RANDOM: Some Album Recommendations

   Hello everyone! Today is the first day 2019. I should be happy, shouldn't I? But tomorrow I already have to go to school, which means more stressful studying and anxiety... Two weeks holiday honestly is not enough for me... But, to cheer up the atmosphere, let's talk about good things, like music!

   To be honest, I have not listen to much albums. I feel like my music taste is extremely narrow. I mean, I barely listen to anything outside of Gorillaz in the middle school! So now I'm trying to broaden my knowledge of music. In the meantime, here's some of my all-time favorite albums. Enjoy!

a. Kali Uchis - Isolation

   If you consider yourself as a person who like Gorillaz, then you might know Kali Uchis. She was a guest singer in their 2017's album Humanz in 2 songs, Ticker Tape and She's My Collar. I found out about her from Gorillaz as well. The next year, Isolation was out, which at first it didn't really interest me, until a lot of Gorillaz fans pointed out that there was an unused Humanz song in Isolation, which was In My Dreams. I decided to check it out, and hoo boy the album was fantastic.

   Isolation is an album that mixed various music genres, however it's mostly focused on the RnB or neo-soul genre. Theoretically, this album shouldn't work due to how varied the genres were. It could've been a mess that is similar to Humanz. However, thanks to the tight production, Isolation is a delight from start to finish. It's very catchy, the lyrics are beautiful, and the instrumentals are on point. Check this album out, and I'm definitely looking forward to Kali's next project.

FAV TRACKS: Your Teeth In My Neck, Feel Like a Fool, Just a Stranger, In My Dreams, After the Storm, Dead to Me, Miami, Tomorrow

b. Kero Kero Bonito - Time n' Place

   The british band Kero Kero Bonito took a surprising departure from their signature bubbly cheerful music after Bonito Generation was released in 2016 (which you should check it out as well, it's very cute). The first sign of change was in their 2017's single Only Acting, which was a j-rock inspired song with a very... glitchy and distorted production. The lyrics were much more mature as well. In their previous album and EP, KKB usually wrote about the mundane things in life like graduation, flamingo, or taking a break. Only Acting, however, was about the struggle of being a star and how hard it is to separate your real emotions from the stage life. Definitely way more detailed and emotional. Some fans were disappointed by this change, however I've grown to like it and I found myself to be enjoying Time n' Place as well.

   Time n' Place is a j-rock inspired album that mostly about overcoming the struggle of living. The highlight of this album is definitely the lyrics, I love how detailed it is. It makes the song much more emotional. The production is much more experimental and distorted, especially in the song Rest Stop. However, we still get some bubbly vibe that KKB had on their previous project like in the song Swimming. Overall, it was a great comeback album despite how different it was from their usual vibes.

FAV TRACKS: Dear Future Self, Swimming, Only Acting, Make Believe, Time Today, If I'd Known, Visiting Hours

c. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

   At first, I didn't really like this album. I thought the songs were okay, but it's not something that I would listen again. However, I started to appreciate it more after seeing the horrible state of last year's mainstream pop music. I feel like Ariana had taken a risky move by releasing a more conceptual album than most pop albums, which were usually obvious Top 40 materials and some forgettable fillers. I really like the simple RnB production on this album, it's a refreshing break from the generic EDM stuff or overproduced pop songs. It's not a perfect album, I feel like some of the songs are samey, but it's worth listening. But I bet you already listened to it since it's freakin' Ariana Grande... oh well. 

FAV TRACKS: God is a woman, pete davidson, no tears left to cry, breathin, R.E.M.

d. Rina Sawayama - RINA

Do you like late 90's to early 00's pop music? Do you wish it to come back? Then Rina Sawayama got something for you! RINA is Rina Sawayama's first EP and it's just so good. Thanks to Clarence Clarity's amazing production and Rina's vocal performance, this EP is a pop masterpiece. It's extremely catchy, but the lyrics are still written well. Usually pop songs on that era was about boys who don't like you back or generic positivity advice. There's nothing wrong with that, I mean I am still listening to Baby One More Time to this day, it's just that it tends to be a little bit repetitive. However, the songs on RINA is not like that. It's about the many sides of being a superstar and how technology has changed relationship or our daily life. It's very detailed and deep! In conclusion, this is a must-listen EP and I guarantee that you'll love it in an instant.

