Fall Out Boy

TAKE THIS TO YOUR GRAVE (2003)
DAD : It is probably apt that I'm listening to this mungy grungy stuff at my son's behest. At time of writing a bunch of numpties with various bits of metal hanging off their faces going by the name of  Disturbed are likely to hit it big with a cover of S&Gs 'Sound Of Silence'. I'm surprised it hasn't been hijacked before by the emo generation. Gawd knows how you categorize all this stuff, I hear about nu-metal, death metal, I-don't-know-what-kind-of metal. Fall Out Boy appear to be top of my son's list of favourite bands, and I'm not surprised, he goes for the lighter side of thrashy grunge, which what it is. I like a spectrum, so let's put Napalm Death at one end and Busted at the other, with, oh I don't know, Nirvana somewhere in the middle. This places FOB among the higher frequencies, lets say heavier than Fountains Of Wayne but lighter than My Chemical Romance (getting to the end of my knowledge of angsty bands now). I can't say any of the songs stand out that much. This album is not on Spotify, but a few songs are available as live versions or on YouTube. I'll give them this, they are good at a song title, the opener is 'Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today'. Other adventurous titles are 'Homesick At Space Camp' and 'Postcards From A Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here)' and credit must be given for the wit of 'Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over'. If it is all like this I will get bored quickly, but let's see.

SON: The first album isn’t even on Spotify. This is a good start. In any case, FOB is an early two thousand pop-punk group that never seemed to take itself too seriously. At least, that’s what I find. I can say I have listened to all but the first two albums before, so there may be some prejudgements there, but what can I say? I like this band. In any case, launching into it we have ‘Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today’, and yes, most of the song titles (at least for this album, they get more sensible later on) are like this. It starts with some kinda thrash mettle-y guitars, and heavy drums. The lead singer Patrick Stump does a good job conveying the lyrics. I think the time signature fluctuates. I did pick up a point of 4/4, but I expect the rest is in compound time. Next ‘Dead On Arrival’. If I did have to say something, I feel they sound a little too much like their peers. That’s not to say it’s bad, But I don’t entirely feel like I am listening to Fall Out Boy, and rather something like a relatively happy Three Days Grace. 4/4, but, unlike my previous “subject” it’s not as noticeable. “Grand Theft Autumn” is not a parody video game. I don’t have much to say. Quite like this one, honestly. Nothing special, but it’s still decent. Certainly 4/4 though. ‘Saturday’ is a bit too generic pop punk for me. It does sound a little more Fall Out Boy though, while still not quite fitting in with their later stuff. Can’t quite discern a time signature. Weird death mettle lyrics a little way in though. ‘Homesick At Space Camp” is a little jumbled. Patrick's singing is a little hard to hear at times, and it is another time that I don’t entirely feel like I am listening to FOB. I still quite like this though. 4/4. Took me a short while to figure that out though. ‘Send Postcards from A Plane Crash Wish You Were Here’ as well as sporting the most amazing title since ‘Tell that Mick’, also has some nice guitar riffs, and some almost rap speed lyrics from Patrick. Shame it's likely sped up. Oh well. It’s another break up song. I do have to say I am a little disheartened by the similarity between all the tracks. Only the other day did I listen to one of their more recent albums, and almost every song is distinct. Here, though, I couldn’t tell the difference between this or the next track. Speaking of, ‘Chicago Is So Two Years Ago’ is again nice riffs, more similarity to what came before, and more lyrics about break ups. If I wanted to be writing about songs about break ups, I would be doing this on Breaking Benjamin. Although, I must say that I am now annoyed at Fall Out Boy, as it turns out that, ten years later, they would sample lyrics from this song for a far better one, on a far better album. 8/8. ‘The Pros And Cons Of Breathing’ Is yet again closer to the later stuff they would do, but is still 'hate breakup' nonsense. Will these four just grow up? ‘Grenade Jumper’ sounds more Green Day than FOB at the beginning, but it settles down easily enough. I will admit, the guitar in this one can be really real at times. Patrick obviously discovered voice modulation for this one, as he seems to change it up often enough. ‘Calm Before The Storm’ Is where I feel like I couldn’t care less. This is just a little to eh for even me. I can’t say anything. Hoping the other guy can shine some light on it when it comes around. ‘Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over’ is a bit of a school ground rebellion chant esque song. You know the ones. 'Another Brick' type thing. I have very little too say at this point, but at least there are only two tracks left. ‘The Patron Saints of Liars And Fakes’ is very much a product of the early two thousands. At least it’s not a break up. It’s a song about a couple who are worried about a break up. Big difference. Still good Guitar ness, which just sounds so good. I won’t pretend I haven’t enjoyed this album, even with its lack of standout songs like in later ones. Finally, is ‘Roxanne’, which is a cover of a ‘police’ song. Its quite different to the rest of the album, but, honestly, kinda comes with covers. Unless you completely redo the entire thing. For clarification of what I mean, see Katzenjammers cover of ‘Land Of Confusion’ as compared to Disturbed cover of the same song. For the record, this one is a Disturbed, not a Katzenjammer. Not bad. Overall, the album is…alright. Nothing too special, and none of it really stands out. Cover is the four band members just sitting there. It’s a shame. The rejected cover is so much more interesting.

FROM UNDER THE CORK TREE (2005)

DAD: OK. I'm beginning to sort of see the point. There's nothing wrong with this and it is quite uplifting. Very commercial though. Whatever happened to liking bands because they were a bit challenging. They maintain good song titling form, 'Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued', 'I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth' and 'Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows)' all show a need to provide a full and complete explanation of What The Song Is About. The more snappily monikered 'Dance Dance' is particularly good, but overall it becomes samey-samey. I'm sure the lyrics are meaningful if you are 15, but I'm nearly 50. It's not designed for me, and if you are not moved by the lyrics it really is just a procession of light thrashy teenage angst.

