Plastic Beach (CD/DVD)

Gorillaz | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 9, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Virgin Records
• ASIN: B0035G9ABG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,898 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Orchestral Intro (featuring Sinfonia ViVA)

2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)

3. White Flag (feat. Kano, Bashy & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music)

4. Rhinestone Eyes

5. Stylo (feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)

6. Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul)

7. Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)

8. Glitter Freeze (feat. Mark E Smith)

9. Some Kind Of Nature (feat. Lou Reed)

10. On Melancholy Hill

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. 45-minute "making of" documentary (DVD)

Editorial Reviews

Deluxe CD/DVD edition includes a bonus DVD that contains a 45 minute documentary on the 'making of' the album hosted by Murdoc but featuring creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Long awaited 2010 album from the genre-defying animated musical collective. Five years on from the release of Demon Days, Murdoc Niccals and Co. return with Plastic Beach. The band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a plastic beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This plastic beach is the furthest point from any landmass on earth; the most deserted spot on the planet. As the world's biggest animated band, Gorillaz formed in 1998, and have since sold 12 million copies over two albums!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A review of the Deluxe Edition contents & packaging for Plastic Beach, March 15, 2010

By 

E. T. Crane (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plastic Beach (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

I ventured on board the Gorillaz hype machine during Demon Days, their 2nd album and possibly their best to date. At the time I picked up the Deluxe version of Demon Days and loved the incredible quality of the package. With a great plastic slip, unique artwork and an entire mini-art book and DVD / CD it was truly an exceptional value as well as collector's piece.

When I saw the artwork for the Gorillaz latest album, 'Plastic Beach' I immediately thought of how great the last Deluxe edition had been and put in my pre-order. Upon it's arrival, the first thing that immediately struck me is how cheap it looked. Rather than any sort of slip case or plastic, everything in this "Deluxe" edition is cardboard. It looks terrible in comparison to the Demon Days deluxe package and basically it's a fold out cardboard piece with 2 sleeves that hold 2 smaller cardboard sleeves for the CD & DVD 'Making Of.' The saving grace for the packaging is the artwork, with vivid colors and images it almost provides the necessary incentive to pay about twice as much for this edition compared to the standard release.

With that said, I can't whole heartedly recommend this as a purchase. While the packaging is poorly made, the biggest disappointment by far is the included DVD. Prior to the release of Plastic Beach, I was lucky enough to see the music video for Stylo on youtube. It was great, with CGI Gorillaz members and even Bruce Willis. On the Demon Days deluxe edition, there was a nice variety of content included on the bonus DVD including the album's leading song in music video format.

On the Plastic Beach Deluxe edition, they have made a dire error that I feel should stop anyone who was a fan of the DVD in Demon Day's Deluxe from picking this edition up. As is becoming more of the norm these days, the producers of this package opted to include special downloadable and streaming content via the Gorillaz website rather than including said games, videos and more on the bonus DVD. In my opinion, this is incredibly disappointing and takes away from the actual physical package. The Demon Days DVD was solid and really made the purchase worthwhile ... the Plastic Beach is only a 45 minute "making of feature" that offers very little of the Gorillaz artwork or any mention of the Stylo video ... that's it, there is nothing else on the disc. I'm sure the bonus online content is quite good but down the road in 5 to 10 years, I'll still be able to pop in the Demon Days DVD and get everything in one convenient place, sadly the same cannot be said for this "Deluxe" edition.

For those on the fence about this edition, I say go with the standard and save your money ... only diehard Gorillaz fans will find the extras worthwhile and while the artwork on the packaging is incredible, the medium on which it is presented is cheap and disappointing.

2 1/2 stars out of 5 for the Deluxe edition(rounded up for Amazon.com)

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorillaz did what they do best. Make you like it., March 10, 2010

By 

A. David Machtolff - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plastic Beach (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

Yessir. I'm a bona fide Gorillaz fan(atic). Here has been my experience with the album thus far.

Three songs hit me immediately. Stylo, Rhinestone Eyes and To Binge. The rest didn't come easy at first. Partly because I didn't have time to give them a fair listen and partly (mostly) because Gorillaz does that to me. When I got the first album, I put it away immediately, only to be bored one day and give it a fair listen and fell in love. Demon Days was definitely easier on the ears first listen, but I cannot say that the first few spins were as lovely as now. Plastic Beach is no different. I got the feeling that I wouldn't like it at first. Kinda saddened me. I knew however that I'd keep it in my car every trip for a while to see if it would catch me. Today I got the smile on my face, knowing that this album won't disappoint. I can't stop playing this and it probably won't for a while.

I guess this is a word of caution to the casual listener. This album requires patience, especially if you're not familiar with Gorillaz. But not much at all, that's especially if you are. The best part about it is when you are on your third, fourth or fifth play through and a track hits you, it does so with a bullet.

