Gorillaz - Gorillaz

Gorillaz - Gorillaz: 2015, Gatefold, Vinyl

The great strength of GORILLAZ's first album is to hook the listener with a series of immediate pop tracks ("Re-Hash", "5/4", Tomorrow Comes Today" and "New Genious (Brother)"), then to carry him away in a whirlwind of genres and samples. There is reggae on "Man Research (Clapper)", hip-hop on "Sound Check (Gravity)", energetic rock on "Punk", Cuban music on "Latin Simone (¿Qué pasa con tigo?)", etc., etc. Each guest brings his little stone to the building. The members of Talking Heads, the producer Dan the Automator, the Japanese Miho Hatori, the rapper Del the Funky Homosapien or the DJ Kid Koala.

GORILLAZ shows pop as it should always be: free, catchy, daring. Not all the songs are unforgettable ("Starshine", "Slow Country"), but the amount of talent and inventiveness deployed is worthy of admiration. The 2D band and its pretty drawings could have been nothing more than a playground phenomenon. In fact, it's quite the opposite. More than a decade after its release, the first GORILLAZ is still an ode to eclecticism and a beautiful proof of Damon ALBARN 's protean talent.