Originally blished by L.S. Media. May 8th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating ***
Damon Albarn is one of those musicians that made his name in the 90’s and managed with some skill and incredible fortitude to remain vital and interesting in whatever project he had his eye on next.
From the heady days of Blur and the unforgettable public spats with Oasis and the Gallagher brothers and the Brit Pop culture explosion to the remarkable fusion of the ground breaking rock animation and slightly disturbing nature of Gorillaz to his debut album Dr Dee, it seems that the man who gave the nation songs such as Country House, Tracy Jacks, Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood has now set his eyes on a higher, more lofty enterprise.
If you aren’t careful, Dr Dee will catch you out. Pure and simple in its conception and point, in its output something altogether more out of step with the way some of Damon Albarn’s fans would expect the prestigious man to create a venture. Taken from the opera created by theatre director Rufus Norris and the Blur frontman, Dr Dee is the story of Queen Elizabeth’s physician John Dee and the tragedy of dealing with a Mephistopheles-like character. Like everything else that Albarn has created, is worth listening to, it’s worth digesting and you may even find new respectful heights of appreciation for the musician, especially to his way of presenting avant garde material for public consumption but even then there will be part of you that wonders as you put it aside on the shelf you reserve for the collection of C.Ds, just how many times exactly will you listen to it.
An opera is always a hard art form to get into, if not introduced to it early in life it can become a grind to sit through and in parts the C.D. has the same effect. The Renaissance style thrills, the music is a delight to hear but it doesn’t give room to breathe. There is the element and effect of being suffocated by the restrictions at hand that operas seemingly have to adhere to which will frighten the casual music lover and might just be to lofty an aim, noble though it may have been, for Damon Albarn to bring out ahead of a new Blur album.
Certainly worth a listen with the lights off, a good fire roaring in the background and with half an ear on the Renaissance period music, it just have the feel of an album that will be lauded beyond the so called elite lovers of high music and only has the heady thoughts of Damon Albarn proving, quite rightly that he can turn his hand to anything.
Ian D. Hall