Last Summer's Glastonbury saw a most memorable tear-jerker of an appearance from the reunited Blur. After the band stopped playing, the massive crowd carried on singing "Tender" and Damon Albarn, sensitive soul that he is, burst out into tears. "Ah, perhaps this will lead to a brand new Blur album," we thought. Fat chance. Instead, what Damon did, was to make sure we would get the third Gorillaz masterpiece by the third month of 2010. Nine years ago, the Gorillaz debut album was ground-breaking and innovative, the Unexpected striking out of the shadows to stun, shock, bewilder, startle and amaze, then emerge again one step ahead of you as you moved dazed and blissfully confused through a brand new audio-visual universe. Well, "PLASTIC BEACH" is almost of the same calibre. Although nowhere near as innovative, it is, in a way, more spaced-out and far-reaching. Cosmic disco pop? Perhaps...Even though Albarn claims it's the Gorillaz most pop album to date, "PLASTIC BEACH", a concept album, doesn't really contain potential hits of "Dare" and "Clint Eastwood" quality. Speaking of concepts, the virtual band one is beginning to wear a bit thin, as even Jamie Hewlett himself admitted in a recent interview: "I'm so fucking bored of drawing those characters". The story of a journalist being drugged and abducted by bandleader Murdoc and the album being funded by arms-dealing to third world dictators and recorded on a floating island made up of the world's rubbish may be taking it a little too far, but if you prefer to concentrate on the actual music itself, there's plenty to be excited about. As usual there's a diverse array of guests, including Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and even Mark E. Smith. Several other artists recorded tracks for the album, which did not make the final cut, notably a collaboration with the Horrors. However impressive most of the guest appearances may be, it's the Albarn-sung numbers that seem to work best, reminding one of Blur's finest classic ethereal moments.