Fresh off the heels of a massive album with his other side group, Gorillaz, Blur lead vocalist Damon Albarn delivers his latest mega group project. The Good, the Bad and the Queen is more organic than the last Gorillaz album but that is not to say this is a lesser quality album. Nor is it an album that is easy to categorize. Hats off to Albarn for releasing such a great album in the dead of January when music is at best forgotten by spring thaw. It would be a shame for that to happen to this album.
Lead track “History Song” sounds like it could have been scraped off a Blur album circa 1997 with heavy strings and laden piano yet with a sound that has evolved over the last ten years. The thumping bass throughout the entire album has Danger Mouse written all over it and “80s Song” could have been ripped from the Mulholland Drive Soundtrack. In fact the whole album has a sort of soundtrack feel to it, like it could have easily accompanied a David Lynch epic.
First single “Herculean” sits tightly halfway though but its brilliance seems to be buried when listened to as an integral part of the album. Second single “Kingdom of doom” paints a darker image of modern life with lyrics “Drink all day / ‘cause the country’s at war” and strange scratches overlapping pounding piano. While this record will in no way shape radio’s idea of what makes a great record, it is a hopeful sign, a glimpse of more brilliance to come from Damon and co. even if that brilliance is somewhat darker than one may think.
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