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PO Now: Gorillaz - Humanz (Also the 'OG' Discussion Thread)


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4 minutes ago, NapalmBrain said:

We got the promo cd in yesterday at work, was really let down. All the other 3 Gorillaz albums were instant classics to me, this one was a struggle to even get through. Not one song got stuck in my head or demanded my attention. Glad other people are enjoying/excited but had I blind bought I'd have been disappointed severely.

Yo, do you work at KCOU? Or BXR or something? I'm originally from the Columbia area!

Seems like a lot of people are on the fence with this release. I LOVE it.

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2 minutes ago, erikness said:

Yo, do you work at KCOU? Or BXR or something? I'm originally from the Columbia area!

Seems like a lot of people are on the fence with this release. I LOVE it.

Vinyl Renaissance & Audio. We got our monthly promo shipment for our program, we have new releases that rotate each month on CD. Checked out Gorillaz, Slowdive, Blondie, Chris Robinson Brotherhood and part of the Bob's Burgers comp yesterday.

 

Glad you like it, I just think the modern pop/r&b influence doesn't really do it for me. Not enough Damon, too much guests. I'm sure I'll hear it many more times and have a more concrete opinion.

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1 hour ago, NapalmBrain said:

Glad you like it, I just think the modern pop/r&b influence doesn't really do it for me. Not enough Damon, too much guests. I'm sure I'll hear it many more times and have a more concrete opinion.

Sorry you're feeling that way man. Its funny cause that little Damon, too many guests was my initial complaint about Plastic Beach. Now it's one of my favorite albums ever even after the fact that I knew there was more (and possibly better) material. After PB,  I sorta realized that the more collabs, less 2D is the same modus operandi of Massive Attack, another band I love that has shifted more to collabs than 3D or Daddy G still. I guess it's just awesome that Damon can get a diverse cast and have some really fun jams with them. There are some half-baked stuff (Carnival is a longer track live with a Damon section) but this album grooves the album and then is over. Highly recommend you hear the deluxe version as the bonus tracks gives the album an epilogue. It does suck however that Damon can't make everyone happy. Since DD, it seems like every release after has alienated a certain portion of the fanbase. Hopefully Humanz is a grower album for some.

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2 hours ago, NapalmBrain said:

All the other 3 Gorillaz albums were instant classics to me, this one was a struggle to even get through. Not one song got stuck in my head or demanded my attention. Glad other people are enjoying/excited but had I blind bought I'd have been disappointed severely.

Ditto.

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Playing through this album feels like a V/A compilation which occasionally features Damon Albarn. I know he said that it's supposed to be an album about how different people handle the end of the world or whatever, but that doesn't make it enjoyable and it doesn't really excuse as much as it explains the lack of the prominent artist. These are club hits. This is a party album.

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8 minutes ago, ethereal said:

I feel really bad for anyone who bought that dumb $500 box lol 

 

Yeah, I impulsively spent $380 on an autographed Deluxe box and am leaning towards canceling. The album was going to have to be really good for me to justify that price (which would still be insane) but I'm truthfully just not loving much of anything on this album. Thankfully PayPal pre-orders come at no risk for the buyer, so yeah.

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and the hype dissipates faster than it even manifested itself. i knew people just came out of the woodwork for this because of the demon days repress. brilliant strategy by whoever is managing these guys. lets be honest, other than hearing them on the jukebox once in a while, everyone forgot about them until this year (or should have).

Edited by rogeoa8
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I enjoyed my first listen-through. I will say that, if I didn't enjoy most of the featured guests, I probably wouldn't have been into this album as much. I wish Damon had a few more vocal parts, but I wouldn't say that there "isn't enough" Damon on the album. Production is cool, weird, as expected. Idk. I enjoyed it and I think it'll grow more. I'll pick it up in store this weekend, assuming it's there.

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29 minutes ago, lethalenforcer said:

 

Yeah, I impulsively spent $380 on an autographed Deluxe box and am leaning towards canceling. The album was going to have to be really good for me to justify that price (which would still be insane) but I'm truthfully just not loving much of anything on this album. Thankfully PayPal pre-orders come at no risk for the buyer, so yeah.

Same.  I don't hate the album, and it'll play well in my car (the production bumps) - but I did the impulsive purchase as well and might cancel.  Just trying to figure out how much value the autograph really adds to it. 

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I can understand not liking the songs. I don't understand the V/A complaint at all though. Do you guys not remember that you had to get thru the first 3 tracks to even really hear Damon on PB? The majority of the tracks are either collab focused or him backing up others much like Humanz. RE, OMH, Broken, PB, and Pirate Jet out of 16 are the Damon only tracks and that's towards the backhalf of the album. Also Doncamatic and DoYaThing are both tracks that continued down this more electronic and collab heavy route too. The Fall was a break from the collabs mostly but that also still was electronic focused. Kinda surprised that people seemed sideswiped by this. Humanz at least has him on vocals on 10 of the 14 tracks so I think it's more how people are feeling about the production and style of the tracks more than there's a lack of 2D. That I can't fault people for not liking. But yeah if you're not feeling the album and you spent the money on the boxset, it's probably best for you to downgrade sooner than later. I'm still motivated because I'm really curious about the alternate versions and I like getting into Damon's mind with how these tracks were developed.

