The Good, The Bad & The Queen
I’m afraid I'm going to do this the disservice of reviewing it track by track as I listen through the album. I’ve not done this before, and it may break down into stream of consciousness ramble, but bear with me.
1. “History Song”
Dreamy, acoustic start and then that utterly unmistakeable bass arrives and provides the song with a faintly menacing undertone. What sounds like a fairground organ and some echoing backing vocals give the song a slightly nostalgic, Olde Englande feel.
2. “’80s Life”
The song has a slightly doo-wop feel. Almost Elvis-like until Albarn starts to sing and changes the tone slightly as this waltzing backing track plays along underneath him. It sounds regretful and yet ethereal.
3. “Northern Whale”
Another quiet song – the third in a row now. It’s very downbeat, and Albarn is singing so gently that he’s almost whispering. Again, the backing vocals on the chorus (all “oooohhs” and “aaahhs”) gives the song a dreamlike feel. This album so far is very chilled out – good listening on a quiet, mellow night in. It’s not downbeat exactly, but it does sound very melancholy.
4. “Kingdom of Doom”
This one is the most familiar to me and I must have heard this one somewhere before. I love the image conjured by the lyric “a raven flies across the moon”. It feels ominous somehow, and again, the piano and the soft backing track give this a distant feel. The chorus here is the most “Blur” moment on the record so far. It sounds a touch – and just a touch - like latter-day, post Graham Coxon era Blur.
5. “Herculean”
There’s a definite “sound” emerging here. Another song where the instrumentation is almost muted beneath a gently sung lyric. Word to describe the album so far? “Dreamy”. It’s also wistful, regretful and melancholy… and perhaps a little ominous. There’s an unspoken threat here somewhere, a hint that something terrible has either happened or is about to happen. I like the production: there is quite a lot of electronic noise added around the band, but it’s done so well that you can’t see the joins, and it just washes into mix. It’s noticeable but not obtrusive. These songs are almost blending into a continuum.
6. “Behind the Sun”
Lovely bassline from Paul Simonon here … it’s simple enough, but it walks gently all over the background as Albarn works the upper end of his vocal range. Lots of “ooohs” and “aaahs” again behind the chorus.
7. “The Bunting Song”
The song opens to some gentle electronic beeping before the bassline kicks in and then the vocal. The beeping on its own is almost cheery, but when the rest of it is added on, the song sounds so sad. “And the whole place didn’t look the same that night / They put a party on and waited for the sunlight to recall all the days are a ticking bomb”. Cheery stuff, huh? There seems to be a clear lyrical reference here to the classic children’s book “Where The Wild Things Are”.
8. “Nature Springs”
The song opens with the sound of someone moving their fingers around a fretboard, and yet when the song finally kicks in, the guitar in question can barely be heard. It sounds like another song about loss and regret. “Everyone’s a submarine, looking for a dream far away”.
9. “A Soldier’s Tale”
There’s a lyrical reference here to “Birdsong in the night” – is that the Sebastian Faulks novel, I wonder? “Emptiness in computers bothers me / These are the scenes in our mind / We make our own confining type” Is he having writer’s block? There’s also some whistling here that is eerily reminiscent of “Wind Of Change” by the Scorpions.
10. “Three Changes”
We’re back to the fairground organ again. This is a more traditionally arranged sounding song – the drums and the bass are a lot higher up the mix than in the other songs, and there’s less electronic “wash”. This is the first time that we can really hear the famed ‘afrobeat’ drumming at the forefront of a song. It still seems to be a song about isolation and loneliness though. I think Albarn’s had a long, dark teatime of the soul. We’re a “stroppy little island of mixed up people”, apparently. He’s probably right. “Oh it’s alright / everything’s jolly”. I don’t think you mean that, do you? It certainly doesn’t sound like you do, anyway.
11. “Green Fields”
Oh bad start – I hate lyrical references to song writing. “I wrote this song years ago, late at night”. He continues: “Before the war and the tidal wave engulfed us all it’s true, how the world has changed and I was learning how to change with you” The chorus sounds a bit like the Kinks. The Kinks on a very melancholy day perhaps, but the Kinks nonetheless. This is probably the first proper chorus on the album, and is that a hint of a guitar solo? This is a nice song.
12. “The Good, The Bad & The Queen”
This opens with an almost music hall piece of piano. It mightn’t sound out of place at the start of a Smith’s song – one of the particularly sad ones. Perhaps it’s surprising then when Albarn’s lyric is the most cheerful on the album (admittedly not saying very much, and it’s not exactly S Club 7 cheerful now). It starts slow, but you can hear the reel getting faster and faster as the song continues… An excellent way to finish the album and leave you wanting more. Is this the first time that they sound like a ‘proper’ band with a bassist, guitarist and drummer? It might be.
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Well, that’s a slightly odd review, I know… I think this was meant to be listened to and enjoyed as a whole rather than picked apart song by song. But still, it’s a captivating album. It’s not an obvious album, there aren’t really any big choruses or anything like that, and yet right from the very first listen I was entranced. Something about it just seized me and wouldn’t let go. Yes, the voice tells you instantly that this is the work of Damon Albarn, but don’t let that put you off – Gorillaz may have been a cartoon band but this is a serious album. I’ve heard it criticised for hiding the depth of the musical talent in the band beneath Dangermouse’s electronic wash, but I don’t buy that… I think that the wash only adds to the atmosphere that builds up as you listen to the album.
