Customer Rating: 
Summary: Electronica Music
Comment: I have always liked Gorillaz music since the song "Clint Eastwood". This CD is great to go cruising around with or just to have in the background to keep the energy going. I really think its unique and they are creative. I literally cannot get enough of this CD because its so good!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Decent, Avant-Garde Listen, but Inconsistent
Comment: Gorillaz is definitely one of the more noticeable musical experiments of the passing decade. The idea of a cartoon character band, devised by Blur's Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett ("Tank Girl"), was enough to catch my interest. The music that sprung from this unusual premise of a 'band' caught my ear, as well. This namesake album covers a wide variety of genres - everything from soul-funk to hard rock, psychadelic keyboard strolls to Latino-jazz.
The album features a number of quite interesting and compelling musical pieces. "5/4", with a beat inspiring the title, is a very sultry song fusing guitar and keyboards almost deliberately brutally, and the result is very compelling. Most will recognise "Clint Eastwood" with its instantly-catchy chorus. "Punk" is a short but highly energetic track with a title that couldn't be more appropriate. "19-2000" sounds really space-y and cool (I still love the video for that one). "Latin Simone" is such a stark departure from the rest of the songs, one might think Buena Vista Social Club had leaked a track onto the album; a truly beautiful, melancholic Latin-jazz piano melody, soulfully sung by Ibrahim Ferrer himself. Experimentation this album is.
However, in experimentation it also falls somewhat short. The melodies are quite good - the problem is that the cartoon band image doesn't make sense when one considers the melodies and instrumentation used for them. Guitar melodies are rare and in-between, and this makes Noodle's character almost pointless. Especially on the all-rap, trumpeted "Rock the House" (still my least-favourite track) does this make no sense at all. Don't get me wrong, I do like some songs on this album very much - "5/4", "Punk", "Double Bass" and "Latin Simone" in particular - yet the album just seems to lack 'spunk'. It's all there in the cartoon image, yet falls a little short music-wise - "Rock the House" is little more than sub-par filler stuff that doesn't even support the band's image, and the remix of "Clint Eastwood" just doesn't support itself. A good thing about this re-edition is the inclusion of b-side "Dracula" ("Left-Hand Suzuki Method" is an acquired taste) and the popped-up version of "19-2000". Not enough to save this album's overall spirit, though.
Maybe I'm being nit-picky. This isn't the album of the decade, but it's still a decent experimentation that proved highly popular, and for a reason. "Demon Days" would draw out the full potential of this musical unit with far more personality.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ape technology
Comment: At first glance, Gorillaz seems to be a novelty throwaway. After all, it IS a virtual band, comprised of cartoon characters, and the music sounds exactly like one would expect from a fusion of Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator: Brit-pop meets hip hop (Brit-hop?). So a side project? Perhaps, but with Blur virtually defunct, what else can Albarn do?
Truthfully, Gorrliaz debut is better than one might expect, and isn't that far off from the musical style of Blur's last (upcoming, then) album, "Think Tank." As a result, it succeeds more often when Damon overtakes the production. "Slow Country," "Tomorrow Comes Today," and "M1 A1" particularly stand out as winning moments in the collection, not to mention the irresistible groove of instrumental, "Double Bass," and the very fun hit, "Clint Eastwood." The sensation that you're listening to a debut album is clear; it has all the tendencies of a side project, all the way to the realized freedom of exasperated brain childs discovering an outlet to channel their more off-kilter tendencies. "Demon Days" is a narrowly better album, but those looking for some alternative hip hop experiments, both Gorillaz studio LPs fit the bill.
Better than the album, though, is the virtual part, including winning creations by "Tank Girl" creator, Jamie Hewlitt; the music video for "Clint Eastwood" is terrific.
Best cuts: "Double Bass," "Clint Eastwood," "Tomorrow Comes Today," "M1 A1," "Slow Country," "19-2000," "Re-Hash," "Man Research (Clapper)," "New Genius (Brother)," "Rock the House"
Customer Rating:
Summary: (3.5 stars) An interesting combination of styles
Comment: While I think that Gorillaz' second album, Demon Days, is their best, I also enjoy their self-titled debut. It's definitely a different beast Demon Days, a dense, dark, swirling concoction. The production here is much looser and stripped down. And it reaches higher heights than its successor, including my two favorite Gorillaz songs: the trip-hop experiment "Clint Eastwood" and the funky, screwed-up "Rock the House", both featuring Del the Funkee Homo Sapien's memorable raps.
The interesting thing about this album is that it's like a pop album made by someone who's just the slightest bit insane. Not in the totally lost, Syd Barrett sense, but you know, just a bit out there. See, the tunes are hummable, but there's an aura of weird about each of them. Some, such as "Rock the House" and "Tomorrow Comes Today", have weird instrumentation. Others, like "Re-Hash", "5/4" (with a refrain of "SHE TURNED MY DAD ON!" that you might find yourself singing under your breath without noticing it... until the people start staring, of course), and "19/2000", have odd lyrics. While "Rock the House", "Tomorrow Comes Today", "Re-Hash" and "5/4" are definitely highlights, I'm not a huge fan of the "album" take on "19/2000". I love the frenzied Soulchild remix, though. If you ask me, that should've been the album mix. The "album" take is all right, but doesn't convey the party atmosphere as well as the up-tempo take does.
There are other good songs, too: the trip-hoppin' "New Genious (Brother)" (sic), the house-influenced "Sound Check (Gravity)", and the bass solo "Double Bass", as well as the eerie regional bonus track "Dracula" (with bizarre lyrics like "Santa Claus told a lie") and the off-kilter "Left Hand Suzuki Method". But after "19/2000", the album turns crap and stays there for the last four tracks. For a first, "Latin Simone (Que Pasa Cognito)" sucks. Gorillaz try to reinvent themselves as a mariachi band there. Needless to say, it doesn't work out, and it might be the worst song they ever made. "Starshine" and "Slow Country" are awful as well, and the experimental metal "M1 A1" needs to go too. I'm also not big on the "weird-for-weird's-sake" "Man Research (Clapper)", and I don't care if "Punk" is only a minute and a half long, it sucks.
This is an interesting album, even if Gorillaz would do better on Demon Days. It's very creative, and like I said in my Demon Days review, I love how much effort Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (the masterminds behind the project - Damon plays most the instruments, and Jamie designed the four "band members") put into fleshing out the four virtual members of Gorillaz, vocalist 2D, guitarist Noodle, bassist Murdoc, and drummer Russell. Good job!
Customer Rating:
Summary: I am the monkeys, they are the Gorillaz
Comment: Just a punk funk fist full of love. I only love half these songs though...
Tomorrow comes today - alternative chillout experimental hip-hop
Man Research - something off the sopranos
Starshine is just a tweaker for shure.
Slow country - alternative chillout experimental pop
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