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the tracks mold together so that it seems like one story and every song if you read the insert is a story so ENJOY. which would be very cool. I heard that heir is a Chinese opera based on it. but it isnt as cool as the cd. this is by far the coolest cd i have bought recently. i love to fall asleep to it. i watched some footage from it and it looks really cool.
Don't get it though thinking that you will hear any traditional Chinese tunes. I figured it would be some hard-core techno tracks with Chinese themes, but I still liked it. Monkey does a good job with putting together some good music. It is an unusual CD, it was not quite what I thought it would be. It is worthwhile if you are looking for something toe-tapping.
*"Heavenly Peach Banquet," an incredibly engaging piece that has me mouthing faux-chinese lyrics along with it. The real gems here are:*"Confessions of a Pig," which is a near-techno operatic lament that perfectly captures the tragedy of Pigsy's life (judging from the tone--can't speak to the lyrics as I do not speak Chinese). The music will NOT get old even while reading all four volumes. Albarn comes through again with what I can only describe as a masterwork. While many of the pieces on this album are short (many are less than one minute long), the longer pieces are stunning and quite often moving beyond description. *"Monkey Bee," for which I can only suggest a search of Youtube or Veoh for a copy of the video--it's Beijing Opera and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Gorillaz (both visually and musically)*"Disappearing Volcano," a denouement that manages to blast the listener with the perfect marriage of classical operatic themes and Chinese opera.Grab a copy of the book "Journey to the West" and this album.
On the flip side, I really like "Monkey Bee". Which results in some good songs and some that's just noise. I suppose if you're into into the Gorillaz with some Asian thrown in then it wouldn't be a bad cd to get. At least that's what it sounds like, I can't make out any words. I did grow up knowing about the story of the Journey to the West and also like Gorillaz so I was really interested in hearing this. The music resembles "Clint Eastwood" in the middle and the Sun Wu Kong's (Monkey's) words are funny, if a bit repetitive. However, I'm not sure everyone would like the cd.
The general feeling of the music fits the general theme for that part of the story really well. Some people will think it's a cacophony of noise while others would think it's the greatest thing ever written. However, I still really can't stand "Confessions of a Pig". It sounds like a combination of Asian/Scifi/Dance, sometimes all in one song. I've never seen the production that this is based, though I'd like to. It sounds like Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) just grunts in beat.
(He calls Princess Iron Fan cheap for not "lending" him the fan).I applaud Damon Albarn for taking this on. For example, I would not have my parents listen to it even if they like the story too. It's certainly inventive. It takes some time for it to grow on to you and the more I listen to it the more I like it. Different culture and everything and he managed to get it mostly right.
It is Eastern, it is opera, it is also pop and rather Westernized. (This also means that the "From the creators of Gorillaz" sticker tag is not an entirely misleading sell). The artwork with the disc is also very nice. What surprises me though is how readily accessible I have found it. No matter what your musical background or taste you'll likely find a way to connect with it, and you'll likely be pleasantly surprised by a lot of this peculiar and brilliant album. I've been listening to the whole album from start to finish and it is definitely something that adds new quality to my music collection, there isn't anything quite like it that I have heard.
I'd say anyone who has been tentative about picking this up should just go for it. Being a fan of all things Damon Albarn, there was never a question of whether I would pick up this cd. Sonically, there is a lot going on here, but a lot of the sound of the album and much of the music will not feel all that foreign to one who has been a diehard Gorillaz fan for some time, as quite a bit of the music reminds me of something you might expect to have heard on G-Sides or D-Sides. it's basically the perfect sound for the story of Monkey to be translated into the modern world.
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