Gorillaz by Gorillaz

Gorillaz, the debut from the English virtual band of the same name, hit British shops on 26 March 2001 on Parlophone and reached America on Virgin that June. The band cut it from 1998 to 2000 at Damon Albarn's Studio 13 in London and at Geejam Studios in Jamaica, with Dan the Automator producing alongside the band, Tom Girling and Jason Cox, and it sounds nothing like the Britpop of Albarn's day job in Blur. This is a stoned, shape-shifting stew of trip hop, dub, Latin rhythms and punk rock, fronted by animated characters and fleshed out with guests.

Del the Funky Homosapien raps all over "Clint Eastwood", a creeping, dubby shuffle, and "Rock the House". Miho Hatori and Tina Weymouth turn up on the manic "19-2000", Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Tom Tom Club add their groove elsewhere, and Ibrahim Ferrer brings a touch of grace. Co-creator Jamie Hewlett's visuals were everywhere, from interactive websites to animated videos and short cartoons, and on the 2001-2002 world tour Albarn and a backing band played hidden behind projection screens.

It was a huge hit, selling more than seven million copies worldwide, earning triple-platinum status at home and a platinum award in America, and landing the band in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful virtual band. G-Sides rounded up the leftovers that December, and a 20th anniversary reissue arrived in 2021.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.