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Back to: Archive · 2007 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen' reviewed. From aversion.com. By Matt Schild. If there's one thing music lovers have learned to be weary of, it's anything remotely able to be slapped with a "super-group" label, and The Good, The Bad and the Queen's one of the most high-powered collaborations to roll into record stores in many a year. Its lineup is a virtual who's who of people you wished were in your band: Blur and Gorillaz singer Damon Albarn, Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Fela Kuti's Tony Allen -- which means it's an album primed to disappoint fans of four different bands. The Good, the Bad and the Queen doesn't rest on any of its members' already mountain-high accumulation of laurels. Simonon's hulking low end brings the apocalyptic reggae of The Clash's most eclectic phases to dominate the dark, at times sparse soundscapes. Albarn, who apparently transfers his love of a heavy rhythm from Gorillaz into his latest project, and Tong seem content to steep in the impossibly low rumble, skittering in and out with vocals and bursts of guitar that invent a new flavor of British dub. Albarn's instincts stay true, keeping The Good, the Bad and the Queen almost impossibly pop considering the heavy-manners dub that guides it. The Good, the Bad and the Queen doesn't have time to look back on its members' former glories -- it's too busy writing new ones. Those glories are most easily won when The Good, the Bad and the Queen stands by its Britpop/dub hybrid. Albarn's vocals and a nondescript acoustic guitar figure give "History Song" a pop façade, but it's a throbbing Caribbean bass line, keyboards and random sound effects that make it more than just another pop tune. "Northern Whale" and "A Soldier's Tale," which peppers its riddims with oddly effective string arrangements, similarly put a primeval groove below spacious pop arrangements. "Kingdom of Doom" ratchets up the Britpop element, as Tong's guitars jump high into the mix to lead the outfit through the gloom that covers this album. While democratically splitting the spotlight with Simonon and Tong, Albarn's not ready to completely relinquish it: "80s Life" slyly ties do-wop rhythms to synth-pop production -- probably as much due to producer Danger Mouse's efforts behind the boards. "Herculean" is a lively pop number that should make the Gallagher brothers and Jarvis Cocker green with envy over Albarn's ability to redefine himself out of rank-and-file Britpop nostalgia. If the album's middle third drags a little -- "Behind the Sun" is a jazzy, funked-up number that sounds like a refugee from the latest Gorillaz album and "Nature Springs" buries Simonon's grooves beneath phoned-in acoustic guitars -- it's not enough to distract listeners from TGTBATQ's dramatic vision, a vision that doesn't just bridge the gap between Blur and The Gorillaz, but forges boldly forward. The Good, the Bad and the Queen bucks the curse of the super-group: For once, we have a high-powered collaboration that's not a mutual adoration society. It's a powerhouse that lives up to its ridiculously high expectations. Rating: 4 out of 5. |