Highly recommended.
1. “History Song”
Dreamy, acoustic start and then that utterly unmistakeable bass arrives and provides the song with a faintly menacing undertone. What sounds like a fairground organ and some echoing backing vocals give the song a slightly nostalgic, Olde Englande feel.
2. “’80s Life”
The song has a slightly doo-wop feel. Almost Elvis-like until Albarn starts to sing and changes the tone slightly as this waltzing backing track plays along underneath him. It sounds regretful and yet ethereal.
3. “Northern Whale”
Another quiet song – the third in a row now. It’s very downbeat, and Albarn is singing so gently that he’s almost whispering. Again, the backing vocals on the chorus (all “oooohhs” and “aaahhs”) gives the song a dreamlike feel. This album so far is very chilled out – good listening on a quiet, mellow night in. It’s not downbeat exactly, but it does sound very melancholy.
4. “Kingdom of Doom”
This one is the most familiar to me and I must have heard this one somewhere before. I love the image conjured by the lyric “a raven flies across the moon”. It feels ominous somehow, and again, the piano and the soft backing track give this a distant feel. The chorus here is the most “Blur” moment on the record so far. It sounds a touch – and just a touch - like latter-day, post Graham Coxon era Blur.
5. “Herculean”
There’s a definite “sound” emerging here. Another song where the instrumentation is almost muted beneath a gently sung lyric. Word to describe the album so far? “Dreamy”. It’s also wistful, regretful and melancholy… and perhaps a little ominous. There’s an unspoken threat here somewhere, a hint that something terrible has either happened or is about to happen. I like the production: there is quite a lot of electronic noise added around the band, but it’s done so well that you can’t see the joins, and it just washes into mix. It’s noticeable but not obtrusive. These songs are almost blending into a continuum.
6. “Behind the Sun”
Lovely bassline from Paul Simonon here … it’s simple enough, but it walks gently all over the background as Albarn works the upper end of his vocal range. Lots of “ooohs” and “aaahs” again behind the chorus.
7. “The Bunting Song”
The song opens to some gentle electronic beeping before the bassline kicks in and then the vocal. The beeping on its own is almost cheery, but when the rest of it is added on, the song sounds so sad. “And the whole place didn’t look the same that night / They put a party on and waited for the sunlight to recall all the days are a ticking bomb”. Cheery stuff, huh? There seems to be a clear lyrical reference here to the classic children’s book “Where The Wild Things Are”.
8. “Nature Springs”
The song opens with the sound of someone moving their fingers around a fretboard, and yet when the song finally kicks in, the guitar in question can barely be heard. It sounds like another song about loss and regret. “Everyone’s a submarine, looking for a dream far away”.
9. “A Soldier’s Tale”
There’s a lyrical reference here to “Birdsong in the night” – is that the Sebastian Faulks novel, I wonder? “Emptiness in computers bothers me / These are the scenes in our mind / We make our own confining type” Is he having writer’s block? There’s also some whistling here that is eerily reminiscent of “Wind Of Change” by the Scorpions.
10. “Three Changes”
We’re back to the fairground organ again. This is a more traditionally arranged sounding song – the drums and the bass are a lot higher up the mix than in the other songs, and there’s less electronic “wash”. This is the first time that we can really hear the famed ‘afrobeat’ drumming at the forefront of a song. It still seems to be a song about isolation and loneliness though. I think Albarn’s had a long, dark teatime of the soul. We’re a “stroppy little island of mixed up people”, apparently. He’s probably right. “Oh it’s alright / everything’s jolly”. I don’t think you mean that, do you? It certainly doesn’t sound like you do, anyway.
11. “Green Fields”
Oh bad start – I hate lyrical references to song writing. “I wrote this song years ago, late at night”. He continues: “Before the war and the tidal wave engulfed us all it’s true, how the world has changed and I was learning how to change with you” The chorus sounds a bit like the Kinks. The Kinks on a very melancholy day perhaps, but the Kinks nonetheless. This is probably the first proper chorus on the album, and is that a hint of a guitar solo? This is a nice song.
12. “The Good, The Bad & The Queen”
This opens with an almost music hall piece of piano. It mightn’t sound out of place at the start of a Smith’s song – one of the particularly sad ones. Perhaps it’s surprising then when Albarn’s lyric is the most cheerful on the album (admittedly not saying very much, and it’s not exactly S Club 7 cheerful now). It starts slow, but you can hear the reel getting faster and faster as the song continues… An excellent way to finish the album and leave you wanting more. Is this the first time that they sound like a ‘proper’ band with a bassist, guitarist and drummer? It might be.
--
Well, that’s a slightly odd review, I know… I think this was meant to be listened to and enjoyed as a whole rather than picked apart song by song. But still, it’s a captivating album. It’s not an obvious album, there aren’t really any big choruses or anything like that, and yet right from the very first listen I was entranced. Something about it just seized me and wouldn’t let go. Yes, the voice tells you instantly that this is the work of Damon Albarn, but don’t let that put you off – Gorillaz may have been a cartoon band but this is a serious album. I’ve heard it criticised for hiding the depth of the musical talent in the band beneath Dangermouse’s electronic wash, but I don’t buy that… I think that the wash only adds to the atmosphere that builds up as you listen to the album.
Highly recommended.
