Demon Days Review · 8:37am Feb 5th, 2022

Date of Release: May 11, 2005

Gorillaz are an English virtual band created in 1998 by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. The band members comprise of: (Virtual)

Murdoc Niccals (Bass)
Stuart Harold "2-D" Pot (Vocals, Keyboards)
Noodle (Guitar, Keyboard, Vocals)
Russell Hobbs (Drums)

Non virtual members:

Damon Albarn (Vocals, Instrumentalist, Song writer)
Jamie Hewlett (Band Artist)
Remi Kabaka Jr. (Drummer, Producer)

Gorillaz are known to constantly experiment with their music and not exactly sticking to one specific Genre. The band has sold over 25 million records worldwide. They have won a Grammy award, 2 MTV Music Video Awards, an NME award and 3 MTV Europe Music Awards.

Gorillaz is a band I've been meaning to get into for a while now but kept forgetting about. I remember hearing the songs On Melancholy Hill and El Mañana back in highschool and absolutely loving them. About a week ago I listened to Plastic Beach for the first time and despite how weird their music got I really liked it. I went in with the mindset that they were an alternative rock band, how wrong was I?

While mostly true, Gorillaz hop around music genres. Most notably Alternative rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Art Pop. An aspect I love from them, every song from their albums have their own identity, no two songs are the same.

After Plastic Beach I went on to listen to probably their most popular album Demon Days. What followed was a great, one of a kind album filled with unique, thought provoking songs. It definitely helps that a number of artists collaborated to help make this album. Most notably MF DOOM, Danger Mouse, and Roots Manuva.

Songs

Intro
The intro to set the tone of the album is pretty unsettling. I would say it let's you know what you're getting into but with Gorillaz albums that isn't necessarily the case, they're unpredictable. Though I do find it awesome that the intro is essentially a remix of a piece of production music from the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack.

Last Living Souls
This track opens with some fun percussion to counter the intro's unsettling vibe. I love the inclusion of the Chip tune on this track. This song also incorporates violins in the later half that fit the hip hop beat surprisingly well. Lyrically this could be viewed as somebody coming to the realization that they have lived their life according to what society says is right and feeling alone in that realization. Pretty heavy stuff.

Kids with Guns
This song offers a very simplistic yet funky bass line. As the song progresses more instruments are added but when nearing the bridge all of them are stripped away until only the bass remains, giving this song a fun little back and forth aspect. Towards the end of the song the beat is entirely replaced by instrumentals which I find very cool.
Damon was inspired to write this song after hearing that a kid brought a knife to his daughters school. Which gives context to the lyrics, lyrically this song is about the desensitization of violence and crime life to children and how subtle it is.

O Green World
This next song opens with out of tune plucking of an electric guitar until it eventually leads to a chaotic yet funky electronic bass line, very much in the style of Gorillaz. I also love the chords being strummed from the guitar which later sounds like it's coming out of a old radio. About halfway into the song it seems to stop abruptly and sounds like a machine got busted, which ties in with the lyrics. Lyrically this song is about the fear of what humans are doing to the earth and how we're slowly killing it.

Dirty Harry
One of my favorite songs off the album Dirty Harry is an anti war song. Lyrically this song talks about how war is viewed by kids through media and how it slowly makes them loose their innocence. This song features a choir of kids to further drive home the point.
Normally I really dislike kids singing in songs. I didn't like them in Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and I didn't like them in Red Hot Chili Peppers' Under the Bridge. Don't ask me why I just don't, but in this song they actually fit perfectly and I enjoy it.
Halfway into the song it incorporates this old school rap segment that goes HARD, I absolutely love this part of the song.

Feel Good Inc.
This is it. The track everybody and their mother knows about. This track opens with Murdoc's funky and catchy as all hell bass line. 2-D's singing in this song is very brooding as well. The use of the acoustic guitar at the bridge is a great inclusion. Lyrically this song is about city life and how overbearing it is, as well as artificial happiness. The laugh at the start of the track reinforces this as it doesn't sound genuine but forced. The rap segments throughout the song are great as well. The minor key this song is set in perfectly captures what they were going for.

