Demon Days review

This is the second album by the extremely popular virtual band Gorillaz, created by the former Blur front-man. I was going to try and get tickets for their show in Brighton later this year, but unfortunately they sold out within 2 minutes.

Tracks:

1. Intro: 6/10 a forgettable but atmospheric intro.

2. Last Living Souls: 8/10 this shows in full force the minimalist yet brilliant sounds and arty creativity that defines the band.

3. Kids with Guns: 8/10 a restrained but endlessly cool meditation on today's youth.

4. O Green World: 9/10 demented, artistic, weird and wonderful.

5. Dirty Harry: 9/10 as both a musical artwork and a war song, it's an utter triumph that succeeds on nearly ever level.

6. Feel Good Inc.: 10/10 combining elements that shouldn't work together at all with ease and featuring amazing lyrics, fantastic raps and an even more fantastic chorus, this is one of the most memorable- and one of the best- songs of the 2000s.

7. El Manana: 8/10 while more conventional than the other tracks so far, that doesn't make it any less beautiful.

8. Every Planet We Reach is Dead: 8/10 ditto.

9. November Has Come: 7/10 the lyrics are weaker but it's as clever as ever.

10. All Alone: 8/10 the meaning isn't always clear, but it's yet another memorable and highly enjoyable Demon Days track.  

11. White Light: 8/10 the most minimalist on the album so far still has so much to say.

12. DARE: 9/10 this relentlessly catchy and endlessly compelling song brings the album into 5 star territory once again.

13. Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head: 8/10 combining a powerful story with a lovely instrumental background, this reminds one of The Velvet Underground in a good way.

14. Don't Get Lost in Heaven/Demon Days: 9/10 an emotional, vocally amazing and surprisingly uplifting finale to the album.

Best song: Feel Good Inc.
Worst song: November Has Come

Summary: What an album. Sure; it's self-indulgent, requires you to be in the right mood and is undeniably uneven, so let's call it a flawed masterpiece. The musical arrangements are minimalist yet perfectly chosen, the mixture of different styles is seamless and it's the rare thing that is really pretty avant-garde yet also commercial and seriously catchy. Feel Good Inc. remains one of the best songs of the 21st century for example, while other track is also a blast. This is a weird and wonderful work of art, and it's also something so wonderfully different too.



Final rating: 8/10