Gorillaz :: The Fall

Since their debut, Gorillaz have been an iconic band, partially because of great music, partially because they are a virtual band of cartoon characters. The Fall comes out as a bit of a surprise, suddenly dropped without much hype, warning, or marketing for that matter; it came out very King of Limbs-ish. There were no animations to set up the album, nor a website for the album; in-fact if you go on to the website right now there is barely a side note about the album, its still promoting the star-studded Plastic Beach.

Perhaps (founder) Damon Albarn found the album not to be a proper Gorillaz album. It was created almost entirely via the iPad during the 2010 Gorillaz North American tour. Which in itself is a really cool use of technology, however does sound quality suffer? Well…not really, the album sounds great however it is lacking. Its lacking in collaborators, previous Gorillaz albums lead me to discover new underground artists I might have never heard before (Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan the Automator…etc.) This album, aside from the great Bobby Womack, doesn’t feature anyone, which isn’t enough to keep my interest. Nothing has me really excited about the album, nothing stands out, its lacking in tracks I can’t get enough of like in past Gorillaz albums (aside from the track Revolving Doors, that one is pretty hot). It is short, and at times loops get very repetitive, however they do remain funky fresh. It is very relaxed and chill music that is a little on the lazy side, too atmospheric for my taste.

It can be considered a neat side project while the Gorillaz toured, however it is low on the wall of greatness for Gorillaz albums.

Bottom line: The Fall is nothing to be excited about and hopefully this isn’t “the Fall” of great albums from the Gorillaz (I couldn’t resist the journalistic catchphrase).

Check out this stuff from ETS:
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Shell Sessions
Weekly Album Release Parties April 19th
Mailo’s top 10 of 2010…including Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
Album Review: Foo Fighters
Album Review: Childish Gambino
Album Review: Honey Child