SON: Well, seeing as I have already finished with the first album, and the second half of this duet has yet to even begin writing that, I may as well cement my lead by jumping straight into Under The Cork Tree. I think the drummer changed between Take This To Your Grave and Cork Tree, but I don’t know. First up, and boy is this a fun title… ehem…. “Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued” … yea. They do seem to have settled more into the Fall Out Boy style, with this song still having the more punk elements of the last album, but they are still strong. Our Lawyer does certainly embrace this. Its fairly heavy and rocky, but easily less so than the last one. ‘Of All The Gin Joints In The World” is a bit more in your face than Our Lawyer, But is still quite listenable. “Dance Dance” is the most “Fall Out Boy” song yet, though the mix of styles and tones I tend to associate with them still isn’t quite there. It still fits in with the rest of their stuff though. I think I find it closer due to the more varied chorus/verse structure.  8/8. ‘Sugar We’re Goin Down’ is a classic, In my opinion. It also does fit the pop structure more than the punk side. The verses are very laid back, with the bridge dropping out almost entirely and then a strong chorus. It finally feels like Fall Out Boy. It also has a very sweet music video, which is surprisingly heartfelt. This also coined what would become a sort of Fall Out Boy slogan/ tagline “going down swingin’”, which later showed up in Save Rock And Roll. ‘Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner’, however, is very much a rock track. Not really sure how to describe it. It’s quite fast, with some nice guitar stuff going on. ‘I’ve Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea’ feels almost like rock and roll. It isn’t. far from it. It’s not bad. I must say I feel like I missed most of it. Patrick's lyrics are quite droney, but it’s not as bad as certain other singers…anyway, ‘7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen)’ sounds weird. Patrick’s singing is easily drowned out by the guitar. I guess this one is in the spirit of Green Day era grunge.  If you like that stuff, this is your thing. Otherwise, very ignorable. ‘Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of the Year’ kind of sounds like proto “Hey Monday” and I have no idea why I think that. All I know is that I like it. 4/4. ‘Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends’ has nothing to it. I can't say anything on it that’s meaningful. And I think we have the new best song tittle ever, with ‘I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Love Song Written About Me’ both shows the high self-awareness I mentioned a little way back, and also that the song is so generic that they couldn’t come up with a good name. and then the death mettle vocals come in. gahh! ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “touch me”’ reminds me of ‘The Girl All The Bad Guys Want’ and that’s about it. ‘Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying’ sounds very dark from the beginning. So far the best track. And the death mettle returns. FOB really needs to stop that. Overall its not bad, but half way through it ends, and the speaking starts. Its…weird. Finally ‘XO’ is the best song with an emoji as a tittle. Its fun and heavy. it does fit in with the overall generic-other-than-the-singles flow this album has had, but I can't complain. And that was it. I can defiantly see where its going, but… it still isn’t quite there. That said, Its ‘Infinity On High’ next, which is just…yes. Art is a movie thearter looking over a van in the snow. No cork trees. Fall out boy, you disappoint me.

INFINITY ON HIGH (2007)

DAD: First track is 'Thriller'. A cover of Jacko's pinnacle of achievement might be interesting. He lends himself to this kind of stuff as evidenced by Alien Ant Farm's 'Smooth Criminal'. Alas, this is one of FOB's own compositions. It's OK, has a tiny hint of 'Strange Town' by the Jam about it, with that kind of fast drum/guitar intro. What astonishes me most about Fall Out Boy is that they don't get more mainstream airplay. They are right out of the Maroon 5 mould and you simply can't get away from that lot on the radio. Maybe they get onto Radio 1 a lot. I stopped listening to that in 1994. I do detect a degree of increased competence and commerciality in this album though. I bet the fans accused them of selling out, I would have if I was 15. Worse than that though is that they take on the most abused song of our times 'Hallelujah'. I've heard X-Factor versions, Gareth Malone TV Choir versions and Christian versions with the lyrics changed. If you bother listening to anything other than Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley then you're wasting everybody's time. In fairness this is just a section of a song called 'Hum Hallelujah', so I'll commit their sentence to manslaughter rather than murder of it. They have their Spinal Tap moment with 'Golden' which is clearly written in the "saddest key of all". Oooh, oooh, oooh! Recognizable hit time. 'Thnks fr th MMrs' (it's written in text speak see? which means vowels are frowned upon - Wikipedia calls it a 'disemvoweling', which I quite like ). I must know it from some TV montage. Anyway, it IS a good piece of punky pop. However it is followed by another good piece, and another and another. That's fine, but I'm not listening to the lyrics and I doubt they are interesting, so it may be good, but its also monotonous.

SON: And we reach the point when Fall Out Boy became good. Well, not good. They were always good. From ‘Infinity’ onwards though, it’s very obvious they knew who they were. Punk guitars mixed in with lots and lots of musical genres. The obvious examples of this on here are ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’ and ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’, but it’s all quite good, even if it is a shame that the opening (‘Thriller’) song isn’t a cover of the Michael Jackson classic. Patrick seems to be singing to a more pop tone now, as well, as with a lot more “whoa” and “uh” stylings to make even the mighty Goldblum blush. If I did have to file a complaint, though, it does all sound a bit too much like “PANIC! At The Disco” which, I must stress, Is not bad. I love P!ATD as much as the next angsty emo teen nutter, but I feel that they do them better than FOB could ever do. Not a bad thing though. Fall Out Boy pull off this revamped sound really well. Its shame the titles are kind of off with this one. Sure, you do still get some good ones like the aforementioned ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms race’ and ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’, as well as ‘I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying To Get You Off’, but you also get the considerably crap ‘Golden’ and ‘Hum hallelujah’, which is also a good segueway to show that there are still some forgettable tracks, such as ‘Hum Hallelujah’, and the salt is rubbed in further when they start recreating the Jeff Buckley track of far better quality. Maybe I should suggest Buckley as an artist. However, back to Fall Out Boy. the track titling is not necessarily reminiscing of quality, as listening to ‘Golden’ I can’t help but love it. Must quickly mention ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’, due to its great use of Cellos and trumpets at the beginning. It even has a castanet/ukulele solo mid-way through. The album plods on, and no where do I feel I am hearing the same song as before. Goanna jump straight to the final track of ‘G.I.N.A.S.F.S’ as, well, I don’t feel there is much more to say. This is the closest this album seems to get to Cork tree or Grave, and even then, this seems like a lullaby sung as a rock song, which…oddly works. And, for the sake of my reputation: 6/8. Yea. We went there. Couldn’t help but chuckle when a Steven Hawking style voice synth thing says “now press repeat” at the end. Album art is a sheep with wings on fire in front of a handmade nativity scene with a door to Narnia in the background. And you all think I am joking….

