Gorillaz: Demon Days (2LP) [PARLOPHONE]

Why you'll love it

Danger Mouse produced, and "Feel Good Inc." with De La Soul won a Grammy. The guest list is bonkers: MF Doom, Neneh Cherry, Roots Manuva, Shaun Ryder, Ike Turner and Dennis Hopper. It has sold more than eight million copies.

This edition

• 2LP set, 15 tracks over four sides
• Parlophone pressing

About the album

The beauty of having a "virtual band" to play around with is you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

Sometime Blur frontman Damon Albarn and his cartoonist BFF Jamie Hewlett hit upon a novel pop-culture conceit when they created Gorillaz out of thin air for the 2001 album of the same name and loads of eye-catching, post-apocalyptic companion visuals. Gorillaz, the album, seems downright restrained when compared to 2005's smashing Demon Days, however, because on Gorillaz' second outing everyone involved seems to have realized there were absolutely no rules to begin with so ... well ... time to have some fun.

Overseen by Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, Demon Days invites loads and loads of cool peeps to the party (De La Soul, MF Doom, Roots Manuva, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays and even Ike freakin' Turner and Dennis freakin' Hopper) and consequently broadens Gorillaz' musical palette to the umpteenth degree. Wiggly hip-hop, disconsolate indie-pop, tripped-out downtempo and booty-shakin' electro-boogie all figure into the mix, with a supreme sense of melody reigning over the entire experiment. Arguably still the high-water mark of a Gorillaz run that long ago transcended its gimmicky beginnings, Demon Days has sold more than eight million copies worldwide.

Also at Kops: more Gorillaz on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Parlophone (cat# 1543394), a reissue of the 2005 album.