does anybody actually like "gorillaz" (seriously)

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Last night on TV I see an advert for thee "Gorillaz" album. Oh great. However, I'm curious. The single seems to have been in the top 10 for a bit longer than one might suspect, so it must rock somebody's world. Who? Anybody care to stick thier head above the parapet? I'm genuinely curious!

― NoRMaN (DaMoN HaTa) FaY, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No. A friend of mine actually made me a copy and I decided to give it a listen. It's quite awful. I wouldn't even like it without Albarn's vocals. It's just nothing music.

― Nick, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well someone must like it.

*sound of whistling wind*

Hmm.

Never mind.

I wish I could say the video is ace at least, but it isn't. It's awful. Why does cartoon Damon have no teeth?

― Ally, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't know much about anything (not true), but I kinda like that single. Not enough to buy the record, but I'm oddly drawn in. The rapping isn't even that good and its not even the sort of thing I'm normally into, but I like the distracted vocal melody. I thought the video was cool too. And I saw that first.

Perhaps if they didn't claim one of the worst band names in pop music, people would like them more?

― Tim Baier, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Whoever's still buying this damn single is either under 12 or has an IQ of under 12.

― DG, Friday, 4 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Isn't this a knee jerk reaction because it's Damon Albarn? Yes, it's a bit bland but to detest it? How can you detest muzak? ;-)

― Stevie Nixed, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well, haven't heard them, but i like del, i like automator, i liked that 'song 2' (and the dancing milk carton one, come to think of it), and so there's no reason why i wouldn't like the actual music. i think this intense hatred is just a kneejerk reaction to a combination of a 1) hiphop lite, 2) the guy from blur who gets made fun of all the time around here and 3) annoying concept. there's plenty of other bands to make fun of that are surely worse. how soon did we forget crazytown?

― ethan, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am sane. I am an adult. I think the Gorillaz album is great. It's fun, it's diverse, it has beats, it has mad sounds, it has tunes.

― JoB, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Apparently a great deal of the song's popularity comes from the Ed Case remix on the single, which has totally blown up on the garage scene. And no, I'm not just saying that 'cos it's something I'd say.

― Tim, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When I finally hear that damn record, if I ever do, I'm SO determined to like it, just because of that total well-that-goes-without-saying rejection on here.

― Patrick, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Aktually, I did used to really like DaMoN, and BLuR ("parklife" & "modern life is rubbish" are still faves, as it happens) but I've been listening to blur/damon-type releases more in hope than expectation since then. Looking at the big coverage it got in NME, I just KNEW there was going to be MAJOR hype surrounding it, but the reason I think the rekord blows, is just that it *blows*....you know?

Anyway, I did like the video with the dancing milk carton as well. That was the last blur thing I liked, actually.

x0x0

― norman fay, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i meant i liked the song. the video was shit.

― ethan, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I haven't heard the album, but if you go to www.gorillaz.com and wander through the Flash house they've made it's got lots of witty stuff, and you can hear all the demos for the album, and they sound pretty intriguing, actually. Nice Stylophone solos, Damon's singing well. Maybe the time really is right for the return of The Archies. Now they just need to write 'Sugar Sugar', get Sham 69 to play it Oi style, commission a King Tubby-style dub mix, and invite MC Paul Barman to rap in the middle 8.

― Momus, Saturday, 5 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Crazy Town is better than Gorillaz, cause Crazy Town is funny, i.e. it has a hook which can be used as useful icebreaking cement in pub conversations. There is little higher purpose a pop song can aspire to. See also "It Wasn't Me" and "Seven Days" and "Rollin" but NOT "Dancing In The Moonlight" or "Clint Eastwood" which DOESNT EVEN HAVE ITS TITLE IN THE TRACK.

― Tom, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

'come my lady come, come my lady / you're my butterfly sugar baby / come my lady come, come my lady / you're my butterfly sugar baby / such a sexy, sexy, pretty little thing / fierce nipple pierce / you got me sprung with your tongue ring / and i ain't gonna lie cause your loving gets me high / so to keep you by my side / there's nothing that i won't try / butterflies in her eyes and looks to kill / time is passing i'm asking, could this be real 'cause i can't sleep, i can't hold still / the only thing i really know is she got sex appeal i can feel too much is never enough / you're always there to lift me up / when these times get rough i was lost, now i'm found / ever since you've been around / you're the women that i want / so yo, i'm putting it down'

― ethan, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah...Gorillaz...hmmm...didn't take them too long to reveal their true 'identities'. It all reminds me of that Cudan Boys stuff..."oh it's Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller", didn't make much of an impact when it was revealed they were virtual unknowns. If it wasn't obvious who these gorillaz were then they would have barely dented the top 40. And, to use the opening phrase from Monkey in their video is a slur on such a great show.