FOLIE A DEUX (2008)

DAD: Hmm. This is a little better. There are some Chilli Pepper pretensions at the start of the opening track 'Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes' and they use the old Spirit In The Sky riff trick on second track 'I Don't Care'. I may have noted this before, but if you want to hear a great take on that riff, see if you can find a version of Springsteen's 'Reason To Believe'  as performed on the Magic tour (ca. 2007). As a whole this album is all much of a muchness however. There's a modicum of menace on 'Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet' and they mention "sandman", so I guess they are trying to intrude into Metallica's territory. On '(Coffee's For Closers)' they show a staggering lack of lyrical originality with a couplet urging us to do something in the air like we just don't care. Dear old Larry Blackmon's red codpiece must be spinning in his smalls drawer. Is that really Elvis Costello on 'What A Catch, Donnie'?. Well, apparently so. He does add a touch of class, but that almost goes without saying. On '27' I think there is an attempt to rhyme "rich" with "orphanage". I was moderately interested in what 'w.a.m.s' stood for, which led me to the Wikipedia entry, which is clearly written by a committed devotee. There's lots about the meaning of the songs and the literary references. Well you get a lot of that if you listen to loads of pompous concept albums from the early seventies too, but they have an air of absurdity as well, which helps to sugar the pill. This lot are too earnest for their own good. Anyway, back to 'w.a.m.s'. Couldn't commit enough interest to find out, but the closing a capella gospel section is the most interesting thing on the album. '20 Dollar Nose Bleed' seems to have drug-related theme, but I don't need to worry that my son will pick up any bad habits, he's far more puritanical than me. Last track 'West Coast Smoker' contains the rather good lyric "Don't feel bad for the suicidal cats; Gotta kill themselves nine times before they get it right"

However, ultimate verdict. I've listened to this once. It was enough.

SON: On the word document where I write these while on the train, I made the working title ‘Let The Guitars Scream Like A Fascist’. That was due to this album. While it is its own thing, certainly, listening to this does feel a bit too much like the B-sides for Infinity On High. The most notable track is ‘I Don’t Care’ which is so teenage stupid angst that it can’t help but come off as cheesy and ironic, which I believe is how it’s meant to be. It also has the aforementioned ‘fascist’ line. Honestly, this is a downgrade from Infinity. It’s all a bit too similar for me. Even the naming has stopped, with the closest to the previous albums being ‘Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet’, and maybe ‘Twenty-Dollar Nose Bleed’. The album isn’t bad, but it does tend to feel a bit, well, similar. Album art is a guy in a bear suit giving a piggy back to a bear. And yes, I know this was short, but I am saving up the deep, long winded analysis for the next two albums.

SAVE ROCK AND ROLL (2013)

DAD: Fall Out Boy are leaving me few options than to try and work out why I find this so uninspiring. My first theory is that every song is a guitar/drums thrash. Where are the cowbells, flutes, handclaps and whistling? I must assume that they know their market and exploit it to the full but I am proud to play the outraged middle-aged Dad and harrumph that it all sounds the same. Lyrically they aren't very interesting either. But, the songs are catchy, 'Where Did The Party Go' is particularly good in that respect. For a moment I thought they were covering Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' when 'Just One Yesterday' started. 'Young Volcanoes' is SO like another piece of bland pop that it's almost frustrating that I can't remember what it is (ah, just got it: 'Hey Soul Sister' by doppelganger band Train). What surprises me the most however is that they seem to be quite well regarded in the music industry. Elvis Costello on the last album and Elton on this one. He crops up on the title track, which ends the album. Roping in Courtney Love on 'Rat-A-Tat' smacks of credibility seeking desperation. This counts as a comeback album, since it was their first in 5 years (Shhh! Don't tell them about Kate Bush).

SON: After five years in the break up vault, Fall Out Boy reformed and gave us this: Save Rock and Roll. Honestly, I recommend that everyone goes and quickly reads my thoughts on Gorillaz 'Plastic Beach', as this album, at least to me, works as sort of the anti of that album. Why? Well, they both feature heavy amounts of cameos and collaborations with other artists. The difference? Save rock and roll is good. In fact, I dare to say great. This may be my overall favourite album of all time. It’s certainly my favourite fall out boy album. Before I finally stop rambling, I must mention that Fall Out Boy made music videos for all of the songs on the album, using them to tell a story called ‘The Young Blood Chronicles’, which is actually a pretty decent watch. Jumping in is ‘The Phoenix’ which very much a large, cinematic, battle worthy song. Is it bad that I can quote every line from every one of these songs? ‘cause I can. 4/4. Also, nice mix of violins and guitars. Oh, and yes, there are no clever tittles. It’s a shame, but the music itself makes up for it. The closest you get is the second track ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light ‘em Up)’, which is 4/4. This song is, again, quite cinematic, but in a different way to ‘The Phoenix’. It’s very catchy. ‘Alone Together’ is 4/4, but loses the cinematic edge that the others have. Got to love the lyric "my heart is like a stallion; they love it more when its broken". The song also has a sort of performed live edge, due to the crowdesque voices who pop in in the chorus and bridge. ‘Where Did The Party Go’ is, yet again, 4/4, and now more of a love song rather than break up one. It’s very easily hummable. The effect on Patrick's voice is a bit distracting, but it doesn’t sound too bad. They leave in a ‘still recording’ thing at the end, though. Not sure why. ‘Just One Yesterday’ reminds me of something I can’t put my finger on. it feature’s ‘Foxes’, who at first I thought where a band, but are actually an artist from London. UK FTW! They do a good voice. Her voice is very nice. Honestly, might look into her now. ‘The Mighty Fall’ is a very angry sounding rock song, almost sounding like the old stuff. There is a rap interlude by ‘Big Sean’, which, despite sounding a tad forced, is still listenable, and very catchy. ‘Miss Missing You’ is defiantly embracing the fact that Fall Out Boy are now a pop band. Really like this one, despite it not being that complicated. I think it might be 5/4. ‘Death Valley’ is the most forgettable song on here. Its not bad, just a bit forgettable. The lyrics are also quite weird. "we are alive, here in Death Valley, but don’t take love off the table yet"? I don’t get it. At least it mixes in some weird dubstep elements. ‘Young Volcanoes’ is also a bit forgettable, but the acoustic guitar sounds really great. Not much to say, really. 8/8, if I am not mistaken. next is ‘Rat A Tat’, featuring Courtney love, who sounds like a drag queen. Honestly, she is the worst collaborator on this album. However, I still love this song. Sure, the lyrics are a bit odd, but I still quite like it. Finally, the title track ‘Save Rock And Roll’, featuring Elton John as god. Because of course. This features the samples from ‘Chicago Is So Two Years Ago’. As well as the line ‘I will defend the faith, going down swinging’. SAID IT WOULD COME BACK! Really love this song. It’s one of the few songs that good ol’ Elton has done that I can say that for. His voice has always been a bit strange. He does a stellar job here though. And that was ‘Save Rock And Roll’. Is it really poppy? Yep. Is it easy to listen to? Course. But I love it. Always will. Cover is a guy smoking, holding hands with a…monk, I think? It has nothing to do with the music. Ignore it.

