The classic rock band Damon Albarn hates: “They are definitely contributing to the bad music imprint”
It’s difficult to critique classic rock without attracting a swarm of Led Zeppelin enthusiasts and Rolling Stones fans ready to defend the genre to the death. Dad rockers are some of the most devoted disciples around, but Blur frontman Damon Albarn isn’t afraid to face their wrath.
After leading Blur into Britpop fame in the 1990s, Albarn began carving out new forms of hip-hop and electronic with his innovative virtual project, Gorillaz. His lengthy career has spanned countless genres, from trip hop to pop, but Albarn has never really ventured into the world of rock, certainly not in its classic form.
That’s not to say that Albarn hasn’t been influenced by bands who have existed within that sphere. The frontman has cited the likes of The Kinks and The Beatles as inspirations, as well as former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett. His admiration for the latter, though, doesn’t quite extend to his former bandmates.
After attending a Syd Barrett tribute concert at London’s Barbican Hall, Albarn spoke about his love for the frontman to Q Magazine, juxtaposing it with his hatred for the group and genre that spawned his fame. “Such a nice day off,” he reflected, “Just going back to straightforward songs for a day. It was really easy.”
He went on to acknowledge the influence of that “great English songwriting” on him in his youth before tearing into Barrett’s Pink Floyd bandmates. “I’m sorry, they’re nice enough people, but God, their music is just appalling,” he stated, “They’re just fucking rubbish. They don’t play with any passion.”
It’s an opinion that most would disagree with and one that certainly would have earned Albarn some passionate backlash from specific subsections of music fans. Despite his hatred for the outfit, there was one Pink Floyd record that Albarn did have a personal connection to. “My parents had Atom Heart Mother,” he acknowledged, “I loved that. I loved the Syd records, and I like that one.”
Still, he maintained, “I just hate them. I don’t hate them – there’s an awful lot of bad music being made on a very large scale, and they are definitely contributing to the bad-music imprint.” Going one step further in his quest to irk rock fans, Albarn concluded by applying this description to the genre as a whole: “All of it. It doesn’t work, you know.”
While Pink Floyd still retain their reputation as one of the most important bands of all time, and rock continues to dominate, it seems like a difficult case to make. However, Albarn was unwilling to back down.
