History Music / Gorillaz

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Noodle goes on ''quite'' the vitriolic rant in ''Rise of the Ogre'' against modern celebrity culture and the mainstream music industry in general.
-->'''Noodle:''' Artistic skill and the ability to enlighten, educate and entertain through displays of ingenuity, insight and discipline should not be treated as a useless exercise in moronic entertainment. As [[JerkassHasAPoint Murdoc]] always says, [[SophisticatedAsHell "True talent should be food for the soul, not turds for the mind"]]. Your "Pop Idols" are buffoons, nothing more than landfill, and you are shovelling this garbage into the heads of your own children.\\

--->"That's why no one will ever trust you. We're always telling you, [[LaserGuidedKarma ’What goes around, comes around']]. It's the same with Plastic Beach. If you are like that, you will be reborn as a big slug in the next life."

*** "Rockit", as well as the music video, is quite clearly a big one at thoughtless celebrity culture and 'disposable' talent created through such things as ''PopIdol'' and ''Series/TheXFactor''.

** The band itself was created as one of these towards the vapid shallowness of current musical trends. While this has always been part of the shtick, it was a lot more on-the-nose in earlier phases:

*** The [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gorillaz/comments/90bz0n/dazed_and_confused_interview_from_2001/ 2001 Dazed & Confused interview]] has Murdoc slag off Oasis, Sting, Five and Fred Durst by name.
*** ''Rise of the Ogre'' has a passage deriding the state of the UK pop scene at the time of the first album's launch.
*** "Rockit", as well as the music video, is quite clearly a big one at modern music and celebrity in general.

** The band itself was created as one of these towards the vapid shallowness of current musical trends. Phase 1 was a lot more direct about this, with the characters making several potshots at the popularity of boy bands in particular during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ck9mHGF0Lk Apex Tapes interview]].
** "Rockit", as well as the music video, is quite clearly a big one at modern music and celebrity in general.

** The band itself was created as one of these towards Creator/{{MTV}} and the vapid shallowness of current musical trends. Phase 1 was a lot more direct about this, with the characters making several potshots at the concept of the boy band in particular during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ck9mHGF0Lk Apex Tapes interview]].

** She also delivers one to Murdoc in ''Machine Bitez #15'', albeit in rapid-fire Kansai-dialect Japanese. As translated by [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmEKOMIMY-0&lc=Ugxkj3yZ-gMUfjHrDBB4AaABAg NotRay]] (with some edits):

** Murdoc refers to his pet raven with male pronouns but has made mention of it laying eggs -- though perhaps it's just Murdoc's biology failure and not the creators; nobody ever said that captain CrazyAwesome there knows that much about birds.

Gorillaz are a {{virtual|Celebrity}} band created in 1998 by Music/{{Blur}} frontman Damon Albarn and ''ComicBook/TankGirl'' co-creator Jamie Hewlett. The band consists of four animated fictional characters, Stuart "2-D" Pot (vocals and keyboard), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Russel Hobbs (percussion), and Noodle (lead guitar). These characters are completely fictional and do not represent any real-life musicians involved in this project. Aside from live performances during Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour (and to a lesser extent, Demon Days Live), Gorillaz' 'real-life' musicians change for each album (with the exception of creator Damon Albarn) and usually stay behind the scenes while Gorillaz are credited as the real band.

While their musical genre is mainly categorized as a trip-hop group, they also [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly explore a wide variety of other genres]], such as AlternativeRock, HipHop, Dub, ElectronicMusic, PunkRock, and {{Pop}}. Some of their more well-known songs include "Clint Eastwood," "19-2000,", "Feel Good Inc.", "DARE", "Stylo", "On Melancholy Hill", and "Saturnz Barz".