AMERICAN BEAUTY/AMERICAN PSYCHO (2015)
DAD: This is better, but they are a bit obvious whenever they sample melodies from other artists. Here it is Suzanne Vega's 'Tom's Diner' on 'Centuries', which is top of their 'Popular' tunes on Spotify and The Munsters' theme tune on Uma Thurman and I know for a fact that Pat doesn't realize what it is. The title track is great actually, but let's not kid ourselves that this is anything other than a radio friendly pop-rock band. Suzzer does get a small sample on 'Centuries'. 'Novocaine' is a typical example of a pretty bland approach to what might appear to be an edgy subject, but if you want to listen to a song with Novocaine in the title, I would suggest 'Novocaine For The Soul' by Eels. Listening to all these albums there seems to be a lot of layering on the vocal, or they've turned the treble up, or something. It doesn't help to dismiss the notion that it all sounds the same. I can understand that it is uplifting and noisy and has a degree of cleverness about it at times, but there is so much more interesting stuff out there. In fairness, I didn't get Bowie until my thirties and the stuff I like now is as much to do with nostalgia as with musical merit. I'm sure he'll grow out of it.

SON: I own this one. I regret nothing. Honestly, I am not sure what to say about this album. It’s kind of similar to Folie, honestly. It feels kind of like the B-sides for Save Rock And Roll. The difference is that I think that this is of comparable quality to its predecessor. The album starts with 'Irresistible', which managed about three music videos. Why? Search me, but, for whatever reason, there is a version with Demi Lovato singing some of it. It’s not a remix, the music and arrangement is the exact same, it’s just demi singing some of it. ‘American beauty/American psycho’, as well as being the title track, isn’t that bad. It’s Quite punchy, and has some of the best lyrics on the album. ‘Centuries’ samples ‘Tom’s Diner’, but manages to still be its own thing. ‘Jet Pack Blues’ is a bit slower, and very hummable. ‘Novocaine’ starts of very misleadingly. Its actually a fairly relaxed song (compared to its bombastic opening). ‘Favourite Record’ is very catchy. Got some nice altered vocals in there. Ooo! Movie song here! ‘Immortals’ was used in Disney’s big hero six. Great movie, and really good song, In my humble opinion. Time signature wise, this one is oddly hard to pin. It’s not 4/4. Or is it. I keep counting 6/4, which, last I checked, isn’t actually a thing. The album closes with ‘Twin Skeletons (Hotel In NYC)’ which… I don’t have much to say on. It's Fall Out Boy doing Fall Out Boy. I am not sure of the significance of ‘Twin Skeletons’. It was the image on the front of the FOB greatest hits “Believers Never Die”. At least Patrick sings his heart out on this one. And that was Fall Out Boy. In my opinion, a rocky start, but a good ending. Technically they are still together, and given their tendencies to release albums at two year intervals, I will likely have to wait till next year for the next one. Oh well. I can wait, and that time spread is no-where as bad as some artists I know of. Cover is a kid with the American flag painted over half of his face. Now, bring on the next lot!

MANIA (2018)
DAD: Quite a while since the last post. Pat has decided the time is right to dust off the blog, so we have a few post-post releases across a number of artists to look at. I find this stuff fairly difficult to get a grip on, so whereas my usual method now involves a week of repeated listens, I'm going more old school on this and will attempt a commentary based on just one or two hearings. For this particular album I did give it a decent crack of the whip earlier he year in advance of seeing the band live at the O2 in London. We'd been to see Linkin Park in 2017, about a month prior to Chester Beddington's suicide and I had to reluctantly admit that they did have a pretty visceral edge. Fall Out Boy? Not so much. The fan demographic is probably a good 10 years younger than Linkin Park and easily 25 years younger than me. It was a well put together show though, lots of fireworks, rising platforms and charging about. Video screens at live gigs are now constantly showing fast-edited images. It's all part of the dizzying assault. They flirt with risque language. 'Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea' is a decent album opener and a bit sweary, although I'm not sure even they know what they mean by "eau de resistance". Whatever, the kids lapped it up. They almost go reflective on 'Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)' and Pat's right,  "I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker colour is a decent line", although I'm sure it must have originated on a T shirt. They do mix it up a bit, 'Heaven's Gate' is positively slow, kind of Rag'n'Bone Man when he's not really trying. I quite liked the collaboration with Burna Boy, 'Sunshine Riptide' and yes, the vocal effects on 'Young and Menace' are irritating. 

SON: Right, enough time dicking about doing this again, let's dive in again. In no particular order, I am starting this round of housekeeping by doing the latest fallout boy album, Mania. and , honestly, I am kind of glad I took a while to get round to doing this, because I reckon that had I written about this album when it first came out, I would probably have given it an unfair beating. At first, I kinda hated this one. A lot of the tracks have a similar structure, which rubbed me the wrong way first time I heard them. But, then I went through it again… and again, and honestly I think that the album is far better than it appears at first glance. There are a few dud tracks (‘Bishop's Knife Trick’ and ‘Sunshine Riptide’, while neither are bad, spring to mind), but the album seems to have been built on the idea of “hype at all costs”, and from that perspective it's great. Most of the tracks are incredibly memorable, and are the kinda thing you just want to turn right up and sing along too, damn the neighbours. Special mention to ‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’ for the genius Line of “I’ll Stop Wearing Black When They Make A Darker Colour”, which also serves to remind me that I am a disgusting emo. Hell. ‘Young and Menace’ is my favorite track of the album, though, despite the chorus annoying me at first, with its pitch-shifted vocals from Stump, But it did grow on me.so… yea… COVER: Purple corridor, funneling into a picture of a wave. Hey, it's far from the weirdest fall out boy cover…

