In December of 2010, not even done with the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour, Gorillaz announced "The Fall", their next studio album which would be released free to Gorillaz sub-division members five days later. The reason, Damon Albarn said, was because he wanted people to know that he had completed the album entirely within that limited space of time. Had he released it after the tour's completion, he reasoned, the public would have assumed it had been enhanced in post-production.
He's got a point with this. Damon's always been one of these musicians who's prided himself on using limitations, the pressure of little equipment, support and time, to make good music. He thrives under pressure. And history has shown this is actually true with the kid. He wrote the lyrics of "This Is a Low" in a few hours before had had to undergo surgery. He produced Dare, a #1 hit, using Shuan Ryder's confused musings about microphone feedback. It's a good test.
But is it good enough? Can we truly say that this experiment, this little road album, really competes with it's storied forbearers?
Obviously attempting to answer these questions only leads us to more questions. Why did Damon decide to make and release this album? And why did he put it out under the Gorillaz brand?
Well, I think that it's certainly a worthy experiment. There are secret cameos, most likely to get around record label finagling. There are invented little electronica ditties. It's almost like Damon is trying to recreate the equivalent of an acoustic, stripped-down rock performance, with electronica music.
But does it stand up to the rest of the canon? I for one would say...
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Who could that be?
Ralph walks over to the door, opens it, and in shuffles a ghostly apparition that resembles British Pop Singer Damon Albarn.
Ralph: 8W! The doctors said I would never see you again!
8W: There's no time for chit chat, Ralph. I have something utterly mindblowing to tell you. Something that will rock the very foundations of your soul.
Ralph: What could it be?
8W: You've been completely and utterly wrong about your analysis of The Fall
Ralph: What? How!?!
8W: Well, half wrong. I mean, you did OK on the Damon part, but you forgot someone very important: the real star of the album
Ralph: I tried, man, but the music seems to be mostly about the road, just that exhausted, hurried feeling you get. There's a lot of different genre shifts, and different tones, but ultimately, it's just about the tour.
8W: Nope, I got some interesting stuff here. Anyway, so lets say you're Gorillaz, about to tour the world. You're Murdoc, and you got and get 2D who has been locked in the basement of a trash island...
Ralph: You're telling me this whole album was written from the perspective of a cartoon?
8W: Who's on the cover there? Yeah. It's 2D. Well, it's 2D after the events of the day have been filtered through Damon. But he's using the 2D mentality to write it. Oh, and he planned a huge allegory, like in the other albums.
Ralph: Ok, is it about drugs again?
8W: Nope. Dante's Inferno. The journey through hell.
Ralph: The journey through hell? What... I though Damon loved the tour?
8W: He probably did. But most likely he had this plan to guide the album's creation from the beginning. It doesn't necessarily disqualify what you got earlier, but it shows a purposeful narrative. 2D is journeying through America, led by Murdoc, as Dante through hell with Vergil.
Ralph: Ok, take me through it, ghost. Phoner to Arizona.
8W: Crossing of the Acheron River, the river of sorrow, it's about journeying into the underworld. This track kind of feels like it without explanation.
Ralph: Revolving Doors?
8W: The first circle of hell, Limbo. The noble heathens are forced to live here, punished by being in a deficient form of heaven. Sitting in a diner as the Beatles play and whatnot.
Ralph: Hillbilly Man.
8W: Second circle, for the lust depraved. Punishment is being caught in a storm for eternity, being blown this way and that by strong winds, totally out of control.
Ralph: Detroit?
8W: The third circle, where those who are punished must wade in a thick icy slush, poured down upon by a terrible storm. Kind of explains the beat. They are blind, unfeeling, uncaring to those around them, driven by addiction and self-indulgence.
Ralph: Shy-Town?
8W: The Fourth Circle. The "heavy feel" of the song seems to be pointing to the idea that greed is represented by one's own sense of importance, pride and station over those that depend on them.
Ralph: Little Pink Plastic Bags.
8W: Crossing of the river Styx, the river of hate. A marsh surrounded by the angry and sullen, accessible only by boat. 2D may seem chill, but calling people "little pink plastic bags" who don't know what they're doing is meant and horrible. Also this explains the miasma theme. Also notable for this being where the tour crosses the Mississippi River in America.
