The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Damon Albarn 這個英倫人，可以說實(shí)在是讓人佩服不已。英國Britpop風(fēng)潮過后，至今仍然保持較高的創(chuàng)作水平，實(shí)在是難得。除了最風(fēng)光時代的Blur，到近年的Gorillaz，都是非常成功的樂隊(duì)�，F(xiàn)在Damon Albarn 不滿足現(xiàn)狀，帶來了新樂隊(duì)The Good, The Bad & The Queen。樂隊(duì)成員也都是大牌，貝斯手是英國早期著名樂隊(duì)Clash的Bass手Paul Simonon，鼓手是被喻為非洲音樂之神的Fela Kuti樂隊(duì)的鼓手Tony Allen，吉他手則是我最喜歡的The Verve 的吉他手Simon Tong。正式成員是這4名，但是創(chuàng)作時還包括一名成員那就是著名混音DJ師Danger Mouse，包辦專輯中一些電子混音。對于The Verve的 Simon Tong來說他的音樂路程可以說都是即風(fēng)光又灰暗的，為什么怎么說呢，早在The Verve時期的時候隊(duì)中就有Nick McCabe這位天才吉他手，所以Simon Tong的處境就是可有可無的狀態(tài)，處于十分尷尬的狀態(tài)，要不是Simon Tong為樂隊(duì)貢獻(xiàn)了Come on一些重要歌曲，才保留了自己在隊(duì)中位置。The Verve解散后隨之組建了The Shinning，只發(fā)一了張True Skies則宣告解散�，F(xiàn)在可好了，在The Good, The Bad & The Queen中擔(dān)任吉他手，完完全全的可以揮發(fā)自己的才華，繼續(xù)走他的音樂之路。
其實(shí)The Good, The Bad & The Queen開始并不是樂隊(duì)的名字，只是Damon Albarn 他們這一群人發(fā)行這張專輯的名字。但最終還像還是成了默認(rèn)的樂隊(duì)名，不知道日后Damon Albarn會不會更改樂隊(duì)名。新專輯共12首歌曲，前一向The Good, The Bad & The Queen就在Myspace上面完全的公布了整專輯的試聽。Herculean是樂隊(duì)在10月30號發(fā)行了第一張單曲，單曲成績相當(dāng)不錯。第二只單曲則是Kingdom Of Doom。Herculean 的配曲制作的很出色，尤其是歌曲開頭制的制作，低低灰暗的鋼琴聲，加上一些合聲，讓這首歌曲有些不錯的聽頭。而Kingdom Of Doom則是緊奏的吉他和小調(diào)鋼琴貫穿前后。The Bunting Song 的旋律是十分安靜，而且讓人感覺有些廣闊，空曠。在整張專輯中能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)Blur與Gorillaz式的歌曲，雖然只是有些歌曲中的一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，如演唱的曲調(diào)。整張專輯營造了一分陰暗的氣氛，但時不時的為你敞開一面擁有陽光的窗戶，'80's Life 就是這樣的作品。一首獨(dú)立民謠式的Green Fields也是相當(dāng)?shù)某錾�。而專輯的最后一首The Good, The Bad & The Queen，是一首長達(dá)7分種的歌曲，聽到最后我又在一次不得不佩服他們的創(chuàng)作能力，The Good, The Bad & The Queen這首歌曲開篇優(yōu)美的旋律，加上不多的演唱，隨后便是器樂的演奏，曲子由慢變快，緩慢的開始急促，緊張的結(jié)束。對于這一張擁有的12首歌曲，獨(dú)立搖滾，迷幻，英倫，電子相結(jié)合的一張專輯。看來還需要反復(fù)的聽上幾遍才能夠了解其中他們要給人們表達(dá)的情感與他們那神秘的思維。
"The Good, the Bad & the Queen" refers to all the subjects that live under the London sun, so it's a fitting if awkward moniker for a project -- not a band, as its leader has strenuously asserted -- designed by Blur frontman Damon Albarn as a way to return to writing about England, specifically London, the subject that brought him to fame in the mid-'90s as one of the leading lights of Brit-pop. As he was completing work on Gorillaz's second album, Demon Days, he began working on the Good, the Bad & the Queen, which actually had its roots in an older project. Shortly after the turn of the millennium, he teamed up with Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen after the drummer heard that Albarn name-checked him in the chorus of "Music Is My Radar," the bonus track added to the 2000 comp The Best of Blur. During 2004, Albarn headed to Nigeria with former Verve guitarist Simon Tong to record with Allen and other African musicians, but before the album was completed he turned his attention toward Demon Days.
At the end of those sessions Albarn gave the Nigerian tapes to Gorillaz producer Danger Mouse and the music radically evolved into the Good, the Bad & the Queen, with the idea that this, despite its African origins, would be music about London. Initially, Albarn toyed with the idea that this would be a solo project, but it turned into a full-fledged band -- a band that now needed a bassist. Albarn called up Clash bassist Paul Simonon, who had retired from music over a decade ago to paint. Simonon was convinced to join this project, which now had an irresistible angle: the auteurs behind Parklife and London Calling, two quintessentially London LPs and two bona fide classics, were teaming up to make music about the town again. The resulting music may have had sounded little like either Parklife or London Calling -- it was a moody, languid affair, owing much to the Specials -- but it bore trademarks of all four musicians, from Albarn's ongoing obsession with music hall and pop songwriting to Simonon's loping basslines to Allen's rhythms to Tong's sensitive tonal colorings. Before they released a record, the Good, the Bad & the Queen first started playing concerts, unveiling their complete album at a series of concerts, culminating with a gig at Camden's Roundhouse just before their debut single, Herculean, hit the shops. This spooky single appropriately surfaced the day before Halloween in 2006, followed by Kingdom of Doom in January 2007. The full-length The Good, the Bad & the Queen appeared that month as well on both sides of the Atlantic, greeted with uniformly positive (sometimes enthusiastic) reviews. Shortly after the album's release, Albarn began to insist in press interviews that this band had no official name, a bit of an odd move considering the numerous articles, written in 2006 as the group was recording, that called the outfit the Good, the Bad & the Queen. The quartet went on tour in the spring of 2007, playing events in New York and the Coachella festival.