G Sides

by

Gorillaz

Edit

G-Sides is a nice remix album and if you are a fan of the original Gorrilaz album, you should definitely pick this one up. If you aren't, you probably won't like this one and if you have never heard the Gorillaz, you should check out their first album before you buy this one as it provides a richer and fuller base from which to judge their music.

G-Sides contains only nine tracks. Two of them feel somewhat sub-par next to the others (the Wiseguys remix of 19-2000 and Ghost Train), but several of them are fantastic (the Soul Child remix of 19-2000, Latin Simone, and the Phi Life Cypher remix of Clint Eastwood). The Clint Eastwood remix is essentially unrelated to the original once you move past the bass line, but it is still a fantastic song, so who cares. The rest of the album is solid and 12D3 especially is almost hit material.

A track by track breakdown. Not in exact order, because I can't remember the order.

19-2000 soul child remix - bouncy ... techno. ok for a listen, but i really don't like it. it's in that icebreakers commercial with that stupid high pitched whistle.

19-2000 wiseguys remix - awful boring talentless techno. just terrible.

latin simone remix - not really a remix, but a different version. this is the latin simone song from the original cd - exact same music - however the vocals are in english and sung by damon albarn (2-d). his voice doesn't fit the music as well as the original guy, and he doesn't raise his voice well at some points either (QUE PASA CONTIGO!?!?!), but it's still a great track.

The Sounder - A random rap song by a random rapper. Not a bad song, and the rapper is skilled, but I don't like his voice too much. Decent song if you're into rap.

Clint Eastwood remix - Clint Eastwood, but with the Del tha funkee Homosapien's (Russell) rap portion sung by the rapper who does The Sounder. The beats are changed slightly to accomodate this guy, and it's not that bad either. Decent for certain.

Faust - Decent listen, with some japanese lyrics, but not too special. Cool though.

Ghost Train - Great track - initially. I've gotten tired of it recently. But it's still decent.

12D3 - Awesome song. Simple guitars, wonderful vocals by damon albarn, comprehensible yet nonsensical lyrics...all the things that make the gorillaz great.

Hip Albatross - My favorite song on the cd. Simple rhythm and low key vocals, very sample heavy. At almost all points during the song are samples from Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead being played, often just zombies groan. Really great song, just laid back low key great music. I love the opening - helicopter blades whirling, the sample from Dawn of the Dead of that guy saying, "Every body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills get up and kill." And then the quirky guitar notes first come up...ooh, it's awesome.

So, it's an average cd with its ups and downs. If you're a bigtime gorillaz fan like me, grab it for certain; otherwise you may just want to get the hot tracks in mp3 form.

The two very appealing parts about I haven't mentioned are very cool art, both on the case and in the inside booklet, and also the price is nice - only ten bucks. Radiohead's I might Be Wrong live recordings cd with like 8 or 9 tracks was set at full album price, which stresses the wallet of any music fan.

But one last point - this is only my opinion. Because of the wide ranging types of music here, it'll appeal to anyone. There are two techno songs, two rap songs, one almost acoustic rock song, three miscellaneous. It's certain you'll find something here you'll like.