Gorillaz

DAD	SON
The idea of a virtual band is not new I'm sure. There must be other examples, although things like the Rutles don't count. Anyway, the main mover here is Damon 'Blur' Albarn, about whom I have mixed feelings. I own Parklife but never listen to it. It was just something you did in the mid-nineties. I'm not mad-keen on his estuary English delivery either. However his worst excesses do tend to get buried in the Gorillaz project. 'Re-hash' is a reasonably pleasant, mildly psychedelic track with an acoustic guitar loop and a bit of sitar in the background. Reminded me of something you might hear on Sesame Street. He's in full flow on the second track '5/4' with  that kind of petulant 10-year-old voice he does. I can't really figure out much of what he is saying. Next we get distracted-Damon on 'Tomorrow Comes Today', then high pitched trancey Damon on 'New Genius (Brother)'. But this isn't all about him. The melodies are OK, but there is overuse of drum loops. 'Clint Eastwood' may be the best known track off this one. I find it a bit dull really. The rap is done by 'Del The Funky Homosapien'. Hmm. I'm guessing that's an alias. More repetitiveness and Albarnisms on 'Man Research (Clapper)'. 'Punk' is more fun, but Albarn still sounds like he's taking the mickey. Scritchy-scratchy bollix on 'Sound Check (Gravity)'. I tend to look up lyrics these days, I'm doing this at the same time as REM and you do need a songsheet for them, but Gorillaz lyrics are laughably sparse. Here is the entire contribution for 'Double Bass': "All of which makes me anxious; At times unbearably so", which is almost inaudibly uttered by Albarn halfway through. So you have to put a lot of it in the instrumental category. There's some nice twiddly keyboard stuff on it  (DB) though. Have I mentioned that one of our kids primary school teachers was Suzy B from The Cookie Crew? (Now Miss Banfield). Almost certainly, I'd mention something like that at the drop of a hat. Anyway, I'm reminded because the next track is 'Rock The House' (not the Cookies' late eighties era-defining 'Rock Da House'). Anyway, this is a De La Soul type piece of laid back hip-hop with brass stabs and all that. Quite good. '19-2000' is that one with the "Get the cool shoe-shine" lyric that they always used to use over those countdown list shows in the '90s that tried to convince us that Spangles, Spacehoppers and the three-day week were indicative of a happier age.'Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo)' drafts in some clapped out, probably Cuban, torch singer for a reasonably hideous mash-up. Getting fed up by the time we get to 'Starshine', although 'Slow Country' has a nice piano refrain, which is unfortunately ruined by Albarn's Kevin-the-teenager singing. UH! SO UNFAIR! We finish with 'M1-A1'. "Hello. Is anyone there" we hear in the background? Well to be honest I'm only still here out of a sense of duty. The guitar rock builds and this is the Blurriest track of them all, which isn't necessarily a recommendation. Oh, and whilst on the subject of Kevin The Teenager.....	So… how do I approach speaking about Gorillaz as a band?  You see, the band is unique in all of its members being animated characters (drawn by Jamie Hewlett, who’s art basically defines the band). The only constant, “real” member is the singer, Damon Albarn, who you may know from Blur. Anyway, for the sake of sanity, I shall only address Albarn as anything throughout this, as, otherwise, I would have to look up who was doing what, and, truthfully, I’m just too lazy to bother. Anyway, first up is 'Re-Hash', which basically sums up most of my thoughts on this album: bit droning, repetitive and monotonous, but good overall. “4/4” for those curious (which is no-one, I realise, but mention it mainly to annoy my father). Pretty much the same thing for a few songs. Titles are incredibly literal, as well. The second track, “5/4” is in 5/4. Got to say I like the guitar in this one, though lyrically it’s just strange. Next up, “Tomorrow Comes Today”, which, considering this was released in 01, must make tomorrow yesterday. 4/4 again. Not much else to say. “New Genius (Brother)” now, and… *sigh* this really isn’t giving me much to work with. 4/4 yet again, and just as monotonous. This is probably my least favourite on the album. The song does mix itself up with some brief interludes of DJ’s messing about. And now, the moment of truth, “Clint Eastwood”, which has nothing to do with pasta cowboys. This is probably the song that introduced most people to the Gorillaz, be it through the music video (that, on a brief tangent, I think is amazing), or hearing it on the radio. It is also quite different to the rest of the album, as this one breaks itself up with some actually decent rap breaks, although there do seem to be a few syllables that the rapper (Del the Funky Homosapian, or so says wiki-ididntwriteit) misses. 4/4 again, but interesting. Ends with a really long instrumental section though. Next up, “man research (clapper)”. WELCOME BACK TO MONOTONYVILLE! Few nice synths, though. 4/4 again. The next track, “Punk” does actually sound rather Punk rock, Green-Day-ish. Congratulations on that. Can’t pin down the time signature though. Now for “sound check (gravity)” and it sounds like the singer gave up. Most of the song is DJ weirdness. Not much to see. 4/4 again. “Double Bass” may be played on a double bass, but I am a pianist, not a bassist, so I don’t know. Bit monotonous. “Rock The House” is another one that got a music video, which I only watched once, and it really confused me. The music is alright. Del is back, and does all the lyrics this time. 4/4 again. Final music video track “19-2000” has a nice melody to it, but it does, again, fall into the trap of being rather monotonous. Lyrics are really deranged this time. “get the cool shoe shine” …what? 4/4. Little fact now, these next two songs are the last ones I wrote. Accidentally listened to some on shuffle. Now, “Latin Simone (Que pasa contigo)” does sound rather flamenco-ey (I know nothing about dancing, so don’t hate me if I got the term wrong) but I am not convinced Albarn knows how to speak Spanish. Next, “Starshine” which starts off sounding like it's being played through a gaming headset. One thing I have noticed with the whole album is that Albarn singing varies considerably, and he sounds a bit “eh”. 4/4. “slow country” now, and it has background noise that sounds like the end of the world. Its horrific. Song goes back to monotony town, but there are some nice 8-bit sounding synths. Finally, “M1 A1”, which does not give directions to the nearest pub. It feels a bit like a filler track at first, but the sampled vocals are nice, and the overall tone of the music accompanying it works well. Eventually it does break out into a more standard song. Cover art is the entire group In the jeep from the 19-2000 music video.
