Plastic Beach

Damon Albarn produced this one himself and turned the band into a kind of variety show. The setting is a fictional island made of plastic waste floating in the sea, and the guest list runs from Lou Reed to Snoop Dogg to a Syrian orchestra to Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of the Clash. It is the band's most polished and most crowded record, pop music about pollution that never lets the message flatten the songs.