Demon Days

Gorillaz | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00082IJ08
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (366 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,054 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #61 in Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Pop Rap

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A side project doesn't usually hit gold, especially when said project is a quirky virtual collective fronted by cartoon characters. But the first, self-titled album by Gorillaz--the brainchild of illustrator Jamie Hewlett and Blur frontman Damon Albarn--actually hit platinum and turned into a surprise worldwide hit. Naturally expectations were a lot higher for Gorillaz's sophomore effort, but Demon Days actually is even better than its predecessor. With producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura gone, Albarn, a.k.a. 2D, has paired up with DJ Danger Mouse (responsible for the infamous Grey Album that illegally mixed the Beatles and Jay-Z) to steer the musical ship, while a whole new slew of guests enlivens the proceedings. Albarn has described Demon Days as being darker, but there's a real kooky dance-party vibe coursing through the CD. Despite its somber tone, "Kids with Guns" is lifted by a killer bass line, for instance, while the catchy first single, "Feel Good Inc," is augmented by an appealing contribution from De La Soul. Other noteworthy guests include Roots Manuva and Tricky collaborator Martina Topley-Bird on the dubby "All Alone" and Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder on the bouncy "DARE." And yet it's a 69-year-old actor who gets to deliver the most baffling contribution--just listen to Dennis Hopper's spoken-word narrative on "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head." Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

The 15-track "Demon Days" is the follow-up to Gorillaz's worldwide smash self-titled debut, which has sold more than 1.54 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and six million worldwide, according to Virgin. EMI. 2005.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

299 of 318 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It may be different. But it's just as brilliant May 31, 2005

By Alan Pounds

Format:Audio CD

Like you, I loved the first Gorillaz record. But also like you, I was a little worried about Gorillaz falling prey to the dreaded sophomore slump that many bands subsequently release after belting out such a stunning debut. Unfortunately, a lot of people are calling "Demon Days" just that, which couldn't be further from the truth. I can't say that I'm surprised, due to the change in the band's line up. Most notably, Dan The Automator has left the group (as well as Del), leaving Damon Albarn as the leader and creative visionary of the group (along with producer, Danger Mouse). That alone is enough to lose a few fans. But the fact is, Damon Albarn hasn't crafted anything this beautiful since Blur's 1994 "Parklife", which is truly an amazing feat. Especially considering Blur's last album "Think Tank" wasn't quite up to par. But this is very different than a Blur record. There is a real sense of liberation on Albarn's side. Gorillaz has really given him a chance to spread his wings, and let him experiment and try things he wasn't able to do with Blur. Albarn's flame has been re-ignited with this record, proving once again that his musical vision is one of a genius.

The record has a very cinematic feel to it. It possesses a lot of build-up and tear-down elements to it. The first few tracks feels like a warm up to the beautiful and chilling, "Dirty Harry", then bursting in with the climax of "Feel Good Inc." the first radio single off the record. Those two really hit hard, and the album doesn't let up until the album's lead out. "El Mañana" and "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" are equally funky and remarkable tunes. The collaborators are sprinkled throughout the album, which are never overbearing, like on the track "November Has Come," where rap veteran Daniel Dumile (aka "MF Doom") lends a hand. It all leads up to the biggest climax of the album, "Dare". A gorgeously crafted pop song that has "club hit" written all over it (it's one of my favorites). The album starts to calm down over the final three tracks with great tracks like "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head". The tracks work cohesively together, bringing the standout tracks to the forefront nicely. With that said, some tracks that may seem like filler to others, really add to the album's mood and flair. It doesn't feel like a bunch of tracks thrown on a CD. It feels like a journey through the eyes of Damon Albarn.

All in all, if you were into the first record strictly for the collaboration of Dan The Automator and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (among others), then you may be somewhat disappointed with "Demon Days," although there are plenty of hip-hop elements to the record. If you entered "Gorillaz" from the Blur end of things, then what are you waiting for; you NEED this record. However you stumbled upon "Gorillaz," the material on this record is remarkable. I will admit, it isn't what I was expecting, which is almost why I like it more. It's far more interesting to listen to the stark contrast of their two studio efforts, than to keep thinking what could've been. This is by far my favorite album from Albarn, which I would recommend very, very highly.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A monster album here -- not just in its size, but in its Frankenstein construction. July 12, 2005

By Mark Schaefer

Format:Audio CD

Damon Albarn went to great pains to explain that the first Gorillaz album was a collaboration between him, cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, and producer Dan the Automator, but any sort of pretense to having the virtual pop group seem like a genuine collaborative band was thrown out the window for the group's long-awaited 2005 sequel, Demon Days. Hewlett still provides new animation for Gorillaz -- although the proposed feature-length film has long disappeared -- but Dan the Automator is gone, leaving Albarn as the unquestioned leader of the group. This isn't quite similar to Blur, a genuine band that faltered after Graham Coxon decided he had enough, leaving Damon behind to construct the muddled Think Tank largely on his own. No, Gorillaz were always designed as a collective, featuring many contributors and producers, all shepherded by Albarn, the songwriter, mastermind, and ringleader.