I have this. I'm not ashamed, although I was probably trying to cling on to some illusion of appreciating something not totally in the mainstream. Of course Albarn is actually about as mainstream as they come. However, I'm not going to pretend that I hate this just to generate some false jeopardy between me and my son. The 'Intro' is kind of doomy, with a bowed double bass melody. Albarn's vocals turn the can't-be-bothered up to 11, but there is something catchy about them, especially on 'Kids With Guns', which features Neneh Cherry doing some kind of pastiche of Salt n Pepa's 'Push It'. It shouldn't work but I'm afraid it does. 'Oh Green World' starts with elastic bands stretched across a shoebox before a splatty bass kicks in accompanied by blippy noises. Albarn's voice is delivered from the other end of a tin can and string phone. Again, it galls me to say it, but it's very listenable. They deploy that rock n' roll staple, the kids choir singing something inappropriate, on 'Dirty Harry', but of course you can't fault the beat loops and the way it grabs you. Same for 'Feel Good Inc.'. Maybe it is because I have listened to this a lot, but I do have to apologetically tell you that I really like it. Even the rappy bit in the middle is quite good. Other highlights include the Alvin + The Chipmunks vocal on 'All Alone', which also features some kind of proto-Ellie Goulding  in the form of Martina Topley-Bird. 'White Light' seemingly finds Albarn craving alcohol while playing a comb and paper. Then for me, the piece-de-resistance. Shaun Ryder (for it is he) basically chanting in his 'orrible manky accent on 'DARE'. I'll be interested to know what my firstborn made of him. Obviously I think it's great. Story song, 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head' is narrated by Dennis Hopper sounding like one of those American guys who are somewhere between a motivational speaker, hypnotist and weirdo cult leader. In fact I guess I could have just said he sounds like.....Dennis Hopper. The subsequent 'Don't Get Lost In Heaven' is effectively a continuation/coda to the main song. It ends with a whimper. The title track ain't much cop. Sort of gospelly. So one thing I haven't covered, and which I know you'll all be eager to learn about, are the time signatures employed on all these songs.....	Five years on, and some major re-designs later, Gorillaz returned. ‘Shan’t dwell on any behind the scenes stuff to much though, as I did that far too much in the previous part, and I am on a rough word count of 600-700, so… the album opens with the creatively titled 'Intro', which does manage to set the mood for the whole album, which is that bit darker than the previous self-title. It features some nice, glitched up vocals. 4/4. Next, 'Last Living Souls”, and like re-hash from the last album, this sums up my feelings for the whole album. There is much more going on here, or at least there seems to me. There are less distorted guitars, and Albarn seems to actually be trying to sing more this time round. Overall, it is rockier than hip-hop. 4/4, but a rather high tempo. Now, 'Kids With Guns', which, while Albarn does seem at first to be back to slow monotony, it does fit the tone of the song. There are some female vocals in the chorus, which I believe are sampled, but I can't tell where from. 4/4. 'Oh Green World' briefly brings back “Starshines” headset, but quickly moves on to more organic sounds, with the odd synth bleeps and, along with the distorted sound of Albarn throwing up all over the microphone. 4/4 I think, but could be 8/8. Next up 'Dirty Harry' which is probably the most up-beat and “poppy” song on the album. Almost all synths here, and I wouldn’t class the track as anything special. It stands out for its music video though, which was interesting. Not much to say. There is some rapping on this one but wiki-lies doesn’t list who does it. 4/4. Next up, and probably the most well-known Gorillaz track: 'Feel Good Inc.' (ft. De la Soul). Lyrics are bit odd here and there, but the music is well done. The guitar especial sticks out at all times, no-matter what it seems to be doing. The rapping from De la Soul is a bit odd, and again they seem to miss some stuff, but it works. Another bizarre music video with this one, but slightly less psychotic than the others released at the time (don’t worry, I’m getting to that). “El Mañana” which had another music video, which I only watched once, and I don’t intend to again as it was so boring. Common, Gorillaz, you’re a virtual band, you can get away with the madness! Anyway, the song is alright. Bit generic if you ask yours truly. Groany lyrics from Albarn. The guitar is as simple as it gets. Compare this to 'Every Planet We Reach Is Dead' which starts off with some interesting synth loops, before going into monotony. Synths pop back during a sort of instrumental chorus, but its so rare that it feels a bit forced. I feel like I am giving the impression I don’t like this album. I do like it, a hell of a lot more than the self-title, but I find that the songs that didn’t get music videos are a little too far of the mark. I say that, then 'November Has Come' turns up. This may seem more monotony, but I like this one. It’s just that bit more dark than the others, which fits what I feel the album wants to be tonally. Next 'All Alone'. PITCH SHIFTING! ARGG!!!! Yet more rapping, but, unlike the rest, this is quite fast, which sets it apart. Not really sure what’s going on in here. More nice synths though. 'White Light' and, oh god, this is singing? It sounds like some kid humming through a microphone. Then again, this is Albarn we are talking about, so that may not be too far off. There isn’t much else to say here, other than the bizarre vocals. Now, for 'DARE'. Remember when I said I was getting to the psychotic music videos? Here it is. The music video for this featured one of the characters dancing around in front of a giant, severed head…yea… said it was nuts. Can’t tell if Albarn is actually singing this one. If he is, his voice has been modified to sound scarily feminine. More misheard lyrics. "never get no ham”…okay…not much actually musical going on. Weird voices at the end, kinda just yelling at each other. Now 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head', featuring Dennis Hopper. This one feels a bit preachy, with its overall moral being “man, you greedy”. Yea, totally never heard that one before. Not much going on here, but it’s not bad. This follows into “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”, which is a bit more turned down and sorrowful than the rest of the album. Albarn actually sounds like he is trying to sing. There is also a decent choir (or at least that’s what it sounds like). With the only other thing being a piano in the background, there isn’t much to say. Finally, the title track “Demon Days”, which continues the laid back sound of 'Don’t Get Lost In Heaven', but this time has Albarn back to not trying.  Hell, if you don’t strain your ears, it’s hard to tell he’s even there. More choir. This does feel like a proper closing track, which is something I find a lot of albums struggle with. Shame the rest of this one’s quality has been hit or miss. Cover looks like something you would find in the worst art expo ever, otherwise known as the Tate modern.
