue.

From JoaoMoreira 02/09/2024 14:42

Great record!
Groovey, plural and beautifully crafted.

An album that showed what was going to be popular throughout the 2010s. A mix of hip hop/electronica and melodic indie with fantastic features all carefully wrapped together within a narrative both poignant and worthy of exploration.

TBC…

Album Rating:

1.Orchestral Intro (Feat. Sinfonia Viva). 76
2.Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble). 81
3.White Flag (Feat. Kano, Bashy & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music). 73
4.Rhinestone Eyes. 78
5.Stylo (Feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)
6.Superfast Jellyfish (Feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul). 71
7.Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon). 87
8.Glitter Freeze (Feat. Mark E. Smith). 76
9.Some Kind Of Nature (Feat. Lou Reed). 85
10.On Melancholy Hill
11.Broken
12.Sweepstakes (Feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13.Plastic Beach (Feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
14.To Binge (Feat. Little Dragon)
15.Cloud Of Unknowing (Feat. Bobby Womack & Sinfonia Viva)
16.Pirate Jet

From VictorVale 10/13/2022 22:59

Delícia de álbum, realmente uma pegada praiana e tecnológica.

Stylo, On Melancholy Hill and Empire Ants are my favourites. There's a lot more filler on this album than Demon Days, which is why I rate it lower. For example, weak tracks are Glitter Freeze, Cloud of Unknowing, Pirate Jet. But still a great album.

From teague 08/31/2021 18:46

I feel like this album has a perpetual identity crisis. Sometimes it wants to be synthpop, sometimes alternative hip-hop. It does each of these relatively well, but the flip flopping can get a bit annoying.

What a fantastic album to listen to, it is so unique as well which makes it such a pleasure to explore. Every track fits in to the album well and creates a fantastic atmosphere throughout. Even the weaker tracks are decent and don't feel like filler content as they have redeeming qualities. The best songs for me are On Melancholy Hill and, my favourite track, Some Kind Of Nature. Lou Reeds vocal on this is amazing and I love the lyrics as well as the music backing it. That brings me to another strength which is the quality of feature performances all of which sound necessary and like they belong on this record. In addition, you can literally hear the amazing experimentation that is going on and you feel apart of something new and exciting when you listen to this record. This is maintained the whole way through and by the end of it you just sit back in awe at how consistently amazing this album is. Overall, it is fresh and very enjoyable to listen to and the music is of the highest quality.

From Puzzlr 02/02/2021 09:06

An album so truly great that I can't even put it into words. The nautical themes are consistent without overwhelming the music, and make for an incredibly cohesive album. Despite the occasional inconsistency in quality, there isn't a bad song here. Even the "weakest" tracks, Glitter Freeze and Sweepstakes, have many redeeming qualities, be it the formers incredible synth work or the latters horn section that bursts in midway through the song, transforming the groove.

Best tracks: Rhinestone Eyes, Empire Ants, On Melancholy Hill, Some Kind of Nature.
Worst tracks: None really.

10/10

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