Edited by Vector53
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37 minutes ago, lethalenforcer said:

 

Yeah, I impulsively spent $380 on an autographed Deluxe box and am leaning towards canceling. The album was going to have to be really good for me to justify that price (which would still be insane) but I'm truthfully just not loving much of anything on this album. Thankfully PayPal pre-orders come at no risk for the buyer, so yeah.

i may cancel as well....

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29 minutes ago, rogeoa8 said:

lets be honest, other than hearing them on the jukebox once in a while, everyone forgot about them until this year (or should have).

Nope. Gorillaz is played quite frequently  in this house. Its a nice break from Metal/Rock/Classic Rock etc.

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19 minutes ago, Vector53 said:

I can understand not liking the songs. I don't understand the V/A complaint at all though. Do you guys not remember that you had to get thru the first 3 tracks to even really hear Damon on PB? The majority of the tracks are either collab focused or him backing up others much like Humanz. RE, OMH, Broken, PB, and Pirate Jet out of 16 are the Damon only tracks and that's towards the backhalf of the album. Also Doncamatic and DoYaThing are both tracks that continued down this more electronic and collab heavy route too. The Fall was a break from the collabs mostly but that also still was electronic focused. Kinda surprised that people seemed sideswiped by this. Humanz at least has him on vocals on 10 of the 14 tracks so I think it's more how people are feeling about the production and style of the tracks more than there's a lack of 2D. That I can't fault people for not liking. But yeah if you're not feeling the album and you spent the money on the boxset, it's probably best for you to downgrade sooner than later. I'm still motivated because I'm really curious about the alternate versions and I like getting into Damon's mind with how these tracks were developed.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know what people were expecting with this.  this is not some massive departure from the last 3 albums. I can see going "wtf" if you have been in a coma since s/t. 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm halfway though the album and the only clunker is the De La Soul track. Grace Jones was a pretty pointless feature too.

 

Edited by timsimmons
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9 minutes ago, timsimmons said:

Yeah, I mean, I don't know what people were expecting with this.

Probably a good album?

 

10 minutes ago, timsimmons said:

this is not some massive departure from the last 3 albums. I can see going "wtf" if you have been in a coma since s/t.

"Gorillaz have gotten worse over the last 3 albums so I don't see why you guys are surprised that they're continuing the trend."

 

Is that what you're saying?  Because it feels like that's what you're saying.

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18 minutes ago, timsimmons said:

Yeah, I mean, I don't know what people were expecting with this.  this is not some massive departure from the last 3 albums. I can see going "wtf" if you have been in a coma since s/t. 

People slept on Plastic Beach that's for sure. That album didn't set the world on fire in terms of sales as it barely limped to over a million copies awhile ago, a huge far cry from DD and S/T sales. Stylo flopped as a single. OMH wasn't doing so hot as a single until Miley Cyrus was covering it at a show and people got super into it. It's just becoming different strokes for folks. I wouldn't lie that I would love Damon to have actual instrumentation on certain songs and maybe even bring back the dub from S/T, but I can't really argue with the product as is because I like it. But again, that's not everyone's opinion ie Derek's right above me right now.

Edited by Vector53
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9 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

Probably a good album?

 

"Gorillaz have gotten worse over the last 3 albums so I don't see why you guys are surprised that they're continuing the trend."

 

Is that what you're saying?  Because it feels like that's what you're saying.

Not at all. Just that their sound has changed since s/t.  But soundwise, this isn't a huge departure from DD, PB and Fall. 

 

But if you don't like the songs, it is what it is. 

Edited by timsimmons
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3 minutes ago, timsimmons said:

Not at all. Just that their sound has changed since s/t.  But soundwise, this isn't a huge departure from DD, PB and Fall. 

Progression isn't necessarily bad, I agree.  I know that the majority of the thread isn't too impressed with the album, but I'll still reserve a lot of my Gorillaz critiquing.  I'll simply say that there's an interesting excerpt of an interview floating around, where Damon basically admits that his teenage daughter had a lot of influence of Humanz and what he was trying to accomplish with it, as far as catering to her tastes.  Seems like it fits.

 

I'm just really glad no one is out $300+. 

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10 minutes ago, lethalenforcer said:

 

Nice! Love that the book is just completely seperated from the vinyl and it is its own thing. Assuming that's what Jamie will sign. I guess we'll see if they do anything with the outer packaging later. Pretty sure it'll be some like Pazuzu's face or something like that.

Edited by Vector53
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