Anyway, time for the review.
Gorillaz - Demon DaysI'm just going to go straight ahead and say that this is one of my favourite albums ever. I really do love it a lot and that actually makes it a bit of a challenge to review. I suppose it is easier to point out an object's flaws than it's perfections. Or maybe I just know that this review is bound to be biased. Because of this, I'd like to apologize in advance if you listen to this after reading my review expecting it to be the best thing ever, then realising it's not actually as good as I make it out to be. To be honest I don't really care if you disagree with it anyway, these are my reviews based on my opinions. If you don't like them maybe you shouldn't read them (no one reads my blog anyway so this shouldn't be much of a problem).
Demon Days begins with an eerie instrumental intro that sounds like a doomed voyage into hell itself, with lots of strange noises accompanying a haunting string melody that draws you in; it is at this point that you realise there is no turning back and you're in for one hell of a journey. As soon as it hits, the intro withdraws into the start of Last Living Souls, whose catchy beat makes for a more optimistic start to the album, although the lyrical themes are still dark. Towards the beginning it is quite a quiet and simple track, with little more than the beat, vocals and a simple piano melody. This builds however and by the end it has become something different entirely, a theme which continues into the even more brilliant Kids With Guns. This starts with a lazy bass line and while catchy, doesn't seem like anything too special. By the end it has evolved into a cacophony of screeching guitars and crashing symbals, along with a particularly effective vocal line by a gospel choir that sounds more like a horde of musical banshees. O Green World is next and is one of the stranger tracks on the album. The intro consists of a weird collection of samples thrown together into a beat which shouldn't work, but it really does. This then morphs into a guitar sequence and vocal line that would be at home on the first Gorillaz album, but strings and the aforementioned samples come into play again later on and you're reminded that this band has evolved on a large scale.
The album really comes into its own during Dirty Harry, the title of which is yet another reference to Clint Eastwood. Quite possibly the most catchy keyboard line I have ever heard leads into a chorus of children singing along to the words of the song. This sounds like it shouldn't really work, but the end result is epic and the rap that comes in about halfway through is better still. Albarn seems to have a real talent for picking awesome people to collaborate with and this really shows here. Dirty Harry segues into Feel Good Inc., which, for lack of a better way of putting it, is one of the best songs I have ever heard. The slick bass combined with the incredibly melancholic vocals already make this a pretty evocative track. You'll feel really nostalgic when listening to this (and not in a bad way either). When the acoustic guitar comes in for the chorus the effect is spectacular. It's a very simple chord sequence but it has been so well done that when it comes in it just sounds beautiful. It is hard to describe precisely how this track makes me feel, so you'll have to listen for yourself. El Mañana is next, which somehow manages to evoke even more emotions than the previous one. The chords combined with the meaningful lyrics and amazing strings make this song a very powerful one indeed. It's the kind of song that might make you question love, it's that effective.
The album gets a bit more experimental from here on in, with next track Every Planet We Reach Is Dead being a bit reminiscent of Kids With Guns in that it builds into a spectacular wall of noise at the end complete with even more strings and a synth solo. This track continues the theme of doom running through the album, particularly in the line 'I love the girl, but God only knows its/getting hard to see the sun coming through/I love you/What are we going to do?' which I really like. November Has Come and All Alone follow, with the former continuing the theme of hopelessness from the previous track with a pretty chilling soundscape and atmosphere. It would sound at home on their first album, just for its simplicity and dirty sound. All Alone is mostly rapped, but it contains a considerable glow of optimism unseen so far in the bridge towards the end. This comes in the form of a female singer (I don't know who it is) singing along (in an amazing voice, might I add) to a brilliant set of guitar chords that just seem to materialize out of nowhere. This is definitely the most 'Gorillaz' sounding track on here, but that's no bad thing and the overall sound varies so much from track to track that it wouldn't matter anyway. Case in point: take the next track, the frantic White Light. This opens up with plenty of distortion and a very simple but heavy beat (along with almost screamed lyrics). This has the effect of sounding a bit like a grimier Song 2 (classic Blur garage-rock hit) minus the "WOOHOO"s. All of a sudden this metamorphoses into another heavenly bit of choral ahhs and a lovely bit of acoustic guitar. What the fuck they were thinking of when they wrote this? I have no idea, but it somehow manages to work. White Light manages to simultaneously be the weirdest track on the album but also one of the most fun.
