Gorillaz - The Singles Collection 2001-2011 Album Reviews & Song Lyrics

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Gorillaz "The Singles Collection 2001-2011" album

- Release date : November 2011 -

The Singles Collection: 2001-2011 is a compilation album released by British virtual band Gorillaz on November 25, 2011. The album is a compilation of singles and remixes from the previous albums: Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010). The album is available in four different editions: standard, deluxe, 12" vinyl and 7" single box set. Despite the name's claim that the material comes from singles between 2001 and 2011, the actual singles on the album date between 2000 and 2010.

"The Singles Collection 2001-2011" album tracks and lyrics

"The Singles Collection 2001-2011" album reviews

Think of Blur’s Damon Albarn and one thinks of Britpop, which is rather unfair, given that he’s spent the last 15 years working on projects associated with Mali (Mali Music), Iceland (the 101 Reykjavik soundtrack), China (Monkey: Journey To The West), the Democratic Republic Of Congo (Kinshasa One Two) and more. But while his former rival Liam Gallagher reduced himself to a comic parody, Albarn found inspiration in comic art, teaming up with Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett to form the ‘animated pop group’, Gorillaz, in 1998. This summary of their career proves they were no joke.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the music on offer here is how stripped down it is. The influence of dub and hip hop looms large, especially on tracks featured from their first two albums, their self-titled debut of 2001 and its 2005 follow-up, Demon Days. These see simple instrumentation bedded down over programmed drumbeats that sounded nostalgic even at the time of release. (Once upon a time they’d even have been described as ‘baggy’.) But Albarn’s alter ego seems to allow him to shake off concepts of indie credibility that he may otherwise have clung to, aiming instead for the pop jugular with the simple melodies of Feel Good Inc and Clint Eastwood, whose loping gait does nothing to diminish that chorus: "I’ve got sunshine in a bag", a sly reference to the actor’s classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (also the inspiration for the name of another Albarn side project, The Good, the Bad & the Queen).

Eastwood’s there again on the brilliant Dirty Harry, another shuffling beat underpinning an uplifting children’s choir until Bootie Brown takes the mike. Albarn’s social conscience is also in evidence here, the kids singing "I need a gun to keep myself from harm", an idea echoed (obviously) in Kids With Guns. 2010’s Plastic Beach birthed four further singles, but they made less of an impact, despite the fact that they see Albarn pursue a more commercially pop route: Superfast Jellyfish demonstrates an attractive lightness of touch, while On Melancholy Hill reflects its name perfectly, Albarn sounding glum over a candyfloss minor-key pop classic that deserved to peak far higher than 78 in the British charts.

Sadly there’s nothing here from their iPad album, The Fall, and instead we’re given the sped-up, somewhat disorientating Ed Case/Sweet Irie version of Clint Eastwood. But that fails to distract from the fact that Albarn has, against the odds, proven himself to be one of the most inventive of the UK’s high-profile musicians over the past two decades. Admire the riches this national treasure has bestowed upon us. There’s plenty to smile about, though Gorillaz remain no laughing matter.

*** By Wyndham Wallace, BBC Music ***

It is no great surprise that a group designed as a concept would eventually specialize in concept albums, so when Gorillaz abandoned the giddiness that fueled their 2001 debut in favor of dense dystopian dance-rock operas, it seemed logical and the transition was eased by Albarn’s cunning knack for sharp crossover singles. Released in 2011, The Singles Collection 2001-2011 rounds up 15 of those singles -- including remixes of early hits “Clint Eastwood” and “19/2000” and “Doncamatic,” which was added to later pressings of 2010’s Plastic Beach, but nothing from their iPad-recorded 2010 detour The Fall -- and they make for an impressively consistent body of work, with Gorillaz finding many variations within their blend of Brit-pop, hip-hop, dance, and rock. In this context, it is clear that the three singles pulled from Plastic Beach -- “Stylo,” “Superfast Jellyfish,” “On Melancholy Hill” -- didn’t reach the same heights as those from Gorillaz and Demon Days because they were cobbled by a certain dourness -- a quality lacking from the singles from the similarly pessimistic Demon Days and from “Doncamatic” -- yet they don’t offer a sour coda on this Singles Collection; instead, they indicate the complexity of this cartoon pop group, which means this compilation isn’t merely a good collection of hits, it’s a fine introduction to the multifaceted pleasures of Gorillaz.

*** By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music ***