The virtual band, Gorillaz, is back with its eighth studio album, ‘Cracker Island’ and I know that you are all wondering “what does my favorite music reviewer Ben think of this?” Well, I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to just spread my legs and give you all my secrets. Read on and learn more about the Gorillaz and ‘Cracker Island’.
Background
In 2001, the group was unleashed onto the music scene with their self-titled album, ‘Gorillaz’. The album peaked at number 3 in the UK and launched the band into the popular limelight. Gorillaz has gone on to drop ‘Demon Days’ and ‘Plastic Beach’, both of which are just a few examples of the success that the band has had. Gorillaz has become the most recognizable virtual band in the world. The Gorillaz’s portfolio is powerful, and fans have been waiting with anticipation for the group's newest release.
But before we get down to brass tacks, who are the Gorillaz? The band is depicted as four fictional characters consisting of Murdoc Niccals (bass), 2-D (vocals), Noodle (lead guitar), and Russel Hobbs (drums), but don’t let the monkeys fool you, they are not real people unfortunately. The man behind the curtain is Damon Albarn. Albarn is a British man who formed the group in 1998. Damon is a seriously accomplished musician. Before the Gorillaz, he was the lead singer for the widely famous Blur. Now he provides the vocals and many instruments for the Gorillaz. The difference between the two supergroups is remarkable, but this goes to show the talent and creativity of Albarn and those he has worked with.
Review
The album starts us with the title track ‘Cracker Island’ with Thunder Cat. This is the first time Gorillaz and Thunder Cat have worked together and many would imagine that the two’s sound would work well together. The song itself is fine, if I didn’t see that Thunder Cat on this, I would have never known. What I mean is that the song sounds like any other Gorillaz song, which is fine, but Thunder Cat is no joke of a feature. Listening to this track it seems to me that Thunder Cat’s portion of the production was buried under the rest of the song with his signature bassy sound being buried. Quick aside, When I heard the line ‘They taught themselves to be occult, They didn't know its many strategies’ for the first time I thought Albarn said cow and not occult and I was like “wow that is one smart cow”.
Now is a good time to talk about the rest of the features on this album. There is a powerhouse lineup; Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Beck, Thunder Cat, and Tama Impala are the album’s hardest hitters and the deluxe version of the album has even more. Nick’s vocals on ‘Oil’ are just hearable behind Albarn’s and have the same problem as the title track with Nick’s feature feeling more like an afterthought. But, I will say that the other features on this album feel like a good blend of all the artists. ‘New Gold’ marries the Tama Impala and Gorillaz sound quite nicely with a good performance from Bootie Brown. The same can be said for ‘Possesion Island’ where Beck and Gorillaz come together nicely to make a sound that feels like both put effort into. I think the best feature on this album is the Bad Bunny feature on ‘Tormenta’. With a great vocal performance from Bad Bunny and instruments that complement the Bunny’s sound nicely from Gorillaz, this track feels like a happy marriage between the two artists.
This album is divisive in the way that the band does not do much to stretch beyond the bounds of Gorillaz’s signature sound and instead seeks to hone and perfect it. If you love the Gorillaz sound, then this is a dream come true, but if you were hoping to see the band explore new ideas, there will be none of that to be found here. This may be a positive to some and it may be nothing close to thrilling to others. Personally, I can see merit in the wanting to stick to roots, but this band was built upon its ability to innovate and create a new sound. And while there is a little bit of that sprinkled throughout the album, it would have been nice to hear more.
Ending on a positive, a huge strength of this album is Alburn’s lyrics. Gorillaz is in no short supply of songs with great lyrics, and this album only adds to their repertoire. Each and every song on ‘Cracker Island’ is laden with good storytelling and clever lyrics.
Final Thoughts
‘Cracker Island’ has a lot of strengths and a lot of weaknesses. The album doesn’t show much growth in terms of sound for Gorillaz, and many of the features are not well used. Some songs like ‘Cracker Island’ sounded alright at best. The album does however have some features that are used well like Bad Bunny. Gorillaz’s ability to mesh other sounds with their own is impressive, but leaves a longing taste in my mouth and leaves me wondering what else could have been done if that talent had been taken further in other songs. The lyricism on this album is great as always and ‘New Gold’, ‘Silent Running’, and ‘Tormenta’ are the best tracks off of this album for me. Overall, Gorillaz’s ‘Cracker Island’ is a mixed bag of an album, but there are still certainly merits here. I would give ‘Cracker Island’ by Gorillaz a 7/10.