Gorillaz -The Fall (2011)

The Fall (2011)

First things first, I do not hate The Fall. In actuality, I’m kind of in awe of it. An entire album made on the road (using an iPad): that’s quite impressive. If any other band had made this album then it would have been hailed as a huge achievement. But, unfortunately, the consistent quality of every prior Gorillaz album makes this album seem weak in comparison and many fans were angry and disappointed at the outcome. Many songs are merely instrumental, little skits or (although I hate this term) just noise. Songs like The Speak It Mountains, Seattle Yodel or The Joplin Spider  just can’t be taken seriously as musical products.

But does The Fall deserve all the hate it gets? In my opinion: no. There are plenty of songs on this album that do save its reputation quite a bit. Revolving Doors is a very pleasant song that moulds acoustic guitars and synthy beats perfectly. Amarillo is hauntingly beautiful (along with Little Pink Plastic Bags) and HillBilly Man is just the right mixture of Gorillaz weirdness and funky beats. There is even a cameo by Bobby Womack on Bobby in Phoenix which is another beautiful song. There are even a few of the instrumentals that are also incredibly engaging and fun to listen to (Detroit, Aspen Forrest and Phoner to Arizona being my favourites)

Overall I think the hatred towards The Fall is somewhat unfair. Given the fact that it was made with limited equipment whilst on tour and it was initially released for free, I think the album did well to be as good as it was. But the main problem the album faces is the fact it is a Gorillaz project and when it gets compared to albums like Plastic Beach it’s easy to see why the reception to this album was not as positive as perhaps it should’ve been.

As you may have noticed there is significantly less writing about The Fall compared to the other albums and that’s because it’s not an album I revisit frequently or have a tremendous amount of thoughts on. But the next album in the Gorillaz saga may be the one I have the most to say about.