Well, for me at least but that's all I can really offer is my opinion right? Hope this helps.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's Like a Tumor, It Grows on You (UPDATE: Buy the Cheaper Version), April 11, 2010

By 

J. Pryzby - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plastic Beach (CD/DVD) (Audio CD)

When I first got this CD and popped it into my computer to give it a listen, I wasn't impressed. The songs seemed forgettable, repetitive, and it just seemed like a just above mediocre CD. In a state of shock, I listened to it again on my iPod, and while it still wasn't my favorite CD, I found more little things I liked about it. I just kept listening to it to find more things that they put in there, and after a while, it became brilliant in my mind. Now, before I begin my analysis, I think you should know what the Gorillaz are. I'm not going to put a big description and waste space here, so just look them up on Wikipedia. Here we go!

1. Orchestral Intro: This is a nice little tune, I felt kind of like I was looking at a beach covered in syringes, plastic bags and other crap. Good show, Jamie/Damon.
2. Welcome to The World of The Plastic Beach: This is not a good way to start out the vocal songs. I guess the melody is fine, just really sleepy. And that seemed to have an effect on Snoop Doggy Dawg. I have a feeling he just crashed on the studio doorstep, and Damon Albarn just but him front of a mic with a lyric sheet, for him to speak at whatever point he wanted. Maybe I'm going a little harsh on him, but I'm just not fond of the track.
3. White Flag: I like this song. The rapping is really entertaining, and the flute(?) section sounds really cool. The backing beat, I could like more. It sounded like a drum looping machine. Still a very cool track, though.
4. Rhinestone Eyes: The first track with 2D/Damon's vocals. Finally! If you think he speak-sings in his other songs, you'll think he's just talking in this one. Frankly, I thought that it was a very good choice. A beautiful, calming song.
5. Stylo: There is some Controversy about this track. They have been accused of stealing the beginning of the song from Eddy Grant's 'Time Warp'. The tracks are similar for that part, although I'm not sure that 3 notes warrant a lawsuit. Regardless, I thought this was probably the best track all around, but the vocals were absolutely outstanding. Bobby Womack, Mos Def, and of course Damon were all really into the song. Also, the music video is quite nice. Shame it did not come with the 'Experience' edition.
6. Superfast Jellyfish: THis is the Weirdest track, and you can decide for yourself if that's good or not. I loved it, starting out like a breakfast commercial, and then getting deep-voiced rappers to sing about how much they love this treat for breakfast, and the little toys that come with it. Genius!
7. Empire Ants: This track starts out about as excited as a nerd having to sit through Batman and Robin. It starts off like another 'WTTWOTPB', but it gets better when Little Dragon joins in. Still a sleepy track, but ore interesting. At this point I realized the album had a recurring theme of a 'system', or 'machine'. Possibly representing an independent government being established? I don't know, all I know that this is just a fair track.
8. Glitter Freeze: This was my favorite track when I first heard the CD online (legally, mind you). But now it just sound like a lot of sirens. Bland.
9. Some Kind of Nature: People already seem to loving this one. And it's certainly a great song. It's another weird one like Jellyfish, but it fits in with the calm and worried feel of the other songs.
10. On Melancholy Hill: THis is another popular one, but I don't really understand what instruments they used for that warping sound that would be in teen pop songs back around 2000-2004. That doesn't make it a bad song, it just makes me think about listening to the radio back then.
11. Broken: This one sticks in my head sometimes, but there's nothing much to say. It's a good, but not great song.
12. Sweepstakes: I liked this song on my initial listening too, but I don't resent it as much as Glitter Freeze. It's pretty much just Mos Def chanting/rapping to a drum-machine, and unlike most Gorillaz songs it feels like you're not gaining anything from it. It just doesn't work.
13. Plastic Beach: Ah, the title song. The one that is expected to be a hit by piggybacking off of he CD's name, but really just ends up being a B-Side. THis is no exception to that. 'Casio on the Plastic Beach'? Really? That's the chorus?
14. To Binge: Sounds like we're getting back on track! How many songs are left? ...2? Whatever. I enjoy this track. While the 'drum machine' songs suffered from their simplicity, this one actually exceeds expectations from it. It's like a folk song, and Little Dragon is fantastic again. I'll have to see what they've released.
15. Cloud of Unknowing: Bobby Womack, you seem really talented. But I'm not sure that this is the best song for you. It's not that you're bad! It's just that this sounds kind of like an old man reminiscing about a song from his youth. You're still great.
16. Pirate Jet: This one sounds more like the Gorillaz from Demon Days. It's a nice way to end the CD, but I'm not sure how I would have felt if it was placed somewhere else.

So there you have it! A solid effort from Gorillaz, if not as good as Demon Days. Looking forward to the music videos!

EDIT: I've spent even more time with this, and I have to say, it's not worth the money to buy the "Experience" version. I expected to get exclusive streaming events, but all I got was a digital booklets, some desktops, and a cool screensaver. Album gets an 8.5, the DVD and experience drag it down to a 6.