{"product_id":"gorillaz-demon-days","title":"Gorillaz - Demon Days","description":"\u003cp\u003eDamon Albarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewent to great pains to explain that the first Gorillaz album was a collaboration between him, cartoonist\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eJamie Hewlett, and producer\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDan 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, \u003cem\u003eDemon Days\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eHewlett\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003estill provides new animation for Gorillaz -- although the proposed feature-length film has long disappeared -- but\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDan the Automator\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis gone, leaving\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eas the unquestioned leader of the group. Gorillaz were always designed as a collective, featuring many contributors and producers, all shepherded by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn, the songwriter, mastermind, and ringleader. Hiding behind\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eHewlett's excellent cartoons gave\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe freedom to indulge himself, but it also gave him focus since it tied him to a specific concept. Throughout his career,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ealways was at his best when writing in character -- to the extent that anytime he wrote confessionals in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBlur, 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\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBlur. \u003cem\u003eDemon Days\u003c\/em\u003e 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. Albarn\u003cspan\u003e is \u003c\/span\u003eassured and masterful on \u003cem\u003eDemon Days\u003c\/em\u003e, 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\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDanger Mouse\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eas producer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, cameos float in and out of the slipstream and\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erelies on several familiar tricks:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe Specials\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eare a touchstone, brooding minor key melodies haunt the album, there are some singalong refrains, while a celebrity recites a lyric (this time, it's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDennis 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\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erelies upon is his ability to find collaborators who can articulate his ideas clearly and vividly.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDanger Mouse, whose\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eGrey Album \u003c\/em\u003emash-up of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethe Beatles\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eJay-Z\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas 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\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eHappy Mondays, so it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the highlights of \u003cem\u003eDemon Days\u003c\/em\u003e is\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eShaun Ryder's cameo on the tight, deceptively catchy \"Dare.\" Over a tightly wound four minutes, \"Dare\" exploits\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eRyder'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 \u003cem\u003eDemon Days:\u003c\/em\u003e by letting other musicians take center stage and by sharing credit with\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDanger Mouse,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDamon Albarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ehas created an allegedly anonymous platform whose genius ultimately and quite clearly belongs to him alone. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll 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\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBlur\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ealbums, providing a tonal touchstone for this decade the way\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eParklife\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edid for the '90s. While it won't launch a phenomenon the way that 1994 classic did --\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAlbarn\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis too much a veteran artist for that and the music is too dark and weird -- \u003cem\u003eDemon Days \u003c\/em\u003eis still one hell of a comeback for\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eDamon Albarn, who seemed perilously close to forever disappearing into his own ego. — via AllMusic\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/0bUTHlWbkSQysoM3VsWldT?utm_source=generator\u0026amp;theme=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Parlophone\u003cbr\u003eFormat: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Repress\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2024 \/ Original Release: 2005\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Rock\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Leftfield, Trip Hop, Pop Rap\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: School of Rock\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Parlophone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45363779928222,"sku":"724387383814","price":60.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/71lix6-VfWL.jpg?v=1745581859","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/gorillaz-demon-days","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}