FAV TRACKS: Tunnel Vision, Ordinary Superstar, Take Me As I Am, 10-20-40, Alterlife, Cyber Stockholm Syndrome, Through the Wire, Time Out

e. Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy

   Tyler previously was known for his harsh and edgy lyrics, especially in Goblin and Bastard, which was so vulgar that it made him banned in the UK. That's why many were surprised for the direction that this album took. While he still didn't let go completely of his past personality such as in the track Who Dat Boy, as a whole Flower Boy is a soft synth funk hip hop album with a much more toned down lyrics compared to his previous work. And by toned down I didn't mean that it's bad, it's in fact the opposite. There are a lot of clever lyrics throughout the album, one of them is in the song See You Again.

"20/20, 20/20 vision
Cupid hit me, cupid hit me with precision
I wonder if you look both ways
When you cross my mind, I said, I said
I'm sick of, sick of, sick of, sick of chasing
You're the one that's always running through my daydream, I
I can only see your face when I close my eyes"

   I really enjoyed Flower Boy, it was a beautiful LP and you should definitely check it out.

FAV TRACKS: 911/Mr Lonely, Foreword, See You Again, Who Dat Boy, Boredom, Garden Shed

f. Bjork - Post

   Bjork's music takes time to fully appreciate, at least in my experience. When I first listened to Bjork, I was extremely confused. I thought, "Why do people like this? It's very confusing.". Structurally, her melodies are really jarring, especially in her later albums like Vulnicura and Utopia. But, as I listen to it more and more, I began to see her appeal and now I'm a huge fan of Bjork. 

   This album is a great introduction if you want to know more about Bjork. It's a quirky alternative electronic album with a great writing. Bjork's delivery was also fantastic, it definitely match the mood of the song perfectly. She wasn't afraid to go "all out" on her vocals, a great example is this is on the song I Miss You where she straight out screamed in many parts of the song. It may confuse you in the first listening, but it matched perfectly with the song's instrumental. Overall, this album is an interesting experience that I deeply enjoyed. 

FAV TRACKS: Possibly Maybe, Isobel, Headphones, Hyperballad, It's Oh So Quiet, I Miss You, Army of Me

g. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

   Oh boy, here's an obligatory Gorillaz post... but for real, this album is fantastic. Let me try to keep this short. I know fans back then were expecting a second Demon Days, so when this album was released they were disappointed, but I love Plastic Beach despite that it's completely different from that album. While Demon Days' instrumental were dark and used a lot of traditional instruments, Plastic Beach was the opposite. It used a lot of electronic synth. This turned off a lot of people, but the great and clean production made it all works. I love how conceptual the album is, even more than Demon Days. I really wish Gorillaz's newer album is more conceptual since I feel like they just abandoned it all together, especially in Humanz. The Now Now was fine, but it was way too safe and didn't really felt... gigantic like their first three albums. But rant is for other days...

   I really like the lyrics of this album as well. Some are abstract like Empire Ants, however there were a lot of songs that surprisingly had lyrics about romance, which is something that Gorillaz didn't focus much. And it felt really personal too. Here's an example from the song To Binge. 

"I'm caught again in the mystery

You're by my side, but are you still with me?

The answer's somewhere deep in it, I'm sorry but your feeling it

But I just have to tell you that I love you so much these days

Have to tell you that I love you so much these days, it's true"

   To wrap things up, Plastic Beach is a great conceptual record that you must listen. Like, right now.

FAV TRACKS: Empire Ants, To Binge, Some Kind of Nature, On Melancholy Hill, Stylo, Rhinestone Eyes, Pirate Jet, Plastic Beach

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And that's all I can recommend for today, I might make a part 2 on this! I hope you'll like those albums as much as I do. Do you have any recommendations? If so, leave it in the comments below. Thank you for reading!

MOVIE REVIEW: Spider Man Into the Spiderverse

  Hello everyone! So, I've been hyped for Spider Man Into the Spiderverse for a while. To be exact, over a year. When the first teaser of this film was out, I was blown away because this looks nothing like the usual mainstream animated movie. It just looks straight out of concept art book!

