The Fall | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 25 December 2010 | |||
Recorded | 3 October – 3 November 2010 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:28 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Gorillaz chronology | ||||
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Damon Albarn chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Fall | ||||
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The Fall is the fourth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was announced on 20 December 2010 and released as a download for members of the Gorillaz fan club on 25 December 2010. This was followed by a wider physical release of the album on 19 April 2011.
Co-founder Damon Albarn recorded The Fall during the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour using an iPad and a few additional instruments. The album features fewer guest artists than previous Gorillaz albums;collaborators include Bobby Womack,and Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash. Critics praised the album's experimental qualities but felt that it lacked the feel of previous Gorillaz albums. It charted in various countries and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard 200.
The Fall was recorded on group co-founder Damon Albarn's iPad over 32 days during the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour in October 2010 and mixed in England by Stephen Sedgwick. Other instruments that were used includes a qanun,a Korg vocoder,a ukulele,a microKORG,an Omnichord,a Minimoog Voyager,a melodica,a guitar,a piano and a Korg Monotron. [4] Albarn said of the recording:"I literally made it on the road. I didn't write it before,I didn't prepare it. I just did it day by day as a kind of diary of my experience in America. If I left it until the New Year to release it then the cynics out there would say,'Oh well,it's been tampered with',but if I put it out now they'd know that I haven't done anything because I've been on tour ever since." [5]
The album includes four guest artists,three of which have worked with Albarn before. Mick Jones and Bobby Womack appeared on the previous Gorillaz album Plastic Beach ,as did Paul Simonon,who also worked on Albarn's project The Good,the Bad &the Queen. [6] American singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. recorded a track with Albarn while touring together which did not appear on the album. [7]
The album was first announced on 20 December 2010 as a holiday gift to fans. [8] On 22 December,the music video for "Phoner to Arizona",which consists of a compilation of footage and images taken from the tour and the phase,was posted on YouTube as a way to promote the album. [9] The album was first released to stream for free on the Gorillaz website on 25 December;it was available as a download for paying members of the band's Sub-Division club,a premium access campaign the band ran throughout 2010. [10] The album was given an official release on 19 April 2011. [11]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 6.6/10 [12] |
Metacritic | 67/100 [13] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
The A.V. Club | B+ [15] |
Consequence of Sound | [16] |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [17] |
The Guardian | [18] |
NME | 8/10 [19] |
Pitchfork Media | 5.8/10 [20] |
PopMatters | [21] |
Rolling Stone | [22] |
Slant Magazine | [23] |
The Fall received mixed to positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic,which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,The Fall has an average score of 67,based on 25 reviews,which indicates "generally favorable reviews". [13] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 6.6 out of 10,based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [12] Praise focused on the album's unique qualities and experimental nature,with Rolling Stone stating that the album was "a wistfully spaced-out,subtly cheeky spin on the road-trip epic" [22] and NME calling it "quiet but ambitious". [10] However,some critics felt that it lacked the offerings of previous Gorillaz albums,with The Guardian stating that it was "oddly out of character" compared to Plastic Beach. [18]
All tracks are written by Damon Albarn
No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
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1. | "Phoner to Arizona" | 3 October, Montreal | 4:14 |
2. | "Revolving Doors" | 5 October, Boston | 3:26 |
3. | "Hillbilly Man" | 10 and 11 October, Camden and Fairfax | 3:50 |
4. | "Detroit" | 13 October, Detroit | 2:03 |
5. | "Shy-Town" | 15 October, Chicago | 2:54 |
6. | "Little Pink Plastic Bags" | 16 October, Chicago | 3:09 |
7. | "The Joplin Spider" | 18 October, Joplin | 3:22 |
8. | "The Parish of Space Dust" | 19 October, Houston | 2:25 |
9. | "The Snake in Dallas" | 20 October, Dallas | 2:11 |
10. | "Amarillo" | 23 October, Amarillo | 3:24 |
11. | "The Speak It Mountains" | 24 October, Denver | 2:14 |
12. | "Aspen Forest" | 25 October and 3 November, Santa Fe and Vancouver | 2:50 |
13. | "Bobby in Phoenix" (featuring Bobby Womack) | 26 October, Phoenix | 3:16 |
14. | "California and the Slipping of the Sun" | 30 October, Oakland | 3:24 |
15. | "Seattle Yodel" | 2 November, Seattle | 0:38 |
Total length: | 43:28 |
Sample credits
Credits adapted from the liner notes for The Fall [4] and Tidal. [24]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Gorillaz are a British virtual band created in 1998 by British musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in media such as music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz's music has featured collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.
Damon Albarn is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is the frontman and main lyricist of the rock band Blur and the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz.
13 is the sixth studio album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released on 15 March 1999. Continuing the stylistic shift away from the Britpop sound of the band's early career, 13 explores experimental, psychedelic and electronic music.
Gorillaz is the debut studio album by English virtual band Gorillaz, released on 26 March 2001 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and June 19, 2001 in the United States by Virgin Records. The album reached number three in the UK and number fourteen in the US, later being certified platinum in the US and triple-platinum in the UK. Gorillaz has sold over seven million copies worldwide. The album's success earned the group an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Successful Virtual Band", and spawned the singles "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Rock the House", and "Tomorrow Comes Today".
Laika Come Home is a remix album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released in July 2002. Unlike a typical remix album, it is done by just one group, Spacemonkeyz. It contains most of the songs from Gorillaz' first album, Gorillaz, but remixed in dub and reggae style. The album features Terry Hall, U Brown, Earl Sixteen and 2-D. One single, "Lil' Dub Chefin'", was released from the album on 22 July 2002, with moderate success. The limited edition was packed in digipak, featuring two hidden tracks. In 2004, the album was packaged with 2001's Gorillaz in a box set as part of EMI's "2CD Originals" collection. The album's title is a reference to Laika, the Soviet space dog, and the film Lassie Come Home. The album contains mixes of every song on the original album except "Double Bass", "Latin Simone ", and "Rock the House".