― james e l, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think its become very easy to dismiss gorillaz on a number of fronts, and i think thats what a lot of people are doing here.

and i'm going to do the same too. utter wank.

― gareth, Sunday, 6 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I bought the album. I'm ashamed and I regret it. It interests me though, because I did it solely on the basis of 'I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag' which, for whatever reason, kept recurring in my head and the heads of most of my friends.

People on this page seem to be pissed off with the people behind it and their pretensions more than the actual music. I agree entirely; the album's pretty pointless. But if you don't know who's behind the single (and really don't care) it's a damn sight better than most of the other stuff in the charts. 'I'm useless but not for long, the future's coming on' is a perfect little pop mantra and it doesn't surprise me at all that people have taken to it.

― John Davey, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The idea that this song is better than most of the chart is so horrible to me that I feel dirty just reading it, and need to take a shower. Ugh.

I mean, it's mind-bogglingly awful. It's NOT the presence of Evil Albarn, because I really, honestly LOVE Modern Life is Rubbish and most of Parklife and Great Escape, and I actually kind of like Song 2 now and I like Tender and I thought the video with the milk carton dancing around rocked the party. So I actually could be considered, in some alternate universe, a Blur fan. So clearly his unholy presence isn't enough to completely put me off of a song. It's the whole combination - rap for ironists who "hate rap" (see: white college boys and their infatuation with the Beastie Boys), lazy music (everyone involved sounds as bored as I am listening to it), awful vocals by all doing them. AND THE VIDEO IS CRAP. Argh. It makes my head want to explode.

And if Tom ever uses that Crazy Town line as an ice breaker around me, I'll punch him in the nose. I mean, really. It'll go like this, he'll start with that stupid Crazy Town song, then I'll say, "WHAT did you just say?" Then he'll go, "It wasn't me!" and then I'll turn into a sort of female non-green Incredible Hulk and lose it. Perhaps I've just had too much coffee today.

― Ally, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not an ice-breaker with people I don't know! Just something to growl when the chat is flagging.

― Tom, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's too late to backtrack now. You probably walk up to unsuspecting bar patrons singing those poetic and unforgettable Crazy Town lyrics...

― Nicole, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You said icebreaker! To me, icebreaker does not imply people you know, it implies strangers who you are just meeting and have nothing to say to! Weirdo. Now I have that crazy town song in my head anyhow.

― Ally, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Beware the taint of Albarn.

― The Dirty Vicar, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm imagining introducing Tom to my wife now... ME: Honey, this is Tom, the guy from that website I was telling you about.
TOM: "Come my lady/Come, come my lady/You're my butterfly/Sugar baby..."
MY WIFE: (nodding nervously and backing away) nicetomeetyouwehavetogoNOW!
ME: My beer-!
TOM: (chuckles) Another free pint. Cheers, deX!.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Reformatted for readability. GRRRR.

I'm imagining introducing Tom to my wife now...

ME: Honey, this is Tom, the guy from that website I was telling you about.

TOM: "Come my lady/Come, come my lady/You're my butterfly/Sugar baby..."

MY WIFE: (nodding nervously and backing away) nicetomeetyouwehavetogoNOW!

ME: My beer-!

TOM: (chuckles) Another free pint. Cheers, deX!.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There's two versions, aren't there? Slow and superslow. Well, I didn't know it was Albarn, or what it was, the slow version, just a new song on the radio — and I liked it. Not buy-it like it, not can-defend-it- against-history like it: just sort of loose pointless summer-lope song abt nothing much liked it. I thought: clever, to get that old-skool (pre-Irie) reggae song-abt-nothing-much ambling unbotheredness. I thought: white kids can't always do that — they always want too much to MEAN stuff. I thought: I wonder who this is? Gorillaz? Rubbish name. "Clint Eastwood": cool that he's not mentioned.

I still don't hate it.

― mark s, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I quite like it, but bafflingly the "hidden" track on the album is a sped up version which is much better. Also it is pretty much the only good track on the album.

But! No dissing a single with Del on it, or I'll be round to see you. Interestingly, if you switch the percentages of Damon and Del, you get the Deltron album (3030) which is one of my favourite records of the year.

