Gorillaz - Demon Days
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Free Music Notes for Demon Days
Free Music Review: Demon Days
Hit: 5 Stars
Gorillaz's Demon Days album is only the second album of the side project band that went platinum with their self-titled debut album in 2000. Demon Days is a great follow up to an extremely successful first album, creating much anticipation and expectations. Many say Demon Days has fallen slightly short of those expectations, yet it is extremely popular. The first radio release "Feel Good Inc." topped the charts for several weeks; the second single, "Dare", released after the release of the album has not done as well even though it is better. Demon Days in general has a similar sound but in many ways different sound. In their debut album the Gorillaz use a very strong rhythm at the beginning of each song, in Demon Days they have tended to integrate the rhythm slowly into a more flowing intro to each song.
"Feel Good Inc." starts out with an obscene laughing, which gives the impression of a song that is going to be funny, but then it starts talking about love. "...love for ever love is free..." This song also has more of flowing feeling to it although it does have a drum beat in it, the techno part in it make it flow very well. Then towards the end of the song, you can hear an acoustic guitar come into the song, which sounds great. "Dare" is a very innovative song because, it is not one of the Gorillaz singing, it is a guest singer. It mixes a very subtle amount of rock with quite a bit of techno.
Mainly the lyrics are about love, and or death you can tell that just by some of the titles, like "Kids with Guns", "Last Living Souls", "Every Planet We Reach is Dead", "White Light", and "Don't Get Lost in Heaven". Death seems to be a very dominant subject in this album, unlike the first album, which supposedly has to do with drugs although they do not come out and say it, they hid their meaning in the lyrics.
I am a drawn to this music because I love techno music, and I am a huge rock fan. Gorillaz bring a good mixture of the both to the table, a little more on the techno side but that is why it appeals so much to me personally. Gorillaz is great band because they hid their identities and you really do not know what the real people behind the characters of Murdoc, 2-D, Russel, Noodle.
The closest group that matches the Gorillaz that I could imagine is Linkin Park, which also mixes rock, and techno, just Linkin Park mixes very hard rock with just a slight bit of techno in the background. This is really the only group that could even come close, not many bands attempt, to mix rock with techno or vice-versa.
Free Music Review: Capturing An Uneasy Millennium
Hit: 5 Stars
People don't usually review albums unless they feel strongly about them. The fact that the latest Gorillaz album has racked up almost 250 reviews (and it's only been out for a few months!) says something about the power of this album. It's been criticized for being too dark, too strange, and trying to incorporate too many artistic styles into the short span of an hour. But these are only minor, debatable flaws in an otherwise incredible album.
What Damon Albarn & Co. specialize in is capturing the unease of the new millennium. We live in an increasingly uncertain world: al Qaeda, anthrax, overpopulation, global warming, the threat of nuclear war, and the effects of rapid technology and globalization. Throughout Demon Days runs an edgy current mirroring the present times. Many reviews seem to miss the fact that Demon Days is politically charged. "Kids with Guns" reflects the fear of school shootings, "O Green World" mourns the disaster of the environment, and "Dirty Harry" is blatantly anti-war, with a shot at President Bush ("So said the speaker/ With the flight suit on.") This trilogy succeeds in delivering social commentary in the form of fantastic, diverse songs. The restless, unsure drive of Demon Days doesn't let up there, and peaks at the spoken-word track "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head," which is quite possibly the strangest (and darkest) three minutes of the entire album. But Demon Days' dark message is cleverly concealed on tracks such as the poppy dance hit "Dare" and the choral closers "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" and "Demon Days," which sound deceptively innocent.
Enough cannot be said about the top-notch musicianship on this album. Damon Albarn employs De La Soul, Shaun Ryder, and DJ Danger Mouse, among many others, and uses a variety of musical styles- including a children's choir on the brilliant single "Dirty Harry." With the current state of modern rock radio churning out repetitive three-chord garbage like Creed, Nickelback, and Linkin Park, singles such as "Feel Good, Inc." and "Dare" are a welcome, refreshing relief.
So far, this is one of the best rock albums of 2005. It's a concept album, almost, of unease and restless anxiety; a time capsule for the year 2005. But the full Gorillaz experience can't be had until you check out Jamie Hewlett's incredible videos. The Gorillaz are touring in 2007. See ya there!
Free Music Review: "Are we the last living souls?"
Hit: 5 Stars
Some people have trouble listening to entire albums without skipping at least one track. I don't. Even if I don't love every song, if I felt enough like listening to the band to actually start it up, I can usually tolerate the weaker songs while I'm at it. I even tend to grow to like those songs on some level anyway. There are several albums I have where I do at least strongly like every song on them, though. The one thing that's pretty rare is for me to be able to specifically remember what all the songs sound like just by reading the titles. Demon Days is one of those are few.