El Mañana
Another favorite of mine, El Mañana is best summed up as somber yet beautiful. The hip hop beats don't sound out of place at all. The acoustic guitar gives off a lonely vibe. Towards the end of the song they also include string instruments which makes this song feel very haunting. 2-D repeating the phrase "Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine" towards the end of the song is possibly my favorite part of the song. Lyrically this song is about regret and not being able to change the past.

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead
The western tone this song gives off in my opinion is really cool. The use of harmonizing vocals throughout the song sound heavenly. The riff the guitar plays also drives home that western feel. This song is about indecisiveness and being scared of making a wrong choice, something I can very much relate to. The closing lyric of the chorus drives this point further, that being "What are we going to do".

November Has Come
This track features legendary rapper MF DOOM. In terms of instrumentals this song is very minimal in that department. Which isn't a problem as MF DOOM's vocals are sort of an instrument itself. His verses and line delivery have a nice soft flow to it. It's a short and sweet track that doesn't overstay it's welcome.

All Alone
This song features British rapper Roots Manuva. I really like the beat to this song, very reminiscent of drum and bass songs. The synthesizer used on this song gives this song a very early 2000's underground feel to it. Roots Manuva's line delivery is fast and flows incredibly well. Throughout the song funny sound effects are used as well as high pitched voices. The voices I don't really like though. I also really like the ending as it ends with an electric guitar playing a riff in solitude.

White Light
This a very simple song yet I really like it. The only lyrics throughout the song are, "White light, alcohol". It's very electronic and partly punk inspired. The bass line on here, like the song itself is simple yet catchy and packs a punch.

DARE
My second favorite song off the album. This song is an electro pop song sung by Noodle and Shawn Writer. This song is incredibly catchy and groovy. Noodle's singing on here is beautiful and cute. Shawn sings this song with an aggressive accent that surprisingly doesn't clash with Noodle's singing. I can picture myself in a club with this song playing in the background. I can't even count how many times I've listened to this song on repeat.

Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head
This song is incredibly cartoony, the chorus switches that up as an acoustic guitar is played as 2-D starts to sing in a melancholy way. This song is majorly narrated by Dennis Hopper. He tells a story of a country invading another one to steal their natural resources and leaving death wherever they go. Eventually though nobody wins in the end because mother nature kills everybody. Which sounds metal as fuck. Such a heavy concept despite the cartoony music in the background.

Don't Get Lost in Heaven
I absolutely adore the 60's vibe this song gives off. It's something I could easily picture the Beach Boy's being able to sing. This song along with DARE is one of the few songs that are more positive then all the other songs off the album. Like the name of the song, harmonizing vocals by a London choir are used throughout the song to make it feel like you really are in heaven. The only instruments that are used in this song is a piano, really the main focus here are the vocals that sound beautiful.

Demon Days
The final song off the album this track opens up with some lovely orchestral instruments. The beginning of the song gives me a sense of the start of a brand new day, which ties in well with the previous song. 2-D's high pitched singing only adds to this euphoric feeling. The electric guitar and it's reverb pedal gives this song a dream like feeling. The choir from the previous track makes a welcome return as well. The fading vocals at the end of the song was a wonderful way of ending the album. Overall this was a nice closing track.

Final Thoughts
In conclusion Demon Days was a journey of an album. The subject matter of this album was surprisingly pretty dark but towards the end of it there's a ray of light. This album originally was going to be a concept album with every song being something that Damon Albarn fears in life. It seems though that some ideas stuck around. For being an album that was released in 2005 this album has aged incredibly well.

Between this and Plastic Beach I'm excited to see what else Gorillaz has to offer. I'm very happy I finally decided to check them out. If you have yet to check out Gorillaz for yourself I encourage you to do so. Start with this album, these guys are one of a kind and offer something you won't hear anywhere else. There's a reason why this band is loved by many.

If I had to rate it out of 10: 9/10

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