My son has submitted his latest copy, so I am behind the game. My interest in Gorillaz was transitory, I bought Demon Days, liked it and then decided it was as much of them as anyone would ever need. The 'Orchestral Intro' was oddly familiar, since I am concurrently listening to ELO, so classical pretensions figure strongly in my current listening regimen. This seems much more hip-hop oriented than the first two albums with Snoop Dogg turning up on 'Welcome To The Plastic Beach'. I just don't know about him. I suspect he's a talentless waste of time, but he does at least seem to possess a degree of self-awareness that might be endearing. I suppose Gorillaz unique selling point is the mash-ups of different styles, so the semi-classical/semi karnataka backing to Mr Bashy and Mr Kano's rap on 'White Flag' (any further from Dido you could not get) does add a bit of interest. Alas, Albarn is now the weak point. His bored vocal on 'Rhinestone Eyes' is just an irritating reprise of things he's done before with Gorillaz. The Moroder-ish 'Stylo' is quite good, if you like your Euro electro boogie seasoned with a Mos Def vocal and Bobby Womack squawking in the middle of it. Personally I prefer it plain. De La Soul are back for the excellently titled 'Superfast Jellyfish' and add some character and fun to the proceedings. It plays rather like an episode of Spongebob. I had to look up Little Dragon, who are on 'Empire Ants' and, of course, they are a Swedish electronica outfit. Albarn provides some of the words, he still seems very tired, but the Swedish dudes seem to know what they are doing. Next up, it's the pasty-faced senior shop-steward of northern indie art-noise, Mark E Smith himself. He has never, ever appealed to me. 'Hit The North' is just about acceptable. 'Glitter Freeze' must be trying to say something about the disgraced Gary of that ilk. The style is very much the pounding percussion of his hits. Smith doesn't contribute much to be honest a couple of spoken lines, and he sounds quite upbeat. For him. Speaking of grumpy old bastards, here's Lou Reed, being forced to sing over a typical beepy electronic melody seemingly knocked together in five minutes using the programming that came with the keyboard. But Reed is good value even here. It's not his fault after all. 'On Melancholy Hill' and 'Broken' are OK. The former in particular has a pretty tune. The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are recruited for 'Sweepstakes' and it has a nice jolly Cuban salsa backing to the hip-hop vocal from Mr. Moseley Def. I'll say this for Damon, he has an impressive address book, because for the title track we get Paul Simonon and Mick Jones. All these luminaries from the rock world must see something I don't in him and his little project. 'Plastic Beach' is interesting enough and the resemblance to an eighties videogame soundtrack is probably intentional. Japanese-Swede Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon is back on 'To Binge', a rather nice piece of cheesy lounge pop. In fact if there is any takeaway from this album I'd say I'm tempted to check Little Dragon out. Bobby Womack is back on 'Cloud Of Unknowing' and a better Holly Johnson impression I've never heard, and here's the rub; I'd have liked it better if it had been Holly. Finally 'Pirate Jet' has something of Nancy Sinatra's 'Sugartown' about it, but doesn't approach its genius.	I expect to hate this album. I am writing my opinions on the music basically as first impressions. I may be wrong. I may love this one. But I expect to hate it. Why? Almost every track features an artist that isn’t Gorillaz. Call me odd, but I prefer Gorillaz when it’s just…Gorillaz. Anyway, enough procrastination, let’s get into this! The album starts with the creatively titled 'Orchestral Intro', which I feel is trying to do what 'Intro' did for demon days, and set an overall tone for the album. It works, to a point, and I do like it. Oh, and no more time signatures. No point when it’s almost all 4/4. Next up, the equal creatively titled 'Welcome To The World Of Plastic Beach' featuring…oh God… please no… Snoop Dogg. WHY! The instrumental is actually quite nice, with some distorted chanting from Albarn, but God is Snoop tone deaf. I can’t even tell what key he is meant to be in. also, the lyric “the revolution will be televised” was done better by Blue Stahli. My suspicions of me hating it are beginning to manifest. At least I could listen to the instrumental alone. Now 'White Flag' which I guess is my cue to surrender all hope that this may be good. Featuring Kane Robinson…whoever that is (no, not going to research. Can’t be bothered). More tone deaf rapping. According to the title this also features “Bashy, Kano and the National Orchestra for Arabic music”. It does sound Arabic, and the rapping is alright in places. It’s not that this is bad. It just doesn’t feel like Gorillaz. WHERE IS MY FEEL GOOD INC. DANG IT! Now 'Rhinestone Eyes' features nothing. And, while I still can’t abide Albarn to a point, this is refreshing. It almost feels like a song from Demon Days. A groovy (did I just type that out loud) beat. Actually pretty good. Now, 'Stylo' (Ft. Mos Def and Bobby Womack.) this had a music video featuring Bruce Willis. And that’s about all I have to say on the video. And again, it feels like Gorillaz. And it actually has Albarn in it. Never thought I would be so happy to hear Kevin the Teenagers voice. 'Superfast Jellyfish' (ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul). Let me tell you, De La’s last appearance with Gorrilaz was far better. This just seems generic. Now 'Empire Ants' (ft. Little Dragon) and it starts off well enough. Albarn singing again. It feels very relaxed. The kind of thing that you listen to when you're alone on a beach in “summer” (whatever that is.) I like it. About half way through, it changes entirely, though. It kind feels like 2 tracks in one, which makes me think of American Idiot. It’s still good, but back to fairly generic and toneless. Next 'Glitter Freeze' (ft. Mark E smith. At this point I am half expecting one to say “ft. Shia LaBeouf”.) it’s just synth beeps and bloops. I realise, as I listen to stuff like Celldweller and Blue Stahli, this should be right up my alley, but I don’t like it. It feels stiff and forced. Now “some kind of nature” (ft. Lou Reed). Both albarn and lou sing, but they both sound indistinguishable to the point where it feels like they are both giving a bad impression of each other. Again, the instrumental is nice, but I can’t abide the lyrics. Well, now for something I can finally say I like: 'On Melancholy Hill'. Maybe it’s because it sounds like Albarn is singing a song by fun, but it’s just as calm as the others, but it does feel like he’s trying. It has a really nice bass, as well, to the point where it just punches through it. Now 'Broken' which, while nothing spectacular, and really being your standard Gorillaz affair, with the lack of that on the album, I do briefly feel like I am listening to Demon Days again, despite the tonal differences. “Sweepstakes” (ft. Mos Def) and oh god…. WHAT IS THIS! The rapping is just as tone deaf as before, but the instrumentals is just as awful this time. I would class this as almost unlistenable. I think it may even be in free time. I can’t bare it much longer, so let’s go to 'Plastic Beach' (ft.  