On the release of their self-titled debut album, Gorillaz were guaranteed a boost towards success by Damon Albarn’s pre-existing notoriety. For their third release, he’s granted them a solid gold, fame-encrusted rocket to the moon in the form of all of his famous friends.
It’s not as if collaborations were a rarity in the past for the cartoon monkey ensemble, but Albarn has really upped the ante here as far as famous friends go, by simply inviting his whole phonebook. Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack and half of The Clash make up only a fraction of the collaborators. If you listen closely you can even hear Mark E. Smith’s groan of ‘Where’s north from here?’ on Glitter Freeze. Managing a cast as diverse as that could be an insanely difficult task to handle but somehow Albarn has made it work. Despite the disparate nature of some of the additional contributors, the combinations of them sort of make sense. Bobby Womack’s injection of soul following Mos Def’s input on Stylo fits perfectly, and Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach makes you wonder why Snoop Dogg hasn’t worked with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble before.Although the sound of this record may be far removed from the first two Gorillaz albums, and perhaps not quite as coherent, it’s the band’s ability to combine contrasting talents and genres that makes them so different from anyone else. They have never been a clearly defined group. Sometimes they seem to be Damon Albarn’s solo project, sometimes they’re just a bunch of monkey drawings. This album may not have the standout singles like Feel Good Inc. and Clint Eastwood that the first two offered, but the change in direction has made way for a much more varied album and a sound that can’t be heard anywhere other than on Plastic Beach.
