Gorillaz - Song Machine

[dougharrison]

It doesn't have any amazing songs, but I'd also argue that it has some really good, under appreciated tunes. My Terracotta Heart, for example, in my opinion is one of the most underrated Blur songs ever. And I'd also argue that it barely has any filler. It's a 7/10 album, maybe 8/10 for some.

Spaceman, Pyongyang and Too Many of Us are amongst the best songs Blur have ever written for my money.

[stephen]

There's a handful of good tracks on there, in fact for me there isn't really a bad song but there isn't a stand out single song either. The album lacks a beetlebum for me, a lead single I think if it had that people would be pretty happy with it. For me it's on par with the now now, both good albums with good songs but you can kind of tell they didn't have the time to give a couple of songs their full attention

[jonathas]

I've not really gone back to it, despite being very very happy that it exists. Go Out, Lonesome St, Ghostship, Ong Ong, Pyongyang and Ice Cream Man are keepers. The rest are all much of a mid-tempo muchness to my mind (said with the utmost respect for the wonderful playing and emotion imbued by the players).

[idreamofpikas]

There's a handful of good tracks on there, in fact for me there isn't really a bad song but there isn't a stand out single song either. The album lacks a beetlebum for me, a lead single I think if it had that people would be pretty happy with it. For me it's on par with the now now, both good albums with good songs but you can kind of tell they didn't have the time to give a couple of songs their full attention

Objectively it has. Ghost Ship has more than triple the plays of any of the other songs on that album on Spotify and half a decade after its release is still in the top 5 currently most played Blur songs.

Personally I prefer most of the album to it, but in terms of popularity that seems to be the stand out song of the album and probably the one they should have released as a summer single.

[stephen]

There's a handful of good tracks on there, in fact for me there isn't really a bad song but there isn't a stand out single song either. The album lacks a beetlebum for me, a lead single I think if it had that people would be pretty happy with it. For me it's on par with the now now, both good albums with good songs but you can kind of tell they didn't have the time to give a couple of songs their full attention

Objectively it has. Ghost Ship has more than triple the plays of any of the other songs on that album on Spotify and half a decade after its release is still in the top 5 currently most played Blur songs.

Personally I prefer most of the album to it, but in terms of popularity that seems to be the stand out song of the album and probably the one they should have released as a summer single.

Yup I think I remember seeing about 12m listens on spotify for ghost ship but now it's up to 34m so it looks like a late bloomer

[jonathas]

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

[TristramShandy]

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

It could indeed be an explanation, and also to the fact that I consider it the weakest track on The Magic Whip.

[dougharrison]

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

Which Gorillaz song/album does it sound like/belong on?

[JackS]

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

Which Gorillaz song/album does it sound like/belong on?

I reckon with some falsetto it could fit on the debut, maybe after Starshine

[Rubi]

There's a handful of good tracks on there, in fact for me there isn't really a bad song but there isn't a stand out single song either. The album lacks a beetlebum for me, a lead single I think if it had that people would be pretty happy with it. For me it's on par with the now now, both good albums with good songs but you can kind of tell they didn't have the time to give a couple of songs their full attention

Objectively it has. Ghost Ship has more than triple the plays of any of the other songs on that album on Spotify and half a decade after its release is still in the top 5 currently most played Blur songs.


Personally I prefer most of the album to it, but in terms of popularity that seems to be the stand out song of the album and probably the one they should have released as a summer single.

True, but Ghost Ship didn't even get a video. Just a promo release. It can't be really considered a banger single in the vein of Beetelbum, Tender, or even Out of Time.

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

Personally I think it sounds nothing like Gorillaz. It sounds like nothing Blur had released prior. It's a great, stand-alone track.

But I still believe that New World Towers and My Terracotta Heart are the overlooked gems of that album. Mirrorball, too. And before anyone says they sound like something out of Everyday Robots, I really didn't like Everyday Robots to begin with.

It's because it sounds like Gorillaz!

It could indeed be an explanation, and also to the fact that I consider it the weakest track on The Magic Whip.

[TracyJosh]

Ghost Ship isn't actually too far away from Fade Away. It's just major chords instead of the dark, murky atmosphere the minor chords give in Fade Away.

When I played TMW in the car with my dad when it first came out, Ghost Ship came on and he said "That's the strongest song".

I think this highlighted to me that Ghost Ship is probably the most appealing on the album for people who otherwise aren't particularly Blur fans.

[stephen]

I think it's the closest thing to a Gorillaz song on the album, but we have to take spotify's algorithm into place, which I know nothing about.

When I was listening to other albums, once that album finished it started playing Ghost Ship (recommended from spotify), I think it's one of those things that once it becomes popular it becomes even more popular through algorithms...what I am trying to say is because it got a spike (organically or not) it becomes easier to be suggested

[thespider]

Ghost Ship has more than triple the plays of any of the other songs on that album on Spotify and half a decade after its release is still in the top 5 currently most played Blur songs.

Mildly surprising that more people have listened to Ghost Ship than either The Universal or Beetlebum on Spotify. But just shows that Blur aren't a nostalgia act and people actually love their more recent stuff.

[John_d]

Ghost Ship has more than triple the plays of any of the other songs on that album on Spotify and half a decade after its release is still in the top 5 currently most played Blur songs.

Mildly surprising that more people have listened to Ghost Ship than either The Universal or Beetlebum on Spotify. But just shows that Blur aren't a nostalgia act and people actually love their more recent stuff.

If you let Spotify choose songs for you based on a song you initially choose, Ghost Ship tends to come up if you've been listening to anything in the vein of "guitar bands". So yes I think if the algorithm initially favours a song (or if a song is initiallya little bit popular), it leads to an exponential increase in that song's popularity. I have observed this influencing radio playlsists on requests shows. Over the last few months I've heard folk calling in to shows on BBC 6 Music for "hot fun in the summertime" by Sly Stone. It's not a Sly Stone song I was familar with (despite having several of his/their albums), until Spotify played it to me a few months ago..quite old songs are becoming popular because of Spotify!

More generally I think we can all agree The Magic Whip was lacking a catchy lead tune. Go Out wasn't that great. A more uptempo Ghost Ship (it's a great tune but a wee bit slow, imo) would have done better. Maybe the band thought it sounded a bit too bland or "normal" - it is pretty 80s/Key West/Robert Palmer It does remind me a bit of how the band, circa 13, hummed and hawed about making the obviously really very catchy Coffee & TV as second single.

[John_d]

The Elton John artwork by Jamie is terrific. I really really hope the song isn't some plodding jam that squanders the opportunity of getting Elton involved. The very best tune or melody available should have been dedicated to the Elton Song!