dd3_gorillaz

I just downloaded the leak of the new Gnarls Barkley disc so I thought I would write a review on it on-the-spot.
So let's do this thing.

01. Blind Mary
The album opens with some carnival music. Which expands into what sounds like a MIDI backbeat. Cee-lo starts singing through what sounds like a ring modulator with a little bit of vocoder in the background. And it pretty much stays at that place for the entire song. I think it's about a circus freak who falls in love with a blind girl, but keep in mind that this is only my second listen of the song. One thing that strikes me about this song is the severe lack of soul. This song has no soul. It seems like an attempt by them to do a song that doesen't have soul in it. It's a pretty cool song anyway, though. Good melodies.

02. She Knows
This song starts with a cool beat. Kinda sounds like an old drum machine I played around with once. It's got one of those signature Dangermouse background tracks behind it, but it should have been a lot higher in the mix. This track is pretty much Cee-lo singing a few tracks over that beat. Some handclaps are added in the middle. This song would really benefit from the background music being higher in the mix and maybe having a little bass.

03. No Time Soon
This is much better than the last track. It's a lot more complete, and the arrangement is near-perfect. It's got layers of guitar, synth, bass, vocals and a beat that sounds like it was made from laser sounds that came from a childs toy. In other words, it's freakin' awesome.

04. Whatever
This song sounds a lot more like something from St. Elsewhere than what I've heard so far in this listen. It's got a great beat from the mouse and some good lyrics from the soul machine. Notice that I just complimented his lyrics on this one. No offense to the man, he almost always sounds great. But for some reason on this track he sounds nasal. Like he was singing it with a cold or something. But I like the song, though.

05. Who's Gonna Save My Soul
This song is the second single, released a couple days ago in a Youtube video. And it blows my mind. All I can say about it is that it's a perfect single selection. It's amazing.

06. Run
Another great single choice. This song was released on some blogs in February. This was the perfect song to tease people with. It's like.. the new Crazy. Or it seems that way to me. They added a synth solo and a few laser sounds since the leak. 

07. Would Be Killer
This song starts with the sound of a few guns being loaded up. If we're still in the business of comparing this album to St. Elsewhere, this song would be the new Necromancer. It's creepy, but not creepy in a "ZOMG GET AWAY FROM ME" kinda way. More of an "THIS IS A GREAT HORROR MOVIE, LOL" way. It's even creepier than Necromancer though, due to the backwards noises that can add horror to just about anything. But it sounds great.

08. Open Book
We've got some jungle noises to start off the track. And then a surprise crazy MIDI beat. I seriously didn't see that coming. And here's some bass and strings. And of course, the soul machine starts his vocals. The chorus in this song is seriously weird. It's got a choir in it in everything. This seems like a failed attempt at genre-hopping to me.

09. Going On
I dig the beat, I dig the bass, I dig the organ and I've always dug Cee-lo. This songs got a really cool melody. This is my first time listening to it, but I think it's gonna be stuck in my head for a while. Oh crap, surprise industrial beat. What the hell is going on here. This was a perfectly good Gnarls Barkley song which was turned into an industrial jam.

10. Charity Case
This song starts with.. the projector sound that starts off the St. Elsewhere album. And the song begins. It's a jazz beat, some breathing sounds and random background vocals from Cee-lo. And then the song goes down to just the sound of a bell and that's when the first verse starts. The beat sounds a lot better with vocals on it. There's heavy use of a vocoder as a female voice on this one. I wonder if they couldn't get anybody to be the random lady so they just vocoded the soul machine to sound like one. That would be okay, because I happen to love vocoder. Either way this song has a great feel to it. One of the better album tracks on this so far.

11. Surprise
This has been a pretty surprising album so far, so I wonder what the song named Surprise is gonna sound like. When it starts off, everything is put through a phaser, which is pretty cool. The verses are a little boring, but I like the melodies in the chorus. I'm hoping that the Mouse does more mixing on this album before it gets an official release because tracks like this one could really use some more polish.

12. A Little Better
This one begins with what sounds like Dangermouse ruining a record, but quickly goes into the main background. I like the sound of this one. If I were them I would pick this one for single number four. Single three would be "Whatever", if anyone cares. Once again, this could use a little more mixing. But I really love the vocal melodies in it.

13. Neighbors
This one has what a lot of the other tracks on this album don't. Great mixing. It doesen't overdo things like in Open Book and it doesen't underdo them like in She Knows. It's just right, and it's a perfect ender for the album.

So... it's a good record, but it needs a little more. Dangermouse has a habit for changing the songs up after the leaks so I'm hoping that the CD release of this will be better. Either way, I'm totally buying it and you should try it out too. If you don't expect another perfect record like St. Elsewhere, you might find yourself some new favorite tracks.