― Andrew Farrell, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Another thought on why I don't like Gorillaz (inspired by thought on badgerminor's blog) - the whole cartoon band/image/video leaves no room for accidental 'cool', it's constructed as 'cool' - with cartoons there's no room for the accidental visual touches that turn 'cool' into something wonderful (this also ties in with mark and ethan's porno commentaries)

So it's totally fine to judge it on an AICON level, and even a suburban square like me can see that their ideas of 'urban cool' are a year or two out of date. It's just a bit embarrassing.

― Tom, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

three weeks pass...

Well, i have no opinion about theyre music, i just dig the video! too bad they kinda suck.

― chris ferro, Wednesday, 30 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Disturbingly, the more I hear the song, the less I hate it. ARGH. Evil Damon is mind controlling me...

― Ally, Wednesday, 30 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

Well, any of you cocksucking, ass-raping, fuck monkeys who hate the gorillaz can go out and get A.I.D.S from a prostitute named Big John. Then take a picture and send it to me so I can have a good laugh.

P.s
You fucking ass wipes disgust me!
(move out of your parents house and get a life. Oh, and the gorillaz rule) Ya Bitches!

― james farnsworth, Sunday, 4 April 2004 08:43 (twenty-one years ago)

your 3 years late buddy...

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Sunday, 4 April 2004 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I really really really love the song "19-2000." Just saying.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Sunday, 4 April 2004 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure if you UKers realize what a huge phenomenon
"Clint Eastwood," was in US, in the 12-24 demographic. I don't
know how it charted, but it is considered a classic by most of
the people I know (in that demographic), most of whom have
memorized every word of it and are happy to demonstrate this.
Funny thing is, many of these fans despise rapping in any other
form - but somehow, here Del's verses get a pass.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Sunday, 4 April 2004 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

This what you get for cornering a balding Albarn. Homophobic racist mysoginy. Tread warily.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 5 April 2004 00:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I've decided to heed James's advice though. His screed was the wake-up call I needed to go in search of a "life."

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Monday, 5 April 2004 00:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I have the "Clint Eastwood" lyrics memorized and I don't even like the song (aside from Del's verses)

Damn this thread for getting that Crazytown song and video in my head.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 5 April 2004 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

cornering a balding Albarn

Ew.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 April 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I actually like Gorillaz. Seriously.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 5 April 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

me too. i have declared this elsewhere (Guilty pleasures thread) so have no fears adding my extras here.
i even liked the dub and b-side albums (worth it for Ghost Train alone). though a bit of editting would have made the dub album more fun.

― mark e (mark e), Monday, 5 April 2004 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i still quite like the first two singles

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 5 April 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I quite like "5/4" "Rehash" and "Slow Country" too, now that I listen to it again. It's not Albarn's best work, but it's a worthy record.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 5 April 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"Clint Eastwood," "Rock The House," and "Tomorrow Comes Today" aren't bad either.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 5 April 2004 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

thats most of the album you got down there .. surely most of the fun is in Dans production ? and jamies artwork ? or is that just me ? mark e (aka STUMBO) - i got blamed for the theft of murdocs winnebago when album was released .. but thats another story ..

― mark e (mark e), Monday, 5 April 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

REJECT FALSE ICONS

It Lives Again
WWW.GORILLAZ.COM

8th December 2004 12pm GMT

hurray.

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:41 (twenty years ago)

The best song is clearly "Punk".

― It's hard to kill a horse with a flute (AaronHz), Thursday, 25 November 2004 09:05 (twenty years ago)

Until now, I had forgotten Crazy Town and that awful video with their tattooed sub-Sugar Ray singer. Damn.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 25 November 2004 09:08 (twenty years ago)

You were Stumbo, me? Yr mum must've been proud!

(Most underrated songs: 'Slow Country', 'Gravity', 'New Genious'. Most annoying: 'Starshine')

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Thursday, 25 November 2004 09:12 (twenty years ago)

mum has no idea who Gorillaz are never mind STUMBO. and the brief appearance of quest4murdoc on the DVD was indeed a pleasant surprise.

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 25 November 2004 09:18 (twenty years ago)

Haha, I can't even remember asking this question!

I can't remember what the song went like either...

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 25 November 2004 09:46 (twenty years ago)

"Mum, mum! I'm in a cartoon DVD! Really, I'm in there with monkeys and satanists and voices provided by REAL POPSTARS!"

"Don't make me bin your posters of that Damon Abnormal scallywag again, Mark. I only disposed of that Spice Girls mug last week!"

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Thursday, 25 November 2004 10:08 (twenty years ago)

uh huh. ok. replace 'Mum' with my wifes name and its not far off.

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 25 November 2004 10:12 (twenty years ago)

Everybody Loves Stumbo

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Thursday, 25 November 2004 10:20 (twenty years ago)

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