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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Demon Days
Universal acclaim
Based on 37 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 142 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Virgin
Release Date: 24 May 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock, Electronic, Rap
Summary
When the comic supergroup's 2001 debut sold an astounding 6 million copies worldwide, a sequel became necessary. Hence 'Demon Days.' Returning leader Damon Albarn (Blur) and new producer Danger Mouse are joined by guests Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays), Ike Turner, MF Doom, De La Soul and Dennis Hopper.
Also By This Artist: D-Sides Gorillaz G-Sides
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: The Good, The Bad & The Queen: S/T
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
E! Online
Get past the dark stuff and Demon Days reveals a stash of songs that are more fun than a Hong Kong Phooey marathon.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Innovative as it is satisfying.... It’s hard to imagine a more realized meld of hip-hop, electronica, and post-rock.
Read Full Review >Urb
Brilliant.... This album sounds like Albarn and Danger Mouse are an inspired team. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.101]
All Music Guide
It not only eclipses the first Gorillaz album, which in itself was a terrific record, but stands alongside the best Blur albums, providing a tonal touchstone for this decade the way Parklife did for the '90s.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
[Danger Mouse's] stunning flourishes... help place Demon Days notches above any vaguely electronic release in recent memory. [Jun 2005, p.104]
Uncut
A dazzlingly clever record--great beats, brilliant production, top tunes and some of Albarn's best singing. [Jun 2005, p.106]
Austin Chronicle
The results are reason enough for Damon Albarn's other outfit to finally pack it in.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
It's Albarn's evocative words, compelling if understated melodic sense and subdued vocals that are the emotional center, transcending the gimmick even more than on the first Gorillaz album. [22 May 2005]
Stylus Magazine
A much more consistent and coherent album, equaling Gorillaz’s high points and easily besting its shortcomings.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
[Albarn's] sad, plaintive vocal presence elevates near-filler tracks like "November Has Come"... [and] sub-par tracks like the experimental "White Light" and... "Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head" all but beg for Albarn's persona to return. [#10, p.111]
musicOMH.com
Demon Days as a whole is a thing of considerable depth and melancholia and offers rather more soul than the cartoon gimmick would suggest.
Read Full Review >Filter
Amazingly, only a couple of times does the broadness of what is going on get in the way or misfire... and at album's end, you can look back in wonder at how in the hell a barrel of cartoon monkeys managed to pull it off again. [#15, p.93]
New Musical Express (NME)
Before you even consider the sonic and melodic innovation paraded through the album there’s so much crammed into each of these fifteen songs (without any one of them sounding overproduced or cluttered) that repeated listening is a must.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
First impressions could not be more wrong. Demon Days goes boldly against the current trend for brash immediacy and instead repays time and effort on the part of the listener.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
Less accessible than its eponymous predecessor, it creates a darker, less cartoonish world where hip-hop, brit-rock, electronica and Dennis Hopper monologues all seem perfectly at home.
Read Full Review >Drawer B
Albarn’s ability to slither arrogantly from genre to genre while maintaining his charm is truly remarkable.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Funky, playful but sinister like the best children's stories. [Jun 2005, p.98]
Junkmedia
The record's disparate experiments are unified by an overriding darkness, the black light Albarn shines on the dancehall. It's this unusual tone that makes Demon Days intriguing long after it's ceased to be novel.
Read Full Review >Spin
Danger Mouse sets a consistent tone that wryly chafes against Albarn's paranoia. [Jun 2005, p.105]
RapReviews.com
It's [the] beats by Danger Mouse that make "Demon Days" a winner, even when the Gorillaz concept threatens to overwhelm itself with pretentious twaddle.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Spookier, blippier, and more on edge. It's also not as cohesive. [27 May 2005, p.136]
ShakingThrough.net
Granted, the world isn’t exactly better off since since the last Gorillaz album, but that doesn’t mean we need to be reminded of it by a loose collaborative outfit that will never be mistaken for the Clash when it comes to political or social consciousness.
