The Good, The Bad, & The Queen

"The Good, The Bad, & The Queen" is a very interesting, very British album created by a souped-up rock collective including the bass player from The Clash, the guitarist from The Verve, the singer from Blur and the drummer from Fela Kuti's The Africa 70 . . . AND if that isn't enough, the record is produced by Danger Mouse, who has worked with Gnarls Barkley & Gorillaz.

There is a spooky quality to the music, and each song blends beautifully into the next as the topics range from London to Iraq. If the listener is familiar with the previous work of the artists individually, you will certainly be able to hear each one's stamp on the record. But the group must work well together because while the astute listener may find it fascinating to pick out each musician's contribution, the album is astonishingly cohesive. Astonishing because while I didn't do the research, I would wager that nine times out of ten groups made up of musicians who are already successful, "supergroups" if you will, are a mess.

'History Song,' a sad, acoustic guitar driven piece, and 'Kingdom of Doom,' a hypnotic piece in which a piano is used as percussion are my favorite tracks off the album, but every one is decent. This record really has that British rock sound all over it, and it is fantastic.