Gorillaz | Demon Days | Plastic Beach | Humanz
- Acclaimed Flop: Phase 3 was an odd variation; Plastic Beach was both a critical and a commercial success in that it was a chart-topper, but the phase's immense ambitions demanded equally immense budgets and resources that Gorillaz was unable to recoup. The "Stylo" music video was known for having gone way overbudget, while the "Escape to Plastic Beach" world tour
barely broke even with each show, with Damon Albarn recounting "It was incredible fun, I loved doing it, but economically it was an absolute fucking disaster." This is widely accepted as why EMI (which was already suffering huge financial problems leading up to its eventual collapse in 2012) pulled the plug on the whole thing before it could be fully resolved, and why the band hasn't ventured into anything as high-scope and grandiose as the saga since. - All-Star Cast: Plastic Beach is the first Gorillaz record to utilize many collaborators on their tracks, many of whom are big-name musicians. Examples include Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Lou Reed, Little Dragon and De La Soul amongst others.
- Cut Song: The album had a huge amount of music scrapped, most notably a collaboration with post-punk band The Horrors for the song "Leviathan" and most infamously "Crashing Down," which was used for the Russell indent.
- The Danza: You have to read 2D's lips, but when he sees the hitman chasing them in the "Stylo" video, he says "It's Bruce" to Murdoc. The hitman's played by Bruce Willis. Considering his roles in action movies, it's possible he's playing As Himself in the video.
- Executive Meddling: The video and single release of "Rhinestone Eyes" was pulled and replaced with "Doncamatic." This has led to a lot of people being concerned about how much trust EMI has in the project anymore. Jamie Hewlett claimed later that EMI didn't have the money to afford another video, since "Stylo" turned out to cost much more than they expected. These fears were renewed after EMI pulled their funding for the rest of the Plastic Beach arc, resulting in a rushed ending.
- So My Kids Can Watch: The exact reason why Bobby Womack came out of retirement to sing on "Stylo" (his daughter specifically nudged him to work with Damon Albarn). The song revitalized public interest in Womack, leading to his first album in 18 years.
