The Good, The Bad And The Queen : The Good, The Bad And The Queen : Review : Rolling Stone

Damon Albarn spent the first half of his career as a pop provocateur, but he's spent the second half as a musician, and nobody seems more surprised about this than he is. After achieving Nineties stardom with Blur, he's settled into a head-down, hardworking life of adventurous projects like Gorillaz and his new band, the Good, the Bad and the Queen. The group is an odd mix, to say the least -- Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Africa 70 drummer Tony Allen, plus the production of Danger Mouse. But the eclectic elements combine for dark, muted balladry a la Syd Barrett or the Beatles' White Album, with a touch of dub. Fantastic tunes like "Kingdom of Doom," "Nature Springs" and the doo-wop pastiche "80's Life" set the tone for the album's strange beauty, but it peaks with the cinematic strings and megaphone-vocal melancholy of "Herculean."