Ralph: Joplin Spider.
8W: The fifth circle, the wrathful, but mostly the entrance into the City of Dis, where many of the worst sinners reside. Interestingly, this would imply that the voice at the end of 2D's verse is meant to be a fallen angel who stands guard. Didn't your say you thought it was Pharrell?
Ralph: Parish of Space Dust?
8W: This one is kind of a mean one... the reason why the verse takes so long to kick in is because it's meant to be the starting of a fire. It's the sixth circle, for heretics. Heretics, those who pray to false gods lie in tombs that are aflame. Also relevant, there is a conversation Dante has where it's revealed that the residents of hell can see the future of the world, not the present, but this window into the land of the living. Someday, however, this window will close. Even so, it is a torment, seeing their homes in rust, but unable to see that today is golden.
Ralph: Snake in Dallas.
8W: The seventh circle, for the violent. Also the river of Phlegethon, which is a river that is always on fire. The flourish at the end seems to suggest a hellstorm, where on the desert of burning sand across the river, fire rains down upon the damned souls of murders and tyrants.
Ralph: Amarillo can't possibly be part of this...
8W: The Eighth Circle is for frauds. 2D isn't apologizing at all, nothing is real ahahaha.... no.
I think it's related to Geryon, actually, who is a damned monster of Greek mythology. In the poem, Dante and Vergil fly over the Eighth Circle on his back. Despite being damned to live above ditches of damned souls tortured by demons, Geryon is said to have the face of an honest man but the body of a monster. In mythology, he is killed by Hercules after he caught Hercules stealing his cattle. I think the narrative is about a monster who desperately yet in futility wishes to leave hell.
Ralph: Ok. The Speak it Mountains.
8W: The trip through the frozen river Cocytus, culminating with the appearance of Lucifer. The ninth sphere is treachery, and indeed, the song seems to be about providing a false sense of security before meeting a grisly fate.
Ralph: And then Aspen Forest is Purgatory, Bobby in Phoenix is the Earthly Paradise, CatSotS is Heaven, and Seattle Yodel is when you drink of the river Lethe to forget your past life and be reincarnated?
8W: Yes!! We did it Ralph!!!
Ralph: Yaaayy! (after a moment) Shit.
8W: What?
Ralph: That means I'm going to have to do this whole thing again. I screwed up.
8W: Not quite. You just need to interpret the adventures of 2D and Murdoc in this incredible voyage they went on. You already got Damon's part, I guess.
Ralph: But what about the idea that Damon has internalized 2D by the end, and is moving into a new phase of songwriting?
8W: I mean, now you're just saying shit just to say it. Yeah, this is a very personal album, but who knows how deeply Damon was really affected by getting everything he ever wished on this tour?
Ralph: The adulation... yeah. You can really hear it sometimes on this album. I guess the Dante's Inferno interpretation does explain all the jump-scares and intentional idiosyncratic nature of this already eccentrically experimental album. Also, it's kind of an answer to the fan-theory from Demon Days that it was a Dante's Inferno analogy. But why Dante's Inferno?
8W: This. He hated this. He needed to restore the journey to what it was: a pastoral piece with disturbing imagery, but little in the way of danger to the protagonist, Dante.
Ralph: I guess he did design it to have a happy ending. Now get out of here!
Anyway, using this interpretation, it's clear to see that this album, while not having the same production value as previous albums, is a worthy addition to Gorillaz library. It is satirical, inventive, amusing and loaded with all the touches Gorillaz usually bring to the table. I'm frankly stunned this doesn't get more respect, except for the fact that that was kind of the point from Damon this time. He wanted an album which would take time to get used to, but ultimately be appreciated in the fandom.
There's a lot of messages, I feel, especially towards cultural fundamentalism in America, as well as Damon's own personal fears regarding his own treatment of his family, and relative usefulness as a musician.
What's clear is that Damon kept going, and he did it because he cares. He thinks that his music can make a difference in people's lives, and this album, among many things, is in some ways him trying to understand the place better, so he can understand the people better.
So it's Damon and 2D, working together on this album, they're both living the same experience from two very different points of view