Hiding behind Hewlett's excellent cartoons gave Albarn the freedom to indulge himself, but it also gave him focus since it tied him to a specific concept. Throughout his career, Albarn always was at his best when writing in character -- to the extent that anytime he wrote confessionals in Blur, they sounded stagy -- and Gorillaz not only gave him an ideal platform, it liberated him, giving him the opportunity to try things he couldn't within the increasingly dour confines of Blur. It wasn't just that the cartoon concept made for light music -- on the first Gorillaz album, Damon sounded as if he were having fun for the first time since Parklife.

But 2005 is a much different year than 2001, and if Gorillaz exuded the heady, optimistic, future-forward vibes of the turn of the millennium, Demon Days is as theatrically foreboding as its title, one of the few pop records made since 9/11 that captures the eerie unease of living in the 21st century. Not really a cartoony feel, in other words, but Gorillaz indulged in doom and gloom from their very first single, "Clint Eastwood," so this is not unfamiliar territory, nor is it all that dissimilar from the turgid moodiness of Blur's 2003 Think Tank. But where Albarn seemed simultaneously constrained and adrift on that last Blur album -- attempting to create indie rock, yet unsure how since messiness contradicts his tightly wound artistic impulses -- he's assured and masterful on Demon Days, regaining his flair for grand gestures that served him so well at the height of Britpop, yet tempering his tendency to overreach by keeping the music lean and evocative through his enlistment of electronica maverick Danger Mouse as producer.

Demon Days is unified and purposeful in a way Albarn's music hasn't been since The Great Escape, possessing a cinematic scope and a narrative flow, as the curtain unveils to the ominous, morose "Last Living Souls" and then twists and winds through valleys, detours, and wrong paths -- some light, some teeming with dread -- before ending up at the haltingly hopeful title track. Along the way, cameos float in and out of the slipstream and Albarn relies on several familiar tricks: the Specials are a touchstone, brooding minor key melodies haunt the album, there are some singalong refrains, while a celebrity recites a lyric (this time, it's Dennis Hopper). Instead of sounding like musical crutches, this sounds like an artist who knows his strengths and uses them as an anchor so he can go off and explore new worlds.

Chief among the strengths that Albarn relies upon is his ability to find collaborators who can articulate his ideas clearly and vividly. Danger Mouse, whose Grey Album mash-up of the Beatles and Jay-Z was an underground sensation in 2004, gives this music an elasticity and creeping darkness than infects even such purportedly lighthearted moments as "Feel Good Inc." It's a sense of menace that's reminiscent of prime Happy Mondays, so it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the highlights of Demon Days is Shaun Ryder's cameo on the tight, deceptively catchy "Dare." Over a tightly wound four minutes, "Dare" exploits Ryder's iconic Mancunian thug persona within territory that belongs to the Gorillaz -- its percolating beat not too far removed from "19/2000" -- and that's what makes it a perfect distillation of Demon Days: by letting other musicians take center stage and by sharing credit with Danger Mouse, Damon Albarn has created an allegedly anonymous platform whose genius ultimately and quite clearly belongs to him alone.

All the themes and ideas on this album have antecedents in his previous work, but surrounded by new collaborators, he's able to present them in a fresh, exciting way. And he has created a monster album here -- not just in its size, but in its Frankenstein construction. It not only eclipses the first Gorillaz album, which in itself was a terrific record, but stands alongside the best Blur albums, providing a tonal touchstone for this decade the way Parklife did for the '90s. While it won't launch a phenomenon the way that 1994 classic did -- Albarn is too much a veteran artist for that and the music is too dark and weird -- Demon Days is still one hell of a comeback for Damon Albarn, who seemed perilously close to forever disappearing into his own ego.

88 of 104 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky and charming May 30, 2005

By Bart Motes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

This album has grown and grown on me. I wanted to write about the first six proper songs forming the heart of the album and the rest being disposable, but it's really not true. Every track has something interesting to offer. Funky beats, weird minor keys, little accents here and there. You have to appreciate the perspective of the creators of this album, the supremely playful and simultaneously world weary affect of pop veterans, who have seen it all and yet still want to mess with the form and function of their music. This is the work of an artist at the height of his powers who respects his audience. I can appreciate how people might listen to this and go WTF? But give it a chance. For every excess there's a hidden gem.