Track Listing

1. History Song
2. 80s Life
3. Northern Whale
4. Kingdom Of Doom
5. Herculean
6. Behind The Sun
7. The Bunting Song
8. Nature Springs
9. A Soldier's Tale
10. Three Changes
11. Green Fields
12. The Good, The Bad And The Queen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2670 in Music
• Released on: 2007-01-22
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
If Damon Albarn has the one talent worth recognising, it's that he knows to surround himself with the right people. In his continued quest to shed the redundant image of Damo The Britpop Clown for something more serious, eclectic and influential, the danger that there isn't really enough of him to go around his various projects is constantly present. But in a masterstroke of staging that's never the primary concern. In Gorillaz he aligned himself with the cutting edge, wrapped himself in crayoned-on clothing and took the plaudits as his collaborators made the star turns. But he remained the natural and necessary constant. The Good, The Bad & The Queen (a one-off production rather a proper band, apparently) is an extension of that template, but feels more like Damon's show.

The distractions this time are Clash legend Paul Simonon, who prowls the shadows watching Damon's back, building a strong dub bass back-bone, and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen whose contributions are subtle but efficient. Oh, and Damon's session player of choice Simon Tong, formerly of The Verve. Together they weave a diverse, often beguiling and generally sombre strand of London-based woe, occasionally lifted by the intrinsic hope of the music like on the swelling sun-rise anthem "Herculean". The songs rarely kick through as with Blur and Gorillaz, instead retaining a steady quality and ambience, lead by Albarn's Small Faces-esque piano foundation, but "80s Life" and "Behind The Sun" are real highlights. --James Berry.

CD Description
The debut album from Damon Albarn's latest project incorporates bass playing from Paul Simonon of The Clash, drumming from the talented and revered Afro-beat star, Tony Allen and guitar work from former Verve man, Simon Tong. Production comes from Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley fame, while Albarn focuses on defining 21st Century London life across the album's twelve tracks. The singles 'Herculean' and 'Kingdom Of Doom' are included.

Customer Reviews

Dark Star
Can anyone think of any other British artist who's come up with three albums as diverse, melodic and soulful as Parklife, Demon Days and now The Good, the Bad and the Queen? No, nor can I. It's about time that Mr Albarn was recognised as a stellar British talent who has the innate ability to capture the mood of a nation but with the crucial and clinching evidence that he has the lyrics and melodies to go with it. If anyone had any doubts, this album should dispel them.
The Good, the Bad and the Queen is a loose, lingering experience shot through with grandiose messages and gorgeous melodies. It's London's dirty dozen compiled from the dark heart of a city unsure of itself after the Iraq War and the gathering gloom of terrorism and evnvironmental catastrophe.
It's a slow-burning, suggestive album that creeps up on you rather than hits you between the eyes but eventually it triumphs into a deep, intimate piece of work that demands attention and multiple listens.
Albarn has come a long way from the shiny happy Blur days to the current status of dark star but this growth and development has been nothing short of stunning. The Good, The Bad and The Queen is up there with his best work and has a wisdom and craftiness about it that it ultimately joyful and rewarding.

Enigmatic
If anything, the brilliance of Damon Albarn lies in his ability to reinvent himself while producing music that also is evolutionary and yet relevant. Just as Albarn succeeded (at least in my humble opinion) in divorcing himself and Blur from the media-concocted Brit-Pop Wars of the mid 90s by taking that project in an unanticipated directions while continuing to create excellent music, Albarn has done the same with his latest project, The Good, The Bad, and The Queen.

Just as with Gorillaz, Damon Albarn reaches into his musical palette to create his own sound based upon a variety of influences. While many will strain to find parallels for The Good, the Band and The Queen - I've read comparisons to aspects of Sandinista by The Clash and Blur's 13 - it's the composition of the band with Albarn at its apex that renders the music unique.

The musical foundation is provided by the rhythm section of Paul Simonon Simon Tong and Tony Allen who, as one reviewer noted, provide the music with an almost dub-like quality. As a consequence, the overall mood of the CD is more one of reflection upon the images being conveyed by Albarn's lyrics.

I'll leave it to someone else to provide a track-by-track breakdown of the CD. After repeated listening, I'm still attempting to get my arms around this one, which isn't a bad thing in these days of cookie-cutter music production and interchangeable pop stars produced by such cultural abominations as American Idol.

In a nutshell, The Good, the Bad and The Queen is music to drive by, to reflect by, to absorb and to feel. Five stars.

If you don't know it now then you will do....
Damon Albarn. Not an easy chap to affirm because he's never seemed sure what he was. Art school indie boy. Cockernee boy -gawd bless my dear old mum. Then Grungey geezer. Then Mali Music. And it all seemed somewhat affected.
But then the man's always had talent. He's just not had the straightforward means to display it.

Then comes TGTBATQ. Not a supergroup as such apparently, more of a project.

This is a great album with some fine songs on it.
The virtuoso Tony Allen, Fela Kuti the Afrobeat pioneer's former drummer, gives an amazing rhythmn backdrop to a number of the songs on here. In fact it seems that Allen's drumming appears too little. Paul Simonon's excellent bass and eerie backing vocals also make a welcome appearance.
"Kingdom Of Doom" is amazing. A quintessentially British peice of reflection set to an eerie, muddy but compelling musical backdrop.
Albarn's vocals are melancholic and effective.

This is not a coherent state of the nation address as such. More of a set of fascinating snapshots.
The lyrics are interesting and the music is convincing.

There are some excellent moments here and this album is well worth purchasing.
Possibly the finest release so far of 2007?