music Thoughts on the new Gorillaz songs?

[Guest]

As a huge fan of Gorillaz, I'm really glad they made a comeback, and a good one at that, the wait was definitely worth it. 4 uploads in a couple of hours plus with a sick animation and all 4 of the songs were really good aswell. Anybody else here have any thoughts about this?

[Peppermint Larry 203]

It's been a while, I'm glad to see they are back in action.

 

I can see Saturn Barz growing on me, but I'm not really feeling the other three songs yet. I'm hoping that this upcoming album has more variety than what's been released so far. Part of why I love Gorillaz so much is their ability to span several genres within an album. 

 

Saturn Barz' music video was great. I heard a while back that they were planning on changing the art style, and I got scared. But I guess it turned out alright after all!

[Barpy 2,225]

Listened to them and sound nice!

I still prefer the old ones though, maybe nostalgia...

Edited March 24, 2017 by Burpy

[Guest]

It's been a while, I'm glad to see they are back in action.

 

I can see Saturn Barz growing on me, but I'm not really feeling the other three songs yet. I'm hoping that this upcoming album has more variety than what's been released so far. Part of why I love Gorillaz so much is their ability to span several genres within an album. 

 

Saturn Barz' music video was great. I heard a while back that they were planning on changing the art style, and I got scared. But I guess it turned out alright after all!

Saturnz Barz is my favorite aswell. So good.

 

Listened to them and sound nice!

I still prefer the old ones though, maybe nostalgia...

I feel ya, some of the old ones are gonna be by far my favorite songs:D

[honk friend 1,978]

Y'know it's more convenient for everyone if you post the songs in the thread 

[Guest]

Y'know it's more convenient for everyone if you post the songs in the thread 

Yeah, you're right, my bad there. I just assumed anyone who would click the link would have already listened to it.

[Prospekt 11,018]

I've only listened to Saturnz Barz so far but really glad to see Gorillaz back in action. Definitely gonna take a stab at the other new songs on YouTube.

[Yamato 1,348]

Really liked Andromeda and Saturnz Barz. The other two weren't bad, just not really feelin' it...

[TBD 17,254]

I like the experiences of the video, something you don't get everyday. Plus the musics is spot on! I can't wait for the album. 

[Anneal 2,197]

On 3/24/2017 at 9:21 AM, Pepper Mint said:

It's been a while, I'm glad to see they are back in action.

 

I can see Saturn Barz growing on me, but I'm not really feeling the other three songs yet. I'm hoping that this upcoming album has more variety than what's been released so far. Part of why I love Gorillaz so much is their ability to span several genres within an album. 

 

Saturn Barz' music video was great. I heard a while back that they were planning on changing the art style, and I got scared. But I guess it turned out alright after all!

For some reason the virtual band's "actual voices" really cracked me up. 2D sounded like one of the Beatles. 

I honestly liked Andromeda more, though Saturn Barz wasn't that bad. It's a lot different from the previous albums, that's for sure.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, w~a~v~e~m~o~t~i~o~n said:

Really liked Andromeda and Saturnz Barz. The other two weren't bad, just not really feelin' it...

Exactly the same here. Andromeda and Saturnz Barz just have that same old vibe for me idk:D

[ChocolateCrane 156]

I just gave them a listen and MAN was it disappointing ._. Here I was saving the songs so I could listen to em all at once like I did with their past album Plastic Beach (which was FAR superior to what I have heard of this new one so far)

"Humanz" seems to be targeting a much younger demographic than their older works; it seems extremely regressive to me. I have listened only to the 4 songs uploaded to their official Youtube channel so far, but man has it been depressing. Some of the most pandering, immature, and just plain bland songs I have heard from Gorillaz O_O I feel like the best of what I listened to so far is comparable to the worst tracks of their older albums...

• Saturn Barz: 6.5/10 (Immature and somewhat generic, but at least it set out to do what it tried. Also it is quite catchy)
• We Got the Power: 3/10 (pathetic excuse for a Gorillaz song)
• Ascension: 6/10 (there was something REALLY good here but the execution just BARELY fell short and resulted in almost ruining the entire song. this one of the only songs that sounded somewhat ambitious as the other tracks were either just plain bad or bland as all hell)
• Andromeda: 4.5/10 (The closest to something that actually sounded like a freakin Gorillaz song. It was extremely generic and soulless though.)

It PAINS me to say these things as I thought Gorillaz was back on track with their exceptional Plastic Beach album....

Ugh -.- I sure hope the rest of the tracks clean this awful taste out of my mouth.

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by ChocolateCrane

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Looks like we got a new single:

^Considering how bad the rest of the singles have been, I was quite impressed with this one. I'll admit, Saturn Barz was actually way better than my initial impression upon 100's of subsequent listenings. The music video was just so bad for that song it tainted my appreciation for it 

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Hmm, so apparently the new song I linked above is a huge subject of controversy on Youtube atm. Everyone is talking about how it's political; talks about Obama and Trump (despite the names being "censored" out in the version they uploaded on Youtube".