The fact that Damon Albarn and company are able to mix such a range of genres and artists and keep all the songs unique while also creating a sense of cohesion, on top of making them all so catchy and enjoyable at the same time, is an astonishing achievement. There's rap, there's rock, there's electronica and dub and dance, there's spoken word and choir, and it's all extremely fun to listen to. My collection is almost exclusively rock, but I still find this to be one of my favorite albums to listen to. There's just something about the seamless blending of styles that makes you want to throw all your cares to the wind and just enjoy what you're listening to.
"Last Living Souls" has the most amazingly infectious electronic beat going through it the whole time. It's so good. "O Green World" has a very catchy vocal part and is another fun song. The single "Feel Good Inc" mixes a great base line and rap from De La Soul with the acoustic chorus very well. "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" has a title that reflects the supposed darker tone of the album in relation to Gorillaz' self-titled debut, and the catchy melody reflects that in an odd way. "November Has Come" has probably the best rapping on the album. The song "All Alone" combines a driving synth part with some strange vocals that I really like. "DARE" is just a blast, with the two vocal parts coming together well to create a fun dance song. "Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head" features the great Dennis Hopper reading a strange, slightly disturbing story, and leads into the last two tracks which blend together to form a very spiritual ending to a great album. Danger Mouse does a great job mixing it all together, and Albarn's vocals keep it connected and entertaining.
Free Music Review: Almost a concept album
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm surprised at how many clowns entirely missed the point of this album, which IMO comes very close to being amazing. The only flaw of the disc seems to be that it suffers a certain fear of being classified as a concept album, which it is. The concept? The state of modern humanity.
When analyzing any concept album, one frequently spends a great deal of time looking at the first and last few tracks. The statement couldn't be any more obvious here, as the second track is an obvious allusion to how badly modern society has screwed the world at large. The question it asks should be taken at face value and is therefore repeated frequently. We're then taken to task here and there with a few issues related to the subject matter (Kids with Guns, Feel Good Inc) especially the enjoyable jingoistic falsehoods mocked in 'dirty harry,' "the war is over, so said the speaker with the flight suit on." The disc closes almost like the end of an essay, with everything summarized in the chilling narrative of "fire coming out of a monkey's head." The brief vocals following this monologue and the two following tracks offer an ambiguous counterargument to the way things are presently going.
In my opinion, the sick funkiness and quality freestyles on this album are just the icing on the cake. Danger Mouse's production, while not perfect, jumps between myriad styles with minimal effort. Feel good inc and 'fire..' are both evidence to this fact. Especially awesome are the combinations of sequenced beats and acoustic guitar sounds... Also, the disc changes moods when appropriate by properly mixing up tempo and mood.
This album is far deeper than its predecessor and it's entertaining to see the irony of a bunch of commercially-marketed cartoon primates trying to comment on the state of the very world that has produced them. It's a veritable cluster-F abstracted satire.
I do, however, think that here and there there are a few too many distractions from the overall point the album tries to make. In this regard, some of the freestyles seem entirely nonsensical and a few of the tracks pretty much pointless. Nevertheless, very few groups of individuals could pull off an effort this credible. Budget and commercial success are irrelevant, as they can't create something this valid and real. Props to all involved.
Free Music Review: Should've thought of this years ago
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember when Clint Eastwood was in regular rotation on MTV, and I very much liked the video, but because of the hip-hop leanings of the music, I never bothered to investigate the group any furthur. Since then my tastes in music have branched out substantially and I'm now ready for my first taste of this band.
There actually isn't very much rapping on this album. For some this is a good thing, myself included - I tend to tolerate rapping only if it is over especially good music, since aspects of that vocal style have only recently begun to grow on me. In most parts of this album that involve rapping, it works very well, like on "Dirty Harry" (over a very intense, almost emotionally driven fuzz bass line.)
However, a large portion of this album is more of a trip-hop influenced synth pop. Despite its dance hall groove, "Kids With Guns" has a bit of a meloncholy edge to it, particularely when the synth arpeggios come in for the chorus. Many of these moments bring to mind the more "serious" songs the Beatles wrote, such as "I'm Only Sleeping," etc. That seems to be the general attitude on this album: fun trip-hop beats underscoring serious lyrical themes and edgy melodies.
Some of the standout tracks include the single, "Feel Good Inc.," the downtrodden "El Manana," the tempermental rap/pop juxtaposition of "November Has Come," the danceable "Dare," and the creepy spoken word "Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head" (as well as the previously mentioned "Kids With Guns".) In fact, the only part of this album that throws me off is the slightly awkward album-ending duo of "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" and "Demon Days." I don't hate them, but they just sort of rub me the wrong way. The choir could have been used to great effect but here I think it has reduced these songs to cheesey faux-gospel.
I still haven't gotten the self-titled Gorillaz album so I don't know how it compares to this, but I was very impressed by Demon Days and I would recommend the purchase to anyone who is even marginally flexible in their music tastes. 4.5 stars (but I'm nice so I rounded it up.)