• Lammy 17 hours ago

    Thanks for posting this. I 'member seeing this video originally on MTV at like 3AM. Instantly captivated. I'm a huge fan to this day, but there's something uniquely special about all the Phase 1 stuff: the album, the B-sides (or “G” Sides lol), the explorable Flash Kong Studios site, the DVD, Jamie Hewlett's art†, the fact that the eponymous album as originally released is 55:55 (iykyk)

    There's also a track on Deltron 3030 (an album I liked a lot more when it was new than I do now) which I have tagged as “feat. 2-D” instead of “feat. Damon Albarn” because come on :p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxd_eDTbBMQ

    It's also kinda funny that 2D's entire existence is just a stupid pun on Robert Del (lol) Naja a.k.a. “3D” (a.k.a. Banksy?) from Massive Attack, although the later Gorillaz albums strayed from the trip-hop thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unTP4rn0nc4

    And RIP Gorillaz-Unofficial https://web.archive.org/web/20071222221958/http://www.gorill...

    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13ub5EfL6YHel5_Gn36v4...

    edit: and the art Jamie Hewlett is editing in the article's photo was part of the 19/2000 single: https://www.discogs.com/release/66714-Gorillaz-192000/image/...

    • kennyadam 16 hours ago

      What does 55:55 mean? I know ifkyk but idk and would like to k.

      • Lammy 16 hours ago

        I wish I could but literally can't explain it because it's something I came to know via symbology and not via words, so I don't have the words to try and pass it on to others :(

        Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.

        • kennyadam 3 hours ago

          I haven't, but it looks interesting so I'm grabbing a copy now :) Thank5555

          • zeven7 13 hours ago

            I cannot parse this response

            • glenngillen 8 hours ago

              Me either. Maybe it's referring to something like this: https://www.instagram.com/talkingnummbers9/p/ChAWR1utPOB/

              • Lammy 7 hours ago

                No not like that, like as a general term for the Media Industry™ as arbiters for what ideas you're allowed to see and hear, like 555 fake area code in movies, like in The Heretic Anthem, etc.

        • samplatt 11 hours ago

          >Deltron 3030 (an album I liked a lot more when it was new than I do now)

          I only discovered Deltron 3030 a couple of years ago, fucking love it. Why do you like it less now? Is there a controversy around it or him?

          • Lammy 10 hours ago

            Nah nothing like that. I still listen to it pretty often in fact. I feel like Deltron says what it wants to say, and I enjoy what it wants to say, but it never tells me anything new. I still find new interpretations in all of the Gorillaz albums in a way that keeps them fresher even though I have listened them all to death, especially eponymous and Plastic Beach.

            Gorillaz songs do a great job of saying a bunch of different things all layered together, like literally about the fictional band and simultaneously allegorically about capital-H Humanity and our collective perpetuity, the mortal coil, the [G]reat Work, whatever you want to call it. They're all super coded once you're willing to stop caring about the opinions of people who think it's weird/cringe to think about that kind of stuff.

            “Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is a great example of one I only recently feel like I “get” even though I've been listening to it for twenty years. Like, why Monkey? Just because Gorillaz, or have I looked in a mirror recently? Why a mountain? What shape are those, and where else have I encountered that shape? Without the truth of the eyes, I was blind. Probably still am to a lot of it :)

            Or “Saturnz Barz” where the title is about bars in a musical sense but also bars as in jail (hint: you're in it — we all are. They have Broken Our Love.)

          • tptacek 13 hours ago

            I don't think Robert Del Naja is Banksy? I think that's kind of an urban legend.

        • lbotos 18 hours ago

          Demon days 4 eva

          Gorillaz were an excellent exercise in reminding me as a youth that it was okay to build this sort of fantasy world and make it real. It was more than okay, it was cool.

          If anyone has the Japanese minidisc kids with guns and they wanna part with it https://www.discogs.com/release/16025872-Gorillaz-Kids-With-...

          my email is in my profile!

          • wrfrmers 17 hours ago

            >Guitar Hero 2 "Woman" Ad

            >The Beatles: Rock Band Trailer/Opening Movie

            >Motorcity

            >Tron: Uprising

            >Love, Death, and Robots: Ice

            I always forget if it was Candeland or the other guy who was prominent in early Gorillaz productions, but suffice it to say, those videos spawned quite the rad pedigree.

            EDIT: Forgot to add that, since this is a Gorillaz-related comment section, I'm obligated to state my personal esoteric theory that DD/PB/HZ constitute Albarn's attempt to reboot Dante's Divine Comedy. (Among all the other fantastic things those albums are.) (Think about it.)

            • chikenf00t 18 hours ago

              I remember as a kid putting that cd in my computer and driving the car from the "19-2000" music video around. The physics were so mind-boggling to me at the time. I loved it. This article is bringing back those memories.