I have so many mixed feelings about this. My #1 feeling is "Why the fuck do you care about a freakin' musical group's artistic expression?" They should be allowed to send whatever message they want. The lyrics say :

Mama, they tried my patience
Obama is gone, who is left to save us?
So together we mourn, I'm praying for my neighbors
They say the devil's at work and Trump is calling favors
You say I'm dangerous, I speak for the nameless

 

So, basically, people are complaining because the song is sending a "leftist" message. Here's the thing.... I am a freaking Trump supporter. I voted for the guy. How come I feel comfortable with a song expressing DIFFERING viewpoints than my own, but other people are throwing a damn shit fit? As I said above, this is actually my favorite of the new Gorillaz songs outside of Saturn Barz (which isn't saying much considering how underwhelming these new tracks have been).

It just doesn't make sense to me. An artist has the right to express themselves within their work. It's sad to see fellow "right-wingers" acting in a similar fashion to the thin-skinned, censorship-happy leftists of today. Just because the song illustrates opposing ideas to your own doesn't mean it should negatively influence your personal enjoyment of it. It's like, Jesus ppl calm the fuck down -.-

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Holy shit, a new track just dropped and it's fucking gold!

 

Fresh af; THIS is the kinda shit I've been waiting for! >.<; Damn Gorillaz holding their good tracks close to their chest

[Evilshy 5,090]

Well we have the whole album now, it's pretty meh. 

Apprentice is still the best track and it's technically not even on the album

 

Luckily the new Ayreon album came out on the same day and it's amazing. 

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Ok, so I've listened to all the tracks finally in high quality. My top 3 are the following:

 

#1 Saturnz Barz

^

• Pros: Pretty much every freaking thing. This song is amazingly ambitious and immaculately executed
• Cons: Takes several listenings to actually begin to appreciate it. The music video associated with this song was GARBAGE (one of the worst for any Gorillaz track to date). 

 

 

#2 The Apprentice

^

• Pros: So much diversity and interesting developments in the way the song flows. The first singer in particular is incredible.
• Cons: The song starts off really strong but goes down in quality steadily as the new soloists come into play. The female singer is pretty good, but the rapper is crap (at least in this song). 

 

#3 Ticker Tape

^

• Pros: Old school Gorillaz done RIGHT (looking at that sad excuse for a callback Andromeda *smh*) Ticker Tape sounds like one of those awesome low key songs from Plastic Beach; just so nice and chill with some of the best vocals by Damon in the entire Humanz album. The whole song just feels "right".
• Cons: A little too chill for my liking. I generally prefer songs with a little more "omph" to them. Just a subjective thing really lol (I can easily see this being someone's #1 Humanz track).

 

Honorable Mentions:

1. Hallelujah Money - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rKCUq5PCqY
2. Charger - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15qFDdYTUFI
3. Sex Murder Party - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9yBCyxjsIQ

Edited May 9, 2017 by K.Rool Addict

[BlueStreak98 828]

Any new material from Damon Albarn makes me at least a little happy inside so a new album is great.

[PonkiePoo 736]

I appreciate the new style the Gorrilaz are going for its cool sounding.

I like Andromeda and We Got the Power out of the new songs the most.

Its cool to see them develop and change the members of the Gorrilaz look and feel with every new album, I really do like that about the Gorrilaz how they always are trying new styles and looks with music and the animation styles of the band. 

[FelixArgyle 11]

Didn't like the new album almost at all. I feel like they bacame more bland and pop-ish (in a bad way). Creative and even experimental vibe of previous albums is gone, every song feels the same. The album also lacks Damon's voice, wich I think is really iconic and important for band's identity.

The ones I liked:

Spoiler

Saturnz Barz (remixed)
Momentz
Charger
Andromeda
Busted and Blue
Carnival
Hallelujah Money

Mediocre:
 

Spoiler

Out Of Body
Ticker Tape    

The rest are just bad.

[K.Rool Addict 718]

4 hours ago, FelixArgyle said:

Didn't like the new album almost at all. I feel like they bacame more bland and pop-ish (in a bad way). Creative and even experimental vibe of previous albums is gone, every song feels the same. The album also lacks Damon's voice, wich I think is really iconic and important for band's identity.

^I can't agree enough.

Gorillaz was always about pushing the boundaries of music as a whole, not blind conformity. Humanz has an extremely generic vibe for many of its tracks which I just find extremely disconcerting after the upward swing of the immaculate Plastic Beach album.

This album seems like a desperate attempt to make Gorillaz mainstream...

[TBD 17,254]

I finally got the album yesterday and listened to it.  Its not close to how the  Gorillaz usually do their songs in their previous songs. BUT Gorillaz itself never stay consistent to their genre anyways. So all the songs is completely new from them. As much people would criticized about that I wouldn't.  Something about this Album is yes new but yet special. I can't put words to this, but all I know something about this album is just special, that earns it own category away from their previous albums. 

Also as for the collaborators  and the "lack" of Damon voice I wouldn't mind. As Damon said in his interview, he said he grub a lot of new artists to give them a chance. So I really respect Damon for that, Thus again that's one reason why this made this album special.  

Edited May 12, 2017 by TBD

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

I haven't heard all of them but I do like Andromeda and Saturnz Bars is growing on me. The rest just isn't as good as some of their older stuff which saddens me but it's not necessarily bad.

[K.Rool Addict 718]

Wow, talk about lack of creativity smfh

 

I just wanna say, Gorillaz has always been a group for people on drugs. There's no argument there. But there was always a bit of artistic subtlety in this regard. Now we have blatant pandering to this demographic, mostly seems like a pathetic attempt to captivate the edgy youths of western society. Also, man, what laziness with the animation/ musical composition -.-