Read Full Review >Blender
Darker and colder than its predecessor but, surprisingly, more fun. [Jun 2005, p.109]
Planet
The results are sinister. [#10, p.70]
Prefix Magazine
As you listen to it more and more, the music begins to make sense, the hooks come into focus and everything appears in sharp resolution, manifesting itself in a giant pop animal created for your indulgence.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
The music is mostly an interesting hybrid of unlikely elements and naggingly catchy tunes. [Jul 2005, p.186]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's all quite innovative and cool, and Albarn's deadpan vocals suggest a Han Solo-like seen-it-all interplanetary weariness. Too bad it lacks a track as tight and memorable as the fluke 2001 hit "Clint Eastwood" to anchor it in place.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
So many names, so many influences: perhaps unsurprisingly 'Demon Days' is a dizzying, disorientating and sometimes directionless album.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Like the Gorillaz's self-titled debut, Demon Days goes the way of most auteur projects, its oversize idea load making for a trip equal parts peak and valley. But also like the debut, Demon Days is better than it has any right to be, featuring singles stronger than anything released under the Blur banner since, you know, that "Woo-hoo" song.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Surprisingly, Albarn's vocals, phoned-in and incredibly flat, weigh the record down.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
What’s particularly interesting about Demon Days is not that they have half of a good record--there are plenty of albums that can’t even manage that--it’s that it’s so clearly the first half.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 142 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Francesco R gave it a10:
It is impossible sayin' that this album belongs to a kind of music, because it is just a super-mix of everything, which makes a very pleasant listening. It is an album that will be remembered for years, for decades, and even if you don't know what's the meaning of the texts of the songs, you feel as if that innovative music, that the first time you heard sounded so strange and "different", tells you about something that you can't explain by words, something that we can feel in the air every day: it's just the life we live, in a world that too much times looks grey and empty...the world that we can find in "Demon Days"...ya, of course it is exaggerated, but the question is...how much?
justin f gave it a9:
It is spectacular. the best songs from this album are: White Light, Dirty Harry, Feel Good Inc., el manana, and Kids with Guns. tHIS ALBUM IS A Must-buy!
Philip D. gave it an8:
This is a tough one. Fans of Gorillaz will love it, fans of Feel Good Inc won't. I believe that every (decent) band comes up with one song which doesn't go with their style, yet is so amazing it is still worth releasing just to save that one idea. (I would say Linkin Park- Faint and California Dreaming by the Mamas and the Papas are other examples of this). I've heard of people who now hate Gorillaz because Feel Good brought them mainstream. All I can say is that this one song stands out above the other songs as being one of the finest pieces of music ever. So strange, yet so widely loved by all ages. So where does this leave the rest? I like Dare for its catchy beat but it doesn't have quite the same depth. Dirty Harry kind of falls under the same category. I can't help but rate this on how I feel the rest of the music compares to Feel Good Inc. The rest of the CD is still better than most CDs out there in my opinion, but I'm starting to wonder if they should have released Feel Good in the same album. Gorillaz beat themselves into a corner with that song but I am so pleased they released it I'm going to give this CD a rating of 8/10.
David H. gave it a9:
Definetly one of the best albums of the year! Original, experimental with dark and mysterious overtones. Every track stands out as different from the next. Overall, its near masterful. Intro is great gives u a real taster of the feel of the album. last living souls 9/10, kids with guns 10/10, o green world 7/10, dirty harry 9/10, feel good inc. 10/10, el manana 10/10, every planet we reach is dead 8/10, november has come 10/10, all alone 10/10, white light 5/10, dare 10/10, fire coming out of a monkeys head 9/10, don't get lost in heaven 10/10, demon days 10/10.every song great except white light!
Rick W. gave it a10:
Probably my all-time favorite album...completely unique
Paula G. gave it a10:
It's the best record I've ever listen to, no doubt.
Tom P. gave it an8:
No longer does the color of your skin make a suitable reason for your bad taste in music. I know this isn't really a full hip hop/rap CD, but you can play the few tracks that do include rap to your friends and keep your reputation as you begin to realize how much more that music, if you could call most rap that, has to offer. So for the sake of music, put down Soulja Boy....Oh god PLEASE PUT DOWN SOULJA BOY...and get this CD, then show your friends this CD, THEN, after you've realized how shitty almost all the music you've been listening to is, pick up a radiohead CD or something. besisdes, you owe it to those that want to be able to hear good music on the radio.
