#i think at this point my re obsession mode is so heavy id pay someone to listen to me talk abt them for 4 hrs

[somethingshifted]

i watched this video (put it off for all of 3 days because i get nervous watching video essays on my favorite things for some reason) and i loved it. it made me so happy. readmore cuz long post

even if the subject itself was how gorillaz nearly ended because of plastic beach's ambition, this video was so enjoyable. because i feel like getting an account of how people felt about the album release, at the time, from someone who was present is incredibly important for preservation? the extensive things fans have archived is important first and foremost as so much was personally privated by the band, but it's hard to get a pulse on fan feelings as a whole other than digging through wayback machine or knowing someone who was fandom present.

alongside this i'm appreciative of lady emily remarking on the landscape of releasing music at the time. where CD wasn't as huge, not as many people cared about vinyl, music channels were obsolete, and youtube was nascent even in 2010 when it comes to money making opportunities, especially for record labels forget about solo projects like lets-players. which just brings into perspective how taxing PB was to make. it's a beautiful project made off the failure of carousel to launch and didn't make as much of an impact as it needed to survive... which was something i personally was fully unaware of at the time. i just sat on youtube thinking that's where updates were mostly and relying on deviantart friends relaying info to me (i was very internet-dumb). carousel was insanely ambitious and destined to fail with how much they were expecting, and seeing the long list of projects that died out and the way the art being featured during tours became more of an after-thought was heartbreaking a bit so i can definitely understand why tensions blew up.

the idea of media (because PB isn't just an album even if that is the main skeleton veins and organs of it) being made for an era that doesn't exist is depressing, but her explanation to how it came to be and how different the climate is now is a great reminder to myself. because i keep asking 'why don't they do X Y and Z' and the truth is it costs SO much to do that, not to mention do it well AND have the artists and designers and so on be paid and treated well, and PB had so much going for it that didn't return profit. like the way the world is, passion itself doesn't reward you with a living which is sad, and appreciation and apt payment for visual arts doesn't get much better as the future moves on. and kind of humbles me to not have a stick up my ass for cracker island. KIND OF- i still feel my gears grinded when i see how sanitized some things are. major 'he wouldn't say that' feelings.

having reservations on gorillaz marketing behavior is fully allowed and honestly, needed because having a fanbase of only yes-men is detrimental, god forbid they thought NFTs would be well received. i feel hesitant to be a hater for newer stuff bc even if character writing choices annoy me so hard, i still find gems, and i still want to understand the full background of how much of what used to exist, can't exist the same way anymore as the world gets more expensive and a higher bar of quality is needed (outside the writing. that's more on current writers forgetting pretty well established easy characterization) idk if anything as wide-spread and ambitious as PB could ever exist today. isn't that sad? melancholy? i feel like being in your 20s during today consists of a lot of foot-in-one era, foot-in-the-other. the things you grow up with are impossible to go back to since technology is moving at a breakneck speed. but it being so expansive and story heavy was special and i'm learning more about that every day. as someone who's still iffy on the lore taking such a huge part of the overarching characters that it's still referenced at the end of the 2010's i really really do fucking love it. one of a kind. people who get very defensive of plastic beach have full reign to do so, just lemme stand behind you as a humanz defender

she also touched upon a feeling i thought was unpopular but i'm glad she did mention, and it's about how the story for the following albums were more self contained. i do feel though that wishing the band was a band and not characters milling about is a semi popular stance (?) i'm happy people recognize that because seriously my pulse on fandom feelings is sooooo lacking, even now as i venture to twitter and tumblr in 2023. anyways, even for how fantastical PB is and how much i love it, both the climate of the world not supporting projects like this and with gorillaz being self funded since 2019 (didn't know this and that is insane to me) gorillaz can benefit with the bar of expectations being lowered. multimedia projects are a rarity, with websites being sleeked and dumbed down for mobile users only, death of flash, social media being the hub for everything (why i get their reliance on it), singles needing to always be the strength of albums, and trends dying out faster than a mayfly, it's just hard. would i like to see them return to something like that, yes of course, but i sure as hell am not expecting it. unless some billionaire wants to dump their entire savings into their lap. the phases 1 and 2 performing well while being multimedia in the way of animation, interview, in-character and etc, is fantastic but there is no way that sort of MV quality would be passable today. and as a whole it was just less expensive AND way more new and fresh to make compared to making something in 2023 while also accommodating collaborators and managing the band. i guess it's difficult for me to hold a concrete stance. 'aw man why'd they do that... oh well...' times change ig. one thing i will shit on without feeling much guilt is the merch handling though like christ

i really want to hear her defend humanz like she said she might, like i'm on my knees... to wrap this up: very nice video if you want to hear about the behind the scenes of gorillaz all laid out in order. knowing the charting numbers didn't really hit for me till this video. and insight on how the band moved. there was a comment that said the flash games that are still archived today and she hearted it so you can check that out too, i've been going to that site archive for weeks now. i guess there was ONE thing which was i personally hated the way russel was used the entirety of that phase and i regard his mental break being phase 2 more than phase 3 so i raised my eyebrow at her depicting russel being cool and important, but like that's such a small bit, that i can understand why seeing him be a (silent) superhero was super cool. like yes he actually did do more actions on phase 3, bc even phase 1/2 he was, while well spoken gentle and wise, just there on the drums. i just want him to Say Something in phase 3 like that's his baby he's saving... well... ok. that's ok. don't get me started on my boy this post is already long e-fucking-nough

can i add. saying murdoc is the joker for gay teenage girls killed me

#i think at this point my re obsession mode is so heavy id pay someone to listen to me talk abt them for 4 hrs #text