Gorillaz have released six studio albums so far: their 2001 debut album ''Music/{{Gorillaz|Album}}'', ''Music/DemonDays'', ''Music/PlasticBeach'', ''The Fall'', ''Music/{{Humanz}}'', and ''Music/TheNowNow''. They have also released two B-side albums: ''G-Sides'' and ''D-Sides''. In January 2020, the band officially launched a new audiovisual web series called ''Song Machine'', releasing new singles and music videos monthly that serve as episodes to the series, which will see a physical release of each season as a compilation album included with the annual Gorillaz Almanac that is set to launch in October of this year. When Gorillaz first started, their backstory was presented through various interviews and promotional material, but it was eventually all pieced together in the project’s second phase through their 2006 autobiography, ''Rise of the Ogre''.

In 2001, they were recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records and were titled the "Most Successful Virtual Band".

They have become probably ''the'' most recognizable group in trip-hop, all while being an animated band.

Damon Albarn confirmed, after much speculation and a minor bout of CreativeDifferences with co-creator Jamie Hewlett, that the band was in the process of [[http://thissongissick.com/blog/2014/gorillaz-are-back-plans-for-new-album/ re-activating]] [[http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/94155 for 2017]] (initially the re-activation was planned for 2016). On January 19th, 2017, the band released their first new song in almost six years, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDUrpPvU1_4 "Hallelujah Money"]]. Also, in October of 2016, Jaguar Racing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMeDW1lnDp0 named Noodle as their global ambassador]] to promote their new Formula E electric racing car line.

Their fifth album, ''Humanz'', was released April 28th, 2017. They announced the album a few weeks beforehand by releasing not one, not two, but ''[[http://consequenceofsound.net/2017/03/gorillaz-premiere-four-songs-from-their-new-album-humanz-listen/ four]]'' songs on the same day. After some brief teases that another follow-up album would be "coming very soon," their sixth was suddenly announced in May 26th, 2018 and was released on June 29th of the same year, titled ''The Now Now''.

* CutShort: Phase 3 was supposed to be a ''trilogy'' of albums with an epic plot featuring the apocalypse. Only one of these albums was released and the plot never really ended up going anywhere as a result. The MTV Cribs episode for the band has Murdoc describing Russel as the best drummer in Gorillaz. [[SubvertedTrope He then backtracks, stating he himself might be better]].

* CutShort: Phase 3 was supposed to be a ''trilogy'' of albums with an epic plot featuring the apocalypse. Only one of these albums was released and the plot never really ended up going anywhere as a result.
* DamnedByFaintPraise: The MTV Cribs episode for the band has Murdoc describing Russel as the best drummer in Gorillaz. [[SubvertedTrope He then backtracks, stating he himself might be better]].

** Initially people had difficulty deciphering the Bambara lyrics of "Désolé", thinking Fatoumata Diawara was singing in English along the lines of "But dear, I don't wanna die / I'm gonna have my lamé" (it's actually "ko teriya mana diya / a kana ma lamè").

** Also from the "Aries" music video, Noodle's own racing car, which despite not being shown with a visible logo in-video, is also referred to as a [[CallBack "Geep"]] in promotional statements, [[AllThereInTheManual and is also labeled as such for the figurine created of it.]]

** Also from the "Aries" music video, Noodle's own racing car, which despite not being shown with a visible logo in-video, is referred to as a "Geep" in promotional statements, [[AllThereInTheManual and is also labeled as such for the figurine created of it.]]

* BlandNameProduct: The cover art for their first album features the group in a Geep, and we all know what kind of car that is supposed to be based on.

* VocalEvolution: 2D's voice has gotten deeper as the phases went by.

** However old you were when the video for "Dare" came out probably determined whether or not you found [[{{Jailbait}} Noodle's]] dancing sexy.

* PutOnABus: Noodle and Russel were absent for the majority of ''Plastic Beach'', on account of the phase being CutShort before their real contributions were really delved-into. Murdoc is temporarily replaced during ''The Now Now'' as he is in prison.

** A vast part of "Désolé" is in French (the title meaning "Sorry"), featuring Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara in her native languages (the chorus is in fact in Bambara, another national language of Mali). The "Gratuitous" part comes from 2D, who's shown in the video reading from an English-to-French phrasebook while singing at one point.