  Naturally, I got excited for this movie. The last time I got this excited was for Kubo and the Two Strings! I waited for a whole year and trying to be patient, even though in the end I just couldn't contain my hype for this movie. For weeks I begged my friends to see this movie together. Although to be honest, I would watch it anyway without my friends, but they eventually agreed to join me. I saw this movie on Saturday, a day after the movie was released, and BOY let me tell you that this movie lives up to its hype.

WARNING: There's a mild spoiler in this review. Please avoid the red text if you haven't watched the movie.

  The movie follows an origin story of Miles Morales, a teenager from Brooklyn that was bitten by a spider and ended up being the next Spider Man. Even though there were a lot of Spider people from another universe (we'll talk about this later), the movie still managed to keep the focus on Miles. I mean, this is his debut film after all. Miles himself was a really likable character. Many comic book geeks complained about him in the comic being a boring Peter Parker knockoff for diversity points, but he got much more characterization in this film, which is thankful.

He bought this costume from someone special

  So, Miles was a good protagonist, but what about the main appeal of this movie, the spider people from another dimension? I'm glad to say that they were really fun! There were five different spider people here. Peni Parker was probably the most popular one after the second trailer was dropped because obviously, she's a cute anime girl. She was indeed really cute, however I really wish that she got more lines. Spider Ham was hilarious! I love his Looney Tunes physique. My favorite one has to be Spider Noir tho. Nicolas Cage really nailed his role, I mean he wanted to be on superhero flick for a while, of course he's gonna do his best. Noir got the best lines on the whole movie and his design is just really neat. However, those three didn't really do much in contributing to both Miles' story and the movie itself. They're just there to show that there are so much Spider universe out there, which is not an unimportant role at all, I just wished that they got more screentime.

Do animals talk in this dimension?

  Spider Gwen was a nice companion for Miles since they're the same age. She wasn't the stereotypical "girl power" character that I've expected her to be. Also she didn't end up together with Miles! Thank God! They just met! But the upcoming sequel will set them up together... let's just see how it'll turn out. Last but not least, we got Peter Parker. In Miles' universe, there was a Peter Parker as well, however he passed away as a hero. This Peter Parker, he was a slobby mess who got broke and lazy. Thankfully, that's not his only traits. He's still kicks a lot of bad guys, so he wasn't a completely unlikable hobo, like many fans had worried. He also has a great chemistry with Miles. His sarcastic witty personality plays off well with Miles' clumsy and curious traits.

Their spidey sense are tingling

  We talked about the hero, now let's talk about the villain. We all know that the main villain is Kingpin, as shown in the trailers. God, his design is wonderful! Because this is technically a cartoon, they can exaggerate his body feature without looking like an uncanny valley. So they decided to make his body extremely huge with small head. Many people thought it looks ridiculous, but I loved it! The design shows his main characteristic, a controlling business man with great strength. And I'm not joking around when I said he has a great strength, he killed Brooklyn's Spider Man with his own fist! He was really terrifying in the movie. Although not gonna lie, his toy design cracks me up. His sidekicks were really entertaining and were a genuine threats towards the heroes. My favorite one... well, I don't think I can spoil it, but you'll know it when you see them.

an absolute UNIT

 Since this movie was written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the one behind The Lego Movie and Clone High, it was guaranteed to be a hilarious movie. So many great and memorable lines... and a bunch of Spider Man references! If you are a Spider Man fanatic, you're gonna have a blast. If you're a casual movie-goer, you're not gonna miss anything, since the references weren't in your face. There were also a lot of emotional moments as well, and they really hit you in the heart.

