Review of Gorillaz, Demon Days
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Don't get me wrong. Demon Days is a solid album on its own, and it's exactly the kind of arty, experimental stuff that critics and hipsters get off on. But there was something that just didn't click with me about Demon Days that always kept me from fully liking it, and I finally realized what it was after the fifth or sixth listen.
The Gorillaz' self-titled debut seemed like the search for the perfect pop song through different world influences. It didn't always work: "Dracula", "Latin Simone", and "M1 A1" were nearly unlistenable. But when it succeeded, it succeeded blissfully well, with fantastic pop tunes like "5/4" , "Re-hash", "19-2000", and of course the floaty, effervescent "Clint Eastwood". My problem with Demon Days isn't that there's a lack of a "Clint Eastwood"-- both the funky "Feel Good, Inc" with its insane super-villain cackling and the synthy, druggy "Dare", though not quite on the same level, are still excellent pop songs-- it's that the album itself is much more atmospheric, meandering, introspective, gloomy as hell, and, well, kind of boring.
It does in fact seem odd to complain about an album not being poppy enough, but consider the entire concept of the Gorillaz: they're a band comprised of cartoon characters, often depicted as pranksters with spray paint cans. A sleepy, slightly stoned concept album about the end of the world seems much more in line with singer Damon Albarn's less successful day job Blur, but with Gorillaz it seems like a missed opportunity, especially with the hired-help of producer Dangermouse, a guy who previously mixed Jay-Z with the Beatles of all things, and regularly performed in a giant mouse costume. Yes, I know I'm the only one who wouldn't count this as one of the 10 best of 2005. But not only is it kind of boring, the total exclusion of Del Tha Funky Homosapien seems criminal.
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with love from CRS @ 9:42 PM
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Don't get me wrong. Demon Days is a solid album on its own, and it's exactly the kind of arty, experimental stuff that critics and hipsters get off on. But there was something that just didn't click with me about Demon Days that always kept me from fully liking it, and I finally realized what it was after the fifth or sixth listen.
The Gorillaz' self-titled debut seemed like the search for the perfect pop song through different world influences. It didn't always work: "Dracula", "Latin Simone", and "M1 A1" were nearly unlistenable. But when it succeeded, it succeeded blissfully well, with fantastic pop tunes like "5/4" , "Re-hash", "19-2000", and of course the floaty, effervescent "Clint Eastwood". My problem with Demon Days isn't that there's a lack of a "Clint Eastwood"-- both the funky "Feel Good, Inc" with its insane super-villain cackling and the synthy, druggy "Dare", though not quite on the same level, are still excellent pop songs-- it's that the album itself is much more atmospheric, meandering, introspective, gloomy as hell, and, well, kind of boring.
It does in fact seem odd to complain about an album not being poppy enough, but consider the entire concept of the Gorillaz: they're a band comprised of cartoon characters, often depicted as pranksters with spray paint cans. A sleepy, slightly stoned concept album about the end of the world seems much more in line with singer Damon Albarn's less successful day job Blur, but with Gorillaz it seems like a missed opportunity, especially with the hired-help of producer Dangermouse, a guy who previously mixed Jay-Z with the Beatles of all things, and regularly performed in a giant mouse costume. Yes, I know I'm the only one who wouldn't count this as one of the 10 best of 2005. But not only is it kind of boring, the total exclusion of Del Tha Funky Homosapien seems criminal.
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