In this reviewer's eyes, no project last year was as interesting as Gorillaz was. Gorillaz is a four piece animated band. Well, sort of. Basically, the story of Gorillaz has been strung together so much on this site I don't think I need to repeat it. To try and keep it short, there are four animated characters: 2-D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle. These are what you see in Gorillaz videos. The men behind the music are Blur's Damon Albarn, DJ Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, with contributions from DJ Kid Koala and rapper Del tha Funky Homosapien. Even if you don't enjoy the band's mix of trip-hop, pop, rock and funk, you should at least be able to enjoy the videos.

G-Sides, the band's second album, plays mostly as a companion piece to last year's self titled debut. It contains remixes, edits and some previously unreleased tracks that didn't make the cut for the debut. And much like their debut, it's an eclectic mix sure to test even the most open minded of music listeners.

I've seen people upset that the version of 19-2000 on that disc is not the same as the version used for the video or on the radio. The good news is it's here, leading off the album. Subtitled the Soulchild remix, this is even more infectious and fun than the original. It just makes you get up and dance, and I've had it on repeat for about a half hour now and I'm still not getting sick of it. It's just one of those songs that is just perfect. It's got a bit of a faster beat than the original and it's a bit longer as well. Shake that a*s people!

For that matter, the band's first hit, Clint Eastwood, gets a nice new look on the Phi Life Cypher Version. The rapping, while already the body of the song on the original, is much more forceful and upfront, plenty of changed lyrics and it gives the song an entire new attitude, even though the music remains virtually unchanged.

The other tracks are a decidedly mixed bag. Considering the album only has nine total tracks on it, that does make this more than a tad disappointing. All the tracks have a quirky little edge to them. This isn't anything new for this group as that's what drew me to them in the first place. But the quirkiness has gotten out of hand.

Hip Albatr has a great circling guitar riff throughout it, but I'm completely turned off by Albarn's whiny vocal delivery. The song sounds like a complete mess outside of that riff. It's like Radiohead came in and played with some Gorillaz vocal tracks in order to make everything sound cruddy as hell and impossible to listen to.

The closing track titled 12D3 has some nice acoustic guitar playing but is littered with throw away lyrics and more irritating vocals. Granted, I don't listen to this band for lyrics at all really, but if you're going to have a completely awful musical base, at least TRY to make up for it in lyrical content.

The other mix of 19-2000 found here, subtitled The Wiseguys House of Wisdom Remix, is a perfect example of what happens when bad remixes meet good songs.

And then there's the alternate version of Latin Simone. As if this song wasn't bad enough the first time around, the band has outdone themselves with this version. Talk about headache inducing.

Ultimately, this will sell because it has the radio/video mix of 19-2000 that everyone wants. But for the most part, the rest of the 9 tracks show you why they aren't B sides, but G Sides: the quality is that poor.


Recommended: No