Miles in his costume

  Lastly, we gotta talk about the visual. My God, the visual was out of this world! I love how much details they put into the art direction and designs. Just look at the spider people. Spider Noir has halftone pattern to reference classic comic book's artstyle, Spider Ham was basically a 40s Chuck Jones era cartoon character with Looney Tunes physics (seriously, how did they make smear frames in a CGI model?), and Peni Parker is, well, an anime girl, because her comic was based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, a popular anime (shame that there wasn't any reference of it in the movie). Also, since this is a comic book adaptation, they were taking a LOT of advantages of it. It was colorful (unlike the live action comic adaptation in which EVERYTHING is desaturated, God... I'm sick of it), not to mention that there were a lot of visual references of classic comic book, such as comic panels, speech bubbles, and chromatic aberration (this was a reference to printing errors in comics, they REALLY went that far into details). It's like animation is the perfect medium for comic book adaptation, but mainstream audience are treating animation as kiddie flick so there are so little theatrical animated adaptation..... ah, but that rant is for next time.

Look at all those speech bubbles

  Overall, I really recommend you to watch this movie as it's currently available on the theater. I really don't want this movie to flop, because this is definitely a gem in a year filled with mediocre animated movies. The visual, characters, and the script itself makes this movie worth the admission ticket! As for the obligatory ratings, well.. 9/10. This is one of the few movies that I wish I could've re-experienced it all over again because it was so mindblowing. So, get up and see this movie right now!

Man, I wish it was released on December 12... :'(

 Oh, and please wait for the end credits scene. It was glorious and I'm so bummed that I left before it was shown.
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It's been a while since I've written a post that isn't a task. 11th grade is very hard and I was getting lazy, so I didn't post much. That's why I wanted to exercise my writing skills with more reviews and essay coming up... hopefully. Thank you for reading!

MOVIE REVIEW: Coco

So, I just watched Coco and UGH IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL AND MADE ME CRY A LOT. Unfortunately, I didn't watch it theater because I didn't have anyone to bring. And I feel really bad because this film deserves my money. Although...... Olaf's Frozen Adventure.... no thanks.

Coco's Poster

Before I talk about Coco, let's talk about Olaf's Frozen Adventure because wow, it sure got a lot of backlash. In Mexico, the short was taken off the theater after only 1 week screening because so many people complained about it. In US, the short was taken down as well starting from December 8, however Disney claimed that it was taken down because "Olaf's Frozen Adventure was meant to get limited release and it ends on December 8". Even though in the trailer they never stated that the "short" would stop showing on theater on that date. Disney pretty much refused to accept the fact that Frozen's hype is dying.

You're horrible Olaf go away

So what's wrong with Olaf's Frozen Adventure? Well, the "short" was 21 MINUTES LONG. I heard there were a commercial break as well, which made Coco started playing after 45 minutes. Just wow. Olaf's Frozen Adventure was planned to be aired on ABC at first, but Disney didn't see any potential with Coco (is this because none of the cast are white? Hmm Disney) so they decided to play it before the movie. If it were played on ABC I doubt it would get as many hate as now, but usually short before movie are usually only lasted for 5-7 minutes so audience don't really mind it. 21 minutes is just... too much.

:O

PARAGRAPHS BELOW CONTAINS SPOILER! All text filled with black background are very "spoily" so beware.

Okay, enough complaining, now let's talk about the actual movie. Miguel is a music-loving boy in a family where music is forbidden. Why? His great great grandfather abandoned his family because he wanted to be a musician. Her wife was very mad and decided to ban music from her family. After some argument with his family, Miguel thought "I've had it with this crap, I'm just gonna abandon my family brb" and left. He went to his alleged great great grandfather De La Cruz's grave, a loved Mexican musician, and used his guitar because his family destroyed his. Apparently, that guitar sent him into Land of the Dead where all dead people live. And a great adventure ensue....

Reminded me of that one scene in Kubo and the Two Strings idk

First of all, I LOVE the skeletons' design. When I watched the trailer, I thought they looked weird but in the movie they looked so much better for some reason. Their movement are different from human, it was... boney? I don't know, but it's really unique. I also love how similar the skeleton are to them as a living person. The character designer made sure every single skeleton are different, just like how they design human. I really adore it.

