Gorillaz (album)

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Gorillaz
Gorillaz cover
Studio album by Gorillaz
Released 26 March 2001, (United Kingdom)
24 April 2001 and 19 June 2001 (United States)
Recorded 1 December 1998–2000
Genre Alternative rock
Alternative hip hop
Electronica
Trip hop
Britpop
Length 73:55
Label Parlophone, Virgin
Producer Tom Girling, Jason Cox, Dan the Automator, Gorillaz
Professional reviews
Gorillaz chronology
Tomorrow Comes Today
(2000)		 Gorillaz
(2001)		 G-Sides
(2002)

Gorillaz is the eponymous debut album by Gorillaz, released in March 2001. It includes the singles "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Rock the House" and "Tomorrow Comes Today". The album reached #3 in the UK, and was an unexpected hit in the U.S., hitting #14 and selling over 6 million copies.

Contents

[edit] Album information

Throughout the album the band experiments with many combinations of genres, including hip-hop, rock, Latin, punk and reggae.

Gorillaz was released as an Enhanced CD that includes a short movie and access to Murdoc's Winnebago via a download at murdocswinnebago.com, which is now accessible by simply going on the Kong Studios online tour.

In 2004, the album was packaged with 2002's Laika Come Home in a limited edition box set as part of EMI's "2CD Originals" collection.

The beginning of the song "M1A1" features a sound clip from the movie, Day of the Dead.

The song "Slow Country" features a sample from The Specials' 1981 single Ghost Town.

A sampled loop from "In the Hall of the Mountain Queen" by Raymond Scott is repeated throughout the song "Man Research (Clapper)." The song's title is a nod to Raymond Scott's Manhattan Research, Inc. [1]

The song "Clint Eastwood (Ed Case remix)" was used in a bump for PBS.

[edit] Reception

Professional reviews:

  • Rolling Stone (6/21/01, p.78) – 3 stars out of 5 - "A playful piece of genre-squishing art pop. Inspired by the punky reggae parties of Sandinista!-era Clash....running with anything-goes avant-aesthetic."
  • Spin (1/02, p.76) - Ranked #6 in Spin's "Albums of the Year 2001" - Spin (6/01, p.148) – 7 out of 10 -"A multiculti grasp of the sweetest kind....Easy on the ears because they know the difference between calling people up and casting them."
  • Q (5/01, p.115) – 4 stars out of 5 - "With its creepily urban feel, and innocent, nursery-rhyme quality of the melodies, Gorillaz couldn't be further from a self-consciously arch 'art' supergroup."
  • Magnet (6-7/01, pp.89-90) - "Nothing short of sheer musical buggery."
  • Muzik (5/01, p.66) – 5 out of 5 - "Genre-splicing, sample-collaging, spliffed-out hip hop...standing head and shoulders over anything Blur have ever achieved...and even overshadows much of Dan The Automator's recent output."
  • Mojo (4/01, p.98) - "A funky...meld of dub, reggae, hip hop, world music, pop and thrash punk....Electric, upbeat, and actually very good."
  • NME (12/29/01, p.59) - Ranked #48 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Re-Hash" – 3:38
  2. "5/4" – 2:41
  3. "Tomorrow Comes Today" – 3:13
  4. "New Genious (Brother)" – 3:57
  5. "Clint Eastwood" – 5:41
  6. "Man Research (Clapper)" – 4:29
  7. "Punk" – 1:36
  8. "Sound Check (Gravity)" – 4:40
  9. "Double Bass" – 4:44
  10. "Rock the House" – 4:09
  11. "19-2000" – 3:27
  12. "Latin Simone (¿Qué Pasa Contigo?)" – 3:36
  13. "Starshine" – 3:31
  14. "Slow Country" – 3:35
  15. "M1 A1" – 3:55

[edit] Bonus tracks

  • "Clint Eastwood" (Ed Case remix, unindexed bonus track on nearly all releases) – 4:29
  • "Dracula" (bonus track on U.S. release) – 3:42
  • "Left Hand Suzuki Method" (bonus track on U.S. release) – 3:09
  • "19-2000" (Soulchild remix, bonus track on European release and re-release) – 3:30

[edit] Singles and EPs

  • "Tomorrow Comes Today" (EP) released before the album was released, a promo video was also released.
  • "Clint Eastwood" was the first single from the album. It was released on 4 March 2001, just a few weeks before the album and peaked at #3 in the UK and #57 in the United States.
  • "19-2000" was the second single, released in June 2001. Peaked at #6 in the UK charts.
  • "Rock the House" was the third single, released in October 2001. Peaked at #18 in the UK charts.
  • "Tomorrow Comes Today" was the fourth and final single from the album, released almost a year after the album, in February 2002. It peaked at #33 in the UK charts. A DVD, a white-label and a CD-single were released. Prior to the release of Gorillaz, "Tomorrow Comes Today" had been released as an EP on 27 November 2000.

[edit] Release history

The album was released in various countries in 2001.

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom March 26. 2001 Parlophone CD 5311380
LP 5311381
Japan 11 April 2001 Toshiba-EMI CD TOCP 65676
United States 19 June 2001 Virgin Records America CD 7243 5 33748 0 8
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Gorillaz
2D · Murdoc Niccals · Noodle · Russel Hobbs
Albums & EPs
Remix & Compilations
DVDs
Singles
Interview albums
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