The final four tracks are some of my favourites and manage to wrap up the album with considerable flair and spectacle. First comes Dare, a track so catchy you will have it in your head for months after listening to it. It's not annoyingly catchy either, the hook is so good I do wonder a bit how they have managed to produce an album oozing this much with perfection. Noodle's (the little quirky one) vocals on this track sound delightfully innocent and uplifting in contrast to Shaun Ryder's infectious refrain. One of the happiest and best moments on the album (although that's not to say the melancholic ones aren't as good). This leads me quite nicely into Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head, a track that is more of a story than a song, with the verses narrated rather than sung. It is a story about a mountain called 'Monkey' and those known as 'happy folk' who inhabit the land around it. I won't tell the whole thing, but 'strange folk' invade and take everything that isn't pinned down. The lyrics are positively haunting, while at the same time managing to tell a fable about recent affairs (the Iraq war etc.) and it really is an incredibly powerful track. Don't Get Lost in Heaven follows and while it certainly has a heavenly atmosphere (you will literally imagine bright white clouds as soon as this one starts) the lyrical themes are a clever parody of what heaven could be interpreted as. Listen carefully and you'll see what I mean. What makes it more effective is the fact that the lyrics are deliberately sung at the top of Damon's (2-D's) range, so they not only sound like they should be innocent (keeping with the rest of the song) but they're also often hard to determine. Don't Get Lost in Heaven segues nicely into the title track, also the album closer. Demon Days is my favourite Gorillaz song and I see it on an almost entirely different level to the rest of the songs here. Firstly, the opening lyrics (sung by Damon/2-D again) are at the top of his range and are even more difficult to determine. This doesn't actually detract from the quality of the song though, as it makes them seem more angelic (which is the word I would use to describe the final two tracks) and when you find out what he's saying you realise it is actually fairly depressing, almost as if he has given up all hope. This is balanced brilliantly by the string melody, which is one of the most uplifting things I have ever heard, and the angelic, ethereal feel to the song. Damon's vocals cut out not that far in and as soon as that happens the song gets a bit quieter and a very simple guitar riff starts playing. This riff signals the beginning of the end of the album for me, as it sounds like a brilliantly satisfying closing melody. The song also gets a bit happier at this point, but the lyrics that are sung next (by a gospel choir) are pretty despairing of humanity in general, I think. These lyrics are repeated over and over, speaking of things like not being able to trust the air we breathe, 'cause Mother Earth wants us all to leave. Surely a reference to our shortcomings as a species? This goes on to talk about how we 'numb ourselves with drugs and TV' which is pretty much dead on the truth, I think. Demon Days doesn't just contain beautiful instrumentation, it is also a very observant song.
It all ends with a final glimmer of hope though. The final two lines of Demon Days go 'you pick yourself up it's a brand new day/so turn yourself round, don't burn yourself turn yourself, turn yourself around into the sun' which provide a little bit of optimism that maybe tomorrow will be better than today after all. The final three words are repeated over and over until the song fades out, and you're left with a slightly deeper understanding of yourself and your place in the world. Demon Days is a beautiful album; a journey into hell and back but it's the kind of hell you wouldn't mind visiting just for the experience. It's one incredible journey too and you'll come out the other side all the more better for it. A truly enlightening experience, I still discover little audio delights I didn't notice before every time I put it on. You'd be daft to miss it.
Rating: 10/10
Released: 23rd May 2005
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