              Actually, I'm not sure if that demo/game came from the CD or from a promo website. It's been so long I don't remember.

            • nsbk 17 hours ago

              Such cool videos. I listened to Gorillaz a lot when they first came out. Incidentally I’ve been listening to them lately as I’m learning to play the bass and the “Feel good inc.“ riff is super cool yet beginner friendly. By listening to it I got back into the band again

              • NKosmatos 17 hours ago

                Ahh... nostalgia. Gorillaz, one of my favorite bands and listened to Gorillaz, Demon Days and Plastic Beach many times.

                "I'm useless, but not for long

                The future is coming on"

              • tines 17 hours ago

                Damon Albarn is a genius, plain and simple.

                • _gnad_ 17 hours ago

                  Gorillaz are timeless. My teenage kids love them

                  • morkalork 16 hours ago

                    I saw both Gorillaz and Offspring a couple months apart at the same arena venue and I want to say they're all in their 50s and the difference in audience was wild. Damon Albarn has been very successful at staying relevant to the younger crowd.

                  • scyzoryk_xyz 5 hours ago

                    This is the video that defined my identity as a teen.

                    • zichy 17 hours ago

                      Three more facts about the song Clint Eastwood:

                      1. The drum beat is just the Rock 1 preset of the Suzuki Omnichord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDX6l9_58RA

                      2. Del tha Funkee Homosapien wrote the full lyrics in 30 minutes with the help of the book "How to Write a Hit Song": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2qSq6NpNY#t=373

                      3. The first version of the song didn't feature Del, but the British group Phi Life Cypher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM-DK3b5yuo

                      • autoexec 17 hours ago

                        > The drum beat is just the Rock 1 preset of the Suzuki Omnichord

                        I wonder if you need to pay royalties or get permission for that kind of thing... or is license to use it commercially included in the price of the instrument?

                        • acomjean 10 hours ago

                          This came up recently, but generally musical instruments include a license for any music performance with that instrument.

                          Includes: "STYLES, VOICES, PERFORMANCES, PATTERNS, ARPEGGIOS"

                          https://usa.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/proprietary_rights_notic...

                          There are limits to prevent copying of raw sounds and reselling.

                          • KerrAvon 15 hours ago

                            IANAL, but you don't need a license to publish yourself playing a piano or a guitar, and synthesizers are also musical instruments. That said, I'm not sure that's ever been tested in court, so if someone wanted to be a right-wing asshole about it, like take over Suzuki and try to get royalties from every hit song that used it, I guess it might be interesting.

                          • Lammy 11 hours ago

                            So that's the Left Hand Suzuki Method? :v

                          • Quiza12 16 hours ago

                            Aside from the numerous So Fresh instalments, Demon Days might have been the first CD my brothers and I played to death. Timeless.

                            • nicebyte 16 hours ago

                              I was 11 or 12 when I first saw Clint Eastwood and the video + the song lived in my head rent free. Genius work, and aged well.

                              • Anon4Now 17 hours ago

                                I loved that song and never saw the video. I don't think a video made any band famous since the MTV era.

                                • boomboomsubban 16 hours ago

                                  >I don't think a video made any band famous since the MTV era.

                                  Gangnam Style?

                                  • hiccuphippo 16 hours ago

                                    Was Ok Go's Here it goes again after the MTV era?

                                    • 9dev 15 hours ago

                                      Right at the end. Loved that one.

                                  • CodeCompost 18 hours ago

                                    I know they were a hugely popular band, but I the only song I know is the one from the video.

                                    • 9283409232 18 hours ago

                                      Gorillaz are still massive and were Grammy nominated last year.

                                      • zoklet-enjoyer 18 hours ago

                                        You're missing out! Gorillaz, Demon Days, and Plastic Beach are all great albums. Their other albums are ok. Blur is a great band too, pretty sure I like all of their albums.

                                        Also, if you like that rap verse, check out Del the Funky Homosapien/Deltron

                                        • tptacek 13 hours ago

                                          If you love Demon Days and Plastic Beach, one of the things you probably also love (know it or not) is De La Soul.

                                          • ZeroGravitas 6 hours ago

                                            De La Soul for legal contractual reasons didn't have their music on any streaming services until recently so a good time to revisit or to discover them.

                                          • muziq 17 hours ago

                                            Deltron 3030 is one of the most amazing things ever!

                                            • mars009 18 hours ago

                                              Yeah Gorillaz is my favorite band and this video was the beginning of the journey. Remember watching it and being blown away by the music and the video itself

                                            • seneca 18 hours ago

                                              I think they're bigger in the UK. Super creative band, I wish they got more recognition, even though I don't really listen to them myself.

                                            • ericzawo 16 hours ago

                                              Such an amazing band. Thanks for sharing.

                                              • ultimoo 17 hours ago

                                                Feel Good Inc.