[GROUP PICK] We've covered a variety of concept albums in this podcast ranging from deeply personal stories, to epic fantasy tales... From bands that began as a concept to bands that eventually became a concept... But in the world of music, there is one concept that goes above and beyond the rest: Gorillaz. In March 2001, they debuted their first single "Clint Eastwood," with a music video to accompany it. The video spread across MTV and VH1 like wildfire, with its intense combination of 3D and 2D animation (pretty groundbreaking at the time) and fully formed characters in their own universe; full of graffiti, spirits, and zombie gorillas. Their debut album broke across genre boundaries and started an intriguing experiment: using Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett's characters 2-D, Noodle, Murdoc, and Russel, to create a fictitious band through which Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur) could reinvent himself. Through four music videos, they established these characters as the real members of the band, never letting slip the concept of the virtual band by highlighting themselves. For four years, some wondered if that was going to be a one off, flash in the pan gimmick, but according to Hewlett, "If you do it again, it's no longer a gimmick, and if it works then we've proved a point." In 2005, they proved their point with the release of Demon Days. Certified six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US, Demon Days is easily their most successful work to date, and with good reason. Both by enriching the characters and mythos of the Gorillaz universe and collaborating with some of the best in the industry, Albarn and Hewlett managed to fully realize the vision they set out to create, and prove that they had a whole lot more to offer. Join Brad, Scott, Jon, and special guest Trevor Kolden (friend of Jon) as they break down all the concepts in Demon Days.
Next Up: (06-01-20) Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden
(06-08-20) BONUS EPISODE Rush - 2112
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST NUMBER ONE: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Z67Ka5xedSfYIvWw6YNt4?si=GG5CAvtUQ0CWpr74gRn-_A
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