The Good, The Bad & The Queen

02/08/2007 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

Back in the early '90s when Blur and Oasis battled it out in the infamous Brit-pop feud, I never would have guessed that Blur mastermind Damon Albarn would come out smelling like an English Rose in 2007. Back then, Oasis' brothers Gallagher seemed unstoppable, but are now wallowing in the memories of their initial greatness and unfulfilled promises, while Albarn went on to reach greater heights with Blur, and flew even higher with the oddball offshoot Gorillaz. Rather than milk his cartoon alter-ego for all its worth, Albarn has made another sharp right turn with the Good, The Bad & The Queen. It's a supergroup of sorts that pulls legendary Clash bassist Paul Simonon out of his art studio and puts him in the recording studio alongside former Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and acclaimed Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. With such an all-star line-up, expectations are bound to be high. The good news is this combo is more good than bad, and sounds nothing like Queen. Rather, Albarn and company deliver some trippy dub-like numbers, including opener “History Song,” which sounds like a more somber take of the Specials’ “Ghost Town,” and “80’s Life,” which despite the title, takes its musical inspiration from ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll. Elsewhere, “Herculean” is the haunting soundtrack to an epic movie yet to be shot, and the title track is just plain epic. Albarn should be applauded for not only coaxing Simonon out of retirement, but making us forgive him for Havana 3 A.M.. Somewhere Joe Strummer is smiling.