Gorillaz is a musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of the Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters.
This band is composed of four animated members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboard, and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion).
Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons. The music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of influences including: dub, hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop music
The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.It was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at the band's request. Their second studio album, Demon Days, released in 2005, went five times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States,earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006 and won one of them in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category.Gorillaz have also released two B-sides compilations and a remix album.
The combined sales of Gorillaz and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 20 million albums.The band's third studio album, Plastic Beach, was released in March 2010. Their latest album, The Fall, was released in December 2010 as a free download for sub-divsion members, then in April 2011 as a physical release.
"Clint Eastwood" was released as the first single from their debut album in March 2001. It peaked at #4 in the UK and #57 in the US on 11 September 2001. The single has sold 480,000 copies in the UK according to the Official UK Charts Company.
The video and song name is a reference to the famous western starring actor Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The yell from the film's theme song can be heard at the beginning of the video.
The song is a mix of electronic, hip hop and rock with a melodic line similar to the main theme of the classic western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (which stars Clint Eastwood, who is not mentioned in the song itself). The verses are rapped by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, portrayed as a blue phantom/hologram in the video, while the chorus is sung by Damon Albarn.
The animated music video was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland. It starts with the Gorillaz logo in red against a black screen, and the following quote from the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead: "Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill" in Japanese then in English. This phrase was deemed offensive in some countries and a censored version was produced that omits this intro.
" The above text is a mashup from Wikipedia."
No comments:
Post a Comment