Demon Days is the second studio album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 11 May 2005 in Japan and 23 May 2005 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and May 24, 2005 in the United States by Virgin Records. Produced by Gorillaz, Danger Mouse, Jason Cox, and James Dring, it features De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF DOOM, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder and Dennis Hopper.
"Clint Eastwood" is a song by English virtual band Gorillaz, released as the first single from their self-titled debut album on 5 March 2001. The song is named after the actor of the same name due to its similarity to the theme music of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The song is a mix of electronic music, dub, hip hop and rock. The verses are rapped by Del the Funky Homosapien, portrayed as a blue phantom in the video, while the chorus is sung by Damon Albarn.
Plastic Beach is the third studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 3 March 2010 by Parlophone internationally and by Virgin Records in the United States. Conceived from an unfinished project called Carousel, the album was recorded from June 2008 to November 2009, and was produced primarily by group co-creator Damon Albarn. It features guest appearances by such artists as Snoop Dogg, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Lou Reed, Mark E. Smith, Bashy, Kano, and Little Dragon.
Jeffrey Wootton is an English musician, guitarist and songwriter from Manchester. He has been the lead guitarist in the Gorillaz live band since 2010.
The solo discography of British musician Damon Albarn consists of four collaboration albums, four soundtrack albums, three extended plays and twelve singles. Also included are releases by Albarn's various side-projects and groups such as Mali Music, The Good the Bad & the Queen, Monkey, DRC Music and Rocket Juice & the Moon. Most of Albarn's work is either released by Honest Jon's Records, Parlophone or EMI Records.
The Bravest Man in the Universe is the twenty-seventh and final studio album by the American soul artist Bobby Womack. Released on June 12, 2012, it was his first studio album since 2000 and his first album of original material since 1994's Resurrection. It was produced by Damon Albarn and Richard Russell and released on the UK-based XL Recordings label. The Bravest Man in the Universe is the final album to be released in Womack's lifetime, as The Best Is Yet to Come will be released posthumously.
Everyday Robots is the debut solo studio album by British musician Damon Albarn, best known as the frontman of Blur and Gorillaz. Described by Albarn as his "most personal record", the album was co-produced by Richard Russell and released on 25 April 2014. It features guest contributions from musician and producer Brian Eno, singer Natasha Khan and the Leytonstone City Mission Choir. It was nominated for the 2014 Mercury Prize for best album.
The Magic Whip is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was recorded in Hong Kong and London, and released by Parlophone on 27 April 2015 and Warner Bros. Records on 28 April 2015. It was the band's first studio album in 12 years since Think Tank (2003), marking the longest gap between studio albums in Blur's career, and the first in 16 years since 13 (1999) to have featured the original line-up. The album also marks the return of the band's longtime producer Stephen Street following Blur (1997).
Humanz is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 28 April 2017 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album was announced on the band's official Instagram page on 23 March 2017. According to a press release, it was recorded in London, Paris, New York City, Chicago, and Jamaica, and was produced by The Twilite Tone and Remi Kabaka Jr. It was the band's first studio album since 2010's The Fall, and features collaborations with Jehnny Beth, Grace Jones, Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, Popcaan, D.R.A.M., Anthony Hamilton, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Kelela, Mavis Staples, Pusha T, and Benjamin Clementine.
The Now Now is the sixth studio album recorded by the British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 29 June 2018 via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. Recording for the album began in late 2017 – according to Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn, it was recorded quickly so the band would have new material to play at future concerts.
Merrie Land is the second and final studio album by English art rock supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen. It was produced by Tony Visconti and released on 16 November 2018.
The Good, the Bad & the Queen were an English art rock supergroup composed of singer Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, bassist Paul Simonon of the Clash, guitarist Simon Tong of the Verve, and drummer Tony Allen of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70. They released their self-titled debut album in 2007. Their second album, Merrie Land, coproduced with Tony Visconti, was released in 2018. They disbanded in 2019.
Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez is the seventh studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 23 October 2020 via Parlophone and Warner Records. The album was released as the culmination of Gorillaz' Song Machine project, a web series consisting of a collection of singles and music videos, dubbed "episodes" each featuring different guest artists. The album marked the return of the character Murdoc Niccals in promotional material, after his absence from The Now Now in 2018. The record received positive reviews from music critics. Slowthai, Slaves, Fatoumata Diawara, Peter Hook, Georgia, Octavian, ScHoolboy Q, Robert Smith, Elton John, 6lack, Beck, Leee John, St. Vincent, Kano, and Roxani Arias, among others, appears as the collaborators on the album.
Cracker Island is the eighth studio album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 24 February 2023 via Parlophone and Warner Records. It features collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown and Beck. A deluxe edition was released with additional tracks featuring De La Soul, MC Bin Laden, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dawn Penn.
The Ballad of Darren is the ninth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was released on 21 July 2023 by Parlophone and Warner Records. The album's songs were written by frontman Damon Albarn in 2022 while on tour with Gorillaz, and composed by Albarn and the rest of the band. It was produced by James Ford at Studio 13 in London and Devon. It is Blur's first album since The Magic Whip (2015), and their shortest album, with a runtime under 40 minutes. The album's artwork features a 2004 photograph of a man swimming alone in the Gourock Outdoor Pool in Gourock, Scotland, taken by Martin Parr. Its title refers to Darren "Smoggy" Evans, the band's longtime bodyguard.
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