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The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an unnamed British alternative rock supergroup, made up of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007.[1][2] The album debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold in the UK within days of its release despite little media recognition and airplay.[3] In the United States, the album entered the Billboard 200 at #49.
Although The Good, The Bad & The Queen was first reported as a solo album by Albarn with Danger Mouse producing, NME revealed in late July 2006 that the solo project had been switched to a new group formed by Albarn.[4] Subsequently The Good, the Bad & the Queen was mistaken as being the the name of the band. It is stated that the record is in a sense a concept album, as its songs are all themed around modern life in London.[5] It was described by Albarn as "a song cycle that's also a mystery play about London" in an interview with Mojo.
[edit] Album history
The band, which formed in 2006, released their first single, "Herculean" on October 30, 2006. The single followed the band's appearance at the BBC's Electric Proms season at the redeveloped Roundhouse in Camden on October 26, in which they performed the entire album.[4] Three warm-up gigs in East Prawle at the Pig's Nose Inn,[6] Ilfracombes Marlboro Club and The Exeter Cavern Club preceded their gig on the BBC's Electric Proms, where the album was performed in order with two other songs inserted, "Intermission Jam" and "Mr. Whippy"; the latter was a B-side for "Herculean". The band performed four tracks from the album at Abbey Road Studios on December 13, 2006, during a recording session for Live from Abbey Road.
The track listing was originally unveiled and commented upon by Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon in an interview in the November 2006 issue of UNCUT.[7]. The second major gig of the band's career took place on 12 December 2006, at Wilton's Music Hall in East London. It was watched by 300 specially selected fans, as the launch gig of MySpace's The List. The band released their first Top 20 single, "Kingdom of Doom", a week prior to the release of the album.[8] In April, "Green Fields" was released as the third single from the album and debuted at #51 in its first week.[9]
On April 4, 2007, The Good, The Bad & The Queen became the first EMI album to be made available for download in the new DRM-free, high quality MP3 format (320 kbit/s).[10]
Damon Albarn talked to NME in early March 2007 and discussed the band's future plans, which include a recording session in early September intended to produce a release not long after that: "We're going to do another whole recording session in early September. It will be totally different, more funky. We'll try to get it out in early autumn."[11]
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Damon Albarn.
- "History Song" - 3:05
- "'80s Life" - 3:28
- "Northern Whale" - 3:54
- "Kingdom of Doom" - 2:42
- "Herculean" - 3:59
- "Behind the Sun" - 2:38
- "The Bunting Song" - 3:47
- "Nature Springs" - 3:10
- "A Soldier's Tale" - 2:30
- "Three Changes" - 4:15
- "Green Fields" - 2:26
- "The Good, The Bad & The Queen" - 7:00
[edit] Bonus DVD
- "Nature Springs" (live at the Tabernacle)[12]
- "The Bunting Song" (live at the Tabernacle)
- "The Good, The Bad And The Queen" (live at the Tabernacle)
- "A Soldier's Tale" (rehearsal footage)
- "The Good, The Bad and The Queen" (interview)
[edit] Singles and EPs
[edit] Personnel
- Damon Albarn - Lead vocals, keyboards
- Paul Simonon - Bass, backing vocals
- Simon Tong - Guitar
- Tony Allen - Drums
- Danger Mouse - Percussion (4), Synthesizers (5,12)
- James Dring - Programming
- Choir (5) - Harry Christophers, Julia Doyle, Grace Davidson, Kirsty Hopkin, Charlotte Mobbs, Andrew Olleson, Ian Aitkenhead, David Clegg, Christopher Royall, Adrian Lowe, Ben Rayfield, Mark Dobell, Simon Berridge, James Holliday, Julian Empett, Sam Evans
- Violins - Antonia Pagulatos (5,6,8,9,10,12), Gillon Cameron (6,10), Sally Jackson (5,8,9,12), Alice Pratley (5,8,9,12)
- Violas - Emma Owens (6,10), Stella Page (5,6,8,9,10,12), Amanda Drummond (5,8,9,12)
- Cello - Izzi Dunn (5,6,8,9,10,12)
- Double basses - Al Mobbs (5,6,8,9,10,12), Emma Smith (6,10)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