Gorillaz have released six studio albums so far: their 2001 debut album ''Music/{{Gorillaz|Album}}'', ''Music/DemonDays'', ''Music/PlasticBeach'', ''[[Music/TheFallAlbum The Fall]]'', ''Music/{{Humanz}}'', and ''Music/TheNowNow''. They have also released two B-side albums: ''G-Sides'' and ''D-Sides''. In January 2020, the band officially launched a new audiovisual web series called ''Song Machine'', releasing new singles and music videos monthly that serve as episodes to the series, which will see a physical release of each season as a compilation album included with the annual Gorillaz Almanac that is set to launch in October of this year. When Gorillaz first started, their backstory was presented through various interviews and promotional material, but it was eventually all pieced together in the project’s second phase through their 2006 autobiography, ''Rise of the Ogre''.

* ''Music/{{The Fall|Album}}'' (2011)

** ''Music/{{The Fall|Album}}'' is [[BreatherEpisode a quieter immediate follow-up]], but still manages to be a unique departure in of itself, featuring far less features, and containing more stripped-down, minimalist production inspired by ambient, blues, and chillwave. Also notable is that it was mainly composed through Damon's iPad using a number of different composition apps, and was based on his observations and feelings from traveling across the US while on tour.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Invoked, at the end of ''Valley of the Pagans'', the band crashes into the ocean just off Plastic Beach. During the next video, "The Lost Chord", Murdoc and Noodle have just enough time to find, and be disturbed by the remains of Cyborg Noodle before Poseidon arrives and sends her to the depths of the sea.

* PortalDoor: The ''Song Machine''-era Kong Studios apparently has various doors that allow teleportation to any given location in the world.

** Fittingly for a music video that serves as a final send-off to ''Plastic Beach,'' the music video for [[WhamEpisode "The Lost Chord"]] has [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Murdoc sporting this expression]] throughout almost the entirety of the band's time at Plastic Beach, and it only gets worse as [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Poseidon emerges from the depths of the ocean]] [[spoiler:and begins to destroy it.]] Understandable, considering that Murdoc has been struggling throughout the entire season to prove to the band that he's becoming a better person, only to be unceremoniously thrust back to the place that [[DarkestHour practically serves as a monument to his worst mistakes and most cruel actions.]]

** Fittingly for a music video that serves as a final send-off to ''Plastic Beach,'' the music video for [[WhamEpisode "The Lost Chord" has [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Murdoc sporting this expression]] throughout almost the entirety of the band's time at Plastic Beach, and it only gets worse as [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Poseidon emerges from the depths of the ocean]] [[spoiler:and begins to destroy it.]] Understandable, considering that Murdoc has been struggling throughout the entire season to prove to the band that he's becoming a better person, only to be unceremoniously thrust back to the place that [[DarkestHour practically serves as a monument to his worst mistakes and most cruel actions.]]

* OhCrap: The reaction of Murdoc, 2D and Cyborg Noodle in the "Stylo" video upon the realization that they are being chased by Creator/BruceWillis. And gets worse when they see the HandCannon Bruce has in hand.

* SharedUniverse: As of ''The Now Now'', Ace of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has slotted in as bass player while Murdoc is in jail. This isn't completely out of left-field, as both Gorillaz and ''Powerpuff Girls'' have [[ShoutOut referenced each other]] from as early as Phase 1; the back cover of ''G-Sides'' [[http://www.vblurpage.com/images/gorillaz_gsides_backcover_big.jpg features 2D wearing a Mojo Jojo shirt]], and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie'' features a [[TheCameo cameo advertisement]] [[https://2static.fjcdn.com/large/pictures/64/2d/642dde_6124862.jpg for Gorillaz Live in a newspaper]].
** In "The Valley of the Pagans" the band goes for a ride in [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Los Santos]]. However, it's unclear whether this means that Gorillaz and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' share a universe or if it's just a stand-in for L.A.