Demon Days was and still is the best selling and most critically acclaimed Gorillaz album and yet somehow it is not my favourite album in the Gorillaz discography. Now, Plastic Beach doesn’t have as many hits as what Demon Days did, and the theme of pollution and man’s effect on the planet is not quite as engaging as the themes of Demon Days. Furthermore, in terms of content – apart from the music – the entire production of Plastic Beach was a financial mess. But it’s my favourite: and here’s why.
The album starts with a orchestral intro which seamlessly transitions into the first track, Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach, which features none other than Snoop Dogg. The song really feels like a welcome video to an amusement park, with Snoop as the voice you hear as you enter the park. The nonsensical lyrics that Snoop sings are joyfully meaningless and I mean that in the best way possible. The next song White Flag (featuring Bashy and Kano) feels like a continuation of the theme park vibe set up by Snoop. If he was the tour guide, these two are the informational people that tell you about what’s in the park.
What follows is a list of class song after class song. The amazing Rhinestone Eyes with its jarring synths and poetic lyrics is fantastic as well as catchy as hell. Stylo features the magnificent Bobby Womack who belts out his lines in the song with so much energy that you can’t help but love the song. De La Soul returns on SuperFast Jellyfish which sounds so much like a 60’s advertisement for some kind of cereal and yet doesn’t get annoying. This song even somehow transitions perfectly into Empire Ants, which is one of the best songs on the album. Over the course of a little under five minutes, it somehow manages to shift from an ethereal, angelic and heavenly song into a synthy pop song on the complete opposite end of the musical spectrum.This feat is outstanding, and Little Dragons vocals are also amazing.
Now I’m going to do something a bit different now and miss a few songs out. This does not mean to say that the songs I miss out aren’t worthy of listening to because they are – they truly are! – but there is a song I have to give special attention to. Not only is this album my favourite, it also has my favourite song on it. And that song is On Melancholy Hill.
In the hands of any other band I would probably hate this song. Its poppy, it’s repetitive and it’s really not the kind of music I tend to listen to. But this song….it’s perfection. The deep baseline, the punchy drum beat, the keyboards and of cause the amazing vocals. Its nothing but pure, blissful perfection. The lyrics are so sweet and adorable which mixed perfectly with the vibe of the music. “You are my medicine when you’re close to me” has to be the sweetest lyric I’ve ever heard. One other aspect of this song that I adore is that somehow, despite it being somewhat happy, I can’t help but feeling emotional while listening to it.
The album of course – in true Gorillaz fashion – ends with an amazing outro. Three songs once again link seamlessly to bring the album to a close. We go from To Binge to Cloud of Unknowing and finally ending with Pirate Jet. Now many Gorillaz fans would suggest that Demon Days is the best closer to an album, but I’d say Pirate Jet deserves that title. As I mentioned earlier, the album has an overarching theme of the pollution and our effect that we have on the planet. This thematic idea is neatly wrapped up in the end with Pirate Jet which joyously proclaims “It’s all good news now because we left the taps running for a hundred years”. It’s like a middle finger to humanity saying “Well we messed this up didn’t we? Well done, us”.
Speaking of themes, there is something I have to say. Whilst Demon Days certainly had a coherent and well thought out mood to the album, only a few songs captured what the title “Demon Days” suggests. The music on Plastic Beach however continuously matches the imagery set up by the album cover and name. Every song is mechanical, electronic and plasticy and yet they’re also warm, calm and wishy-washy. This mixture of plasticy and warm sounds really make you feel like you are in fact walking along a “plastic beach”. It’s this sense of actually placing you in the mindstate of being on a beach made of plastic that sets this album apart.
However, that’s not where my praises for this album stop. I could go on and on about how Sweepstakes has the best use of brass instruments in any Gorillaz song or how Glitter Freeze is actually absolute insanity but I must move on or I’ll never shut up about this album. And what a better way to move on by going from my favourite album, to my least favourite.
Music Worth Hearing 