Happy 20th Anniversary to Gorillaz’ debut album Gorillaz, originally released March 26, 2001.
The music world has had its share of virtual bands, with The Archies, Josie & the Pussycats, and The Banana Splits most immediately coming to mind. But they were nothing more than novelty acts with Saturday morning TV shows. Over the years, many virtual bands have appeared in TV shows such as The Simpsons (Sadgasm), Family Guy (Griffin and Quagmire), and South Park (Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld).
Still, the most enduringly successful of the lot has been Gorillaz, whose eponymous debut album turns 20 this week. This project was created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and animator Jamie Hewlett, who is best known as the co-creator of the British comic book Tank Girl. The two had met in the early '90s and became friends. Towards the end of the decade, the members of Blur were off doing other projects and guitarist Graham Coxon had quit the band.
In 1997, Hewlett and Albarn, after each ending long-term relationships, decided to share a loft and during their cohabitation, they came up with the idea to create Gorillaz while watching MTV. In a July 2005 interview with Wired magazine, Hewlett said, "One day, we were home watching MTV with our eyes just kind of glazed. Because if you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell—there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that." Albarn added, "We're the generation whose stars come from Pop Idol and celebrity-wrestling shows. And it's all a bit like a cartoon, really."
Even though there are four members of Gorillaz (2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs), Albarn had many collaborators to create a sound that was a far cry from Blur's music. The 15 tracks coalesce for a fun rollercoaster ride of electronic, hip hop, alternative rock, and Latin music that one would not think went well together, but it works thanks to producer Dan the Automator's steady hand. What makes Gorillaz succeed is that Albarn and company didn't just make music—they created an experience. The CD featured screen savers, wallpaper, and a short movie you could play on your computer. In terms of marketing, Gorillaz was way ahead of its time.
Two of the more popular songs, "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House," were co-written by and featured Del the Funky Homosapien, who came onto the project after the album was completed. Phi Life Cypher already recorded the former's vocals, but Dan the Automator, who worked with Del on the acclaimed Deltron 3030 project, asked him to record new lyrics for the song, which went on to be the album's most famous song.
"Rock the House" is one of two songs on the album that does not have any vocals from Albarn but features another stellar performance from Del, a great sample from John Dankworth's "Modesty Blaise," and a cameo by Albarn on flute and piano. The other is "Latin Simone," featuring Buena Vista Social Club member Ibrahim Ferrer. The choices in guest appearances (Miho Hatori from Cibo Matto on “Rehash,” “5/4” and “19-2000,” Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads on “19-2000”) on the album were spot on and did not get in the way of making this fine album.
Admittedly, when Gorillaz first surfaced, I was very skeptical. But Albarn and company proved me wrong. Musicians and side projects tend to go off the rails, but the Gorillaz universe Albarn and Hewlett created worked well. It wasn't perfect, but amazingly, it’s still a good listen, and I now have "Clint Eastwood" playing on an endless loop in my head.
LISTEN: