“The one thing I never want to be guilty of is repeating myself,” said Damon Albarn, the lead singer of The Good, The Bad ‘ The Queen, in a video on the band’s Web site. Well, congratulations, Mr. Albarn. You have succeeded.
The Good, The Bad ‘ the Queen Albarn’s (previously in Blur) new project, has released their first album. The band is composed of Albarn, Paul Simonon (ex-bass player of The Clash), Simon Tong (former guitarist of the Verve) and Fela Kuti’s drummer Tony Allen. Albarn has even incorporated Danger Mouse, one half of Gnarles Barkley, in the production.
On would suspect the band’s inevitable success based on the line-up alone, but their music enforces the fact that these guys are basically rock gods. If you don’t know any of these people now, you probably will soon because The Good, The Bad ‘ The Queen impresses many.
The band’s debut self-titled album, which is the No. 10 best-selling album in the world, exemplifies a musical expedition from the English Music Hall tradition over to West African Afrobeat, touching the West Indies’ reggae and dub and finally returning to England for the London-based punk scene.
Albarn, who formed the group, has in the past been branded as a pretentious ruler of the mixing board. Before The Good, The Bad ‘ The Queen formed in 2006, Albarn was busy crafting enticing lyrics for Blur and then working extensively with the anime-inspired band Gorillaz. With this new band’s music underway, we can see that Arbarn’s expertise has only ripened with age.
Now with The Good, The Bad ‘ The Queen, Albarn has matured from the quirky pop lyrics he wrote for Blur and the adolescence of the Gorillaz. In the album, Albarn keeps true to the metaphor, assuming a general tone of regret as he looks back on all that he has missed while growing up under the music critic world’s constant watch.
Albarn’s new “supergroup” is certainly one of a kind, and perhaps the most musically miscellaneous group seen in years. Because of this influence from many different corners of the musical world, the songs exemplify styles of many different genres. The track “80’s Life” sounds like a Beach Boys track mixed with Electric Light Orchestra and a little Randy Newman. While the track “Northern Whale” sounds like it comes out of a CD collaboration between Elton John’s piano style and a new take on the No Doubt-revived “rock steady” reggae.
“Herculean,” the first single off the album, which is already number #22 in the UK music charts, fits somewhere between the genre of anti-folk and electronic. It was a strange choice for a first single. The title of the track is quite daring and brave and the subject matter is very grave and depressing but it employs a lot of repetition, which always helps to make a song popular.
The unique lyrics that permeate through the cacophony of sounds touch important issues in a mature way. In the track “Kingdom of Doom,” Albarn implores us to “see things in black and white” in terms of war and peace.
The seven-minute finale of the CD entitled “The Good, The Bad ‘ The Queen” explains “it’s the blessed routine for the good, the bad and the Queen, just moving out of dreams with no physical wounds at all.” Most of the songs have a more gloomy tone and corresponding lyrics, but more upbeat songs like “Three Changes” exist as well.
The only drawback to the CD is the overabundance of ornamentation. Yes, sound effects are cool but there is point when they start taking away from the music. For example, in the track “A Soldier’s Tale,” listeners are forced to listen to nearly one minute of some guy whistling the same tune (off key, may I add.) At this point, I was wishing for the song to end, which is never a good sign.
Despite this sound effect abundance, the message of the album is clear through intoxicating melodies and genuine lyrics. It takes a few listens to understand the true art that exists in Albarn’s creation.
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