Mick Jones and Paul Simonon). Why can’t this band do title tracks right? Almost all of my problems with Demon Days apply. Actually, this one is better than Demon Days”, and is actually quite nice, but is still very repetitive. “To Binge” (ft. Little Dragon) is also tolerable. Maybe something I would actually listen to. Vocals are sung for once, instead of rapped or half-heartedly spoken. Although, I can’t be the only one who hears “Something Stupid” in this? Penultimate (finally): 'Cloud of unknowing' (ft. Bobby Womack and sinfonia viva). Which starts off with beach sounds, and then goes into singing. It isn’t from Albarn, but, whoever it is (all the featured artists make it hard to keep up) obviously doesn’t care. The instrumental (if you can call it that) is slow and droning. I am literally getting a headache listening to this. Finally (FINALLY!) 'Pirate jet'.  Opening up it does have a slight sea shanty feel, as well as a strange mix of… I guess cyber punk styling. Not much. The beat is made up of Albarn chanting 'Pirate Jet'. The lyrics are hard to hear at worst. And… that’s it. FINALLY! This album is long. And it annoys me. While I didn’t like Gorillaz, it was far better than this, and for this to follow Demon Days, one of the few hip-hop albums I like… it annoys me. There are a few diamonds in the rough ('Stylo' and 'On Melancholy Hill'), but it’s mainly tone deaf rapping. I really hope The Fall is better. Album art is nice, though, depicting the titular plastic beach.
I'll leave all the technicalities to Pat. Albarn starts (starts?) to annoy on this one. His pissed-off vocal is wearing thin. He doesn't get started until the second track, with the opening 'Phoner To Arizona' being a bleepy farty thing with a Daft Punk-ish uber-electronic vocal. There's more collaborations with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon and I'm currently also embroiled in The Clash's back catalogue (partly because of listening to them on the Plastic Beach album). By halfway through I was pretty bored. Maybe a lot of this stuff would grow on you, but the aforementioned Daft Punk or Air are more interesting and, well, French, if you like this kind of electronica (which I generally do). Apparently Albarn composed the album on the road while touring Plastic Beach on his iPad. I believe it. He's a man who clearly believes he can get away with anything and put it out. 'Amarillo' isn't a cover of the Tony Christie hit. That would have been hoping for too much. That's followed by a particularly irritating item, 'The Speak It Mountains'. A lot of spoken word which is slightly out of phase, like when you have a DAB and an FM radio on the same station at the same time, the DAB is always slightly behind. Well it's like that but probably more annoying because its intentional. Bobby Womack is back on 'Bobby In Phoenix', which is OK although the swampy acoustic guitar is ruined by the electronic backing in places. By the time we get to 'California And The Slipping Of The Sun', I'm too disinterested to be angry about the stupid noises and daft title. Just to rub salt into the wound the final 'Seattle Yodel' is everything you'd expect and worse. Sorry Son. You may well love it, but I can't be doing with this any more.	ITS OVER! FINALLY. One more album and I never have to think about this band again. And good riddance, too. This is also the only album I do not have prejudgements about. I only hope the quality is in contrast with the title, although how you fall further than Plastic Beach I do not know. Anyway, first is 'Phoner To Arizona', which, along with having a great title, breaks the trend of orchestral openings. I must say I quite like it. It’s fairly minimal with instruments, but it does work. Also, by popular demand, the return of time signatures. Its 4/4. Not much to say. Although the track is far too long, and isn’t diverse enough to maintain interest. Next up is 'Revolving Doors', which has some nice plinky plonky guitar. Albarn still can’t sing, however. It is quite nice, all things considered. I am beginning to feel good about this album. Don’t ruin this, Albarn! Strangely, its 8/8. Well, not strangely. It’s just 4/4 measured differently, but it’s still a nice change of pace. Now 'HillBilly Man' which sounds like it was improvised on the spot. The guitar is very simple, but eventually the entire tone changes to that of techno hip hop. No clue what Albarn is saying though. Mind speaking up a bit? I must admit, I find myself tapping along to this one. 4/4 I think. Might be 8/8, though. It’s a bit hard to make out. 'Detroit' starts with the sound of Albarn screaming during a dentist’s surgery, and continues with the sound of what would happen if Robocop joined a band, which, considering the name, may actually be a safe assumption. Definitely 4/4. Its ends a bit abruptly, though, even with a fade. 'Shy Town' is more funky techno goodness. I guess it may be a bit generic, but I quite like it. This might even be free time. There is no real beat to help, so… who knows. Still no clue what Albarn is on about, though. 'Little Pink Plastic Bags' is where it starts to get repetitive. It’s all simple drum loops that any fool with cu-base could put together. Weakest track so far, in my opinion. 'The Joplin Spider' is bizarre. It has some sampled voices at the beginning, which I have no idea what they are saying, and then you are hit with a synth tone that makes your head want to explode.  Again, no easily identified time signature. 'The Parish Of Space Dust' begins similarly, but instead of a jarring, grating synth tone, there are multiple synths layered and actually making noises that resemble music. Albarn’s voice is actually comprehensible for once, but that does not mean it is good. Not bad though. 'The Snake In Dallas' is weird. It’s got some elements of ska thrown in with the typical techno hip hop. I quite like it. 'Amarillo' now. And, no, this is not the way. Its got some nice, slightly bashy synthy guitars, that dissolve into the same synthetic monotony of the rest of the album. And yet I still kind of like it. Nothing special though. 5/4 (I reckon). 'The Speak It Mountains' starts with weird talking. It takes about 40 seconds to actually get to the song. And when you do, all you get is a phone ringtone. With no real beat, the time signature is slightly hard to make out. It feels like Albarn wants you to think this one is cleverer than it actually is, honestly. 'Aspen Forest' is kinda boring. Have you ever heard a scale played? Well, this is that. Over. And over. Nothing much to say. 4/4. Course it is. ‘Bobby In Phoenix” is a lot of twangy guitar. And it features Bobby Womack. His inclusion here is much better than he was in Plastic Beach. Again, can’t help but quite like this one. Very slow 4/4. ‘California and The Slipping Of the Sun’ once again has a bit of talking at the beginning, and a lot of weird synths, but, again, I quite like it. I feel like I sound like a broken record at this point, but I really don’t know what to say. Its decent. Not great, but certainly bearable. 4/4. It does eventually do some weird bouncy stuff though. I don’t know, honestly. Finally, (finally!) ‘Seattle Yodel’ which is just yodelling. Nothing to see here. And that’s Gorillaz. While I certainly don’t like them, I must say that their occupation of some part of “the mainstream” was good. The world needs something like this, no matter how crap, really. I still hate them though. Cover art is the bands singer sitting in front of a synthesiser. So, at least they were honest about its content.