New Video! Plastic Beach: The Masterpiece That Almost Killed Gorillaz
Added 2023-03-16 04:50:18 +0000 UTCHey all! Emily here! So uhhh it's been a while since the last video huh? Really sorry about that. Anyway, here's the newest essay, or at least an early access version of it (assuming I don't have to make any changes or reupload it). It's on the third Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, an ambitious multimedia narrative project that almost destroyed the band. I love Gorillaz a lot and I hope by the end of the video you can understand why. Thank you for your support and enjoy!
Comments
Just watched this last weekend, and I’m really taken with how thoroughly and joyously you talk! I was a big fan when Demon Days came out (my middle school era). By the time Plastic Beach was released, I was graduating high school and starting college, and essentially found myself too busy to soak it up. I am very grateful to see your perspective as someone who was there, and to dive in from where I left off. :) thank you for your great care in making this!
acutefish
2023-06-25 23:03:02 +0000 UTCFinally got around to watching this one. There are a lot of folks making videos on topics that I've never cared about that are nonetheless compelling, but Emily, you're one of the few who actually conveys what it's like to be a fan of the work enough to make me not just interested in it, but actually want to *be a fan.* I started reading Berserk after your video on it, and now I feel like I need to dive down the Gorillaz rabbit hole despite not having listened to them since Demon Days was all over radio.
Alan Wiggs
2023-04-02 20:25:05 +0000 UTCCame across this video today and just had to find some way to give back for one of the most insightful hours of commentary I've ever seen (and on the greatest band that's never existed no less) Thank you so much for the effort you've so clearly put in ♥️ will definitely stick around to support other projects!
Sam B
2023-03-24 20:09:18 +0000 UTCWow, this took me back. I was a college sophomore when Demon Days came out, and that album was basically the soundtrack of my life between 2005 and 2006. It both seamlessly fused together every musical style I liked back then _and_ spoke directly to the sense of hopelessness I felt after the 2004 election. Definitely was not expecting that from the cartoon side project of that guy from the “Woo Hoo” band, whose music videos played on Toonami’s Midnight Run that one time. It was also one of the few albums that my stoner roommate and I both fully agreed on (Gorillaz and Ministry were pretty much all we agreed on). I’m very biased towards it because it soundtracked a great year in my life, but I still think it’s one of the most important and essential albums of the 2000s (it’s tied with 13 by Blur as my favorite Damon Albarn project). Plastic Beach…was honestly a trainwreckord for me. Having loved the first two Gorillaz albums and The Good, the Bad & the Queen (which is essentially a steampunk Gorillaz album without the guests or cartoon lore), this one didn’t connect at all. There’s a good chance I was one of the disappointed message board people screenshotted in the video. I think it was mostly due to Albarn’s decision to self-produce the album, instead of getting another superproducer like Dan the Automator or Danger Mouse involved. I’m not even sure who the right producer would have been for this material (Flying Lotus, maybe?), but something about it has always sounded “off,” especially compared to their first two albums. While I respect its imagination and ambition, only a few songs have really grown on me over the years (Broken, Empire Ants, On Melancholy Hill, Stylo). Still, I can appreciate that a lot of people find something in it that I don’t. A lot of this info was completely new to me, especially the stuff about their record label issues and the deeper lore behind the project (also, that extended version of DoYaThing is too good to be almost lost media). This was a great addition to your catalog of random internet curiosities, things you’re passionate about and Doug Walker.
Oisín Harrell
2023-03-18 23:21:31 +0000 UTCI wanted to come into this saying that given I grew up at a time when Phase I and II were omnipresent and I just didn't get the band but this video helped me realise I utterly adore Gorillaz music, but I ended up realising something different. I'd always liked Gorrillaz, at least every song with radio play, but only realised that three of them were actually Gorillaz songs. It was a hell of a trip. Incredible video as always Emily!
David Rose
2023-03-17 20:54:07 +0000 UTCAHHHHH I love plastic beach and I love this essay, well worth the wait ‼️‼️‼️🥰🥰
Madeline
2023-03-16 15:04:17 +0000 UTC