De La Cruz comparison

The characters themselves are very lovable and memorable. Miguel acted like a normal kid would act. Sometimes selfish but not evil. There's this character named Hector who started out as a bit of a jerk and manuplative but once you knew his history, you will understand why he acted that way. Yeah... family and such. Not gonna spoil it. Speaking of motives, remember when I said that Miguel's family hated music? It's not there just because the movie needed conflict, there's a reason. You see, Miguel's family really respected the whole 'family culture'. They kept photos of all of their main family for Dia de los Muertos (which I'll explain later) because they want them to keep remember their family. Well... except for Miguel's great great grandfather because he was the man who broke the culture. He left his own wife named Imelda with a baby just to reach his own personal goal, and never returned. Music was the one who broke the family. It left Imelda to struggle raising a child alone.

angery Imelda

I adore how much the crew did their research of Mexican culture. They actually went to Mexico for making this movie. The village Miguel lived in looks very Mexican and it was just gorgeous. The design of The Land of the Dead was great as well. There was lights everywhere and it looks mesmerizing. And for Dia de los Muertos, they explained it very well. Like, at first I thought that holiday was Mexican halloween or something, but it's actually about family. You see, families put up their deceased one's photo for a sign that they remember them. In Dia de los Muertos, they will visit The Land of the Living as long as there someone who still remember them. And if no one in real life remember who they are in the real world, they will permanently die (to avoid overpopulation). I never knew that in my whole life before this movie! I feel bad for thinking that the sugar skull makeup was just random makeup trend, but it's actually symbolize how much a family should remember each other even if they already passed away.

Yes, Coco is actually the old lady and not the boy

As much as I love Coco, yeah, it still has some flaws, although it doesn't bother me much. There's a lot of cliches, such as the music contest that the protagonist wanted to join but couldn't and final concert. There's also the Disney villain twist thing that got very old at this point, but in this movie I have to give credit that in this one it worked much better than in other movie. Seriously, I didn't expect the villain was actually a murderer just to steal someone's fame. Also this is completely unrelated but Hector in real life is.... quite attactive. Remember in my Motorcity first impression that I have a thing for tall and skinny nerd? Yeah, he's pretty much like that when he lived. His skeleton form though, he looks like a hobo! I'm disappointed. But whatever, he reminds me of the guy from Paperman. I love them both. I'm such a creep AGH.

Hector as a skeleton which is not attaractive at all 0/10 go back

Overall, Coco is a highly recommended movie. It's currently my favorite Pixar movie! You should watch it in theater immediately. Don't be like me. Thank you for reading, see ya!

FIRST IMPRESSION: Motorcity

Okay, so I watched some review of something and this reviewer mentioned her all time favorite cartoon, Motorcity. I've heard of this show on 2012 or something but I wasn't really interested. I decided to give it a second chance because there are some cartoons that were unappealing to me as a child but ended up loving it when I was older, like Avatar: The Last Airbender (yes, I used to hate ATLA as a child sorry). And yes, I was completely right, my cartoon taste as a child was horrible! How could I find this show unappealing? It's currently my third personal favorite TV shows after Sym Bionic Titan and Paranoia Agent! I just watched episode 1 by the way. 19 episodes to go......... here's my thoughts on it.

A very cool banner of Motorcity

So, in the future, there was a new futuristic city on top of Detroit (yes, it's literally on top of Detroit), which was Detroit Deluxe. Deluxe promised everything great except freedom. Mike, the main character, was pissed off by this decision and decided to built his own freedom-land called Motorcity (or Detroit, I guess?) which has the slogan "live fast, live free". In Motorcity people can do everything they want, but in the show, I guess the meaning of freedom was car racing? Because all they do was racing. That's the backstory of Motorcity. Then in the actual episode, Mike and his (cute) soulmate Chuck found some cool gadget for his car that can be used for a weapon. But watch out as when they explored the main villain who was responsible for Deluxe, Kane, attacked Motorcity! Mike and Chuck came in the right time though, as they saved the city from being attacked by giant robot thing.

So much holograms

Kane called Mike in this huge hologram TV unwilling to accept his defeat, then Mike challenged him and said that he will return to Deluxe someday. Kane was somehow amused by this, and by the next scene, he told Tooley, one of his worker, that Mike was a very dedicated staff until he found out about Kane's lies and built Motorcity instead. Hoping that Mike would come back as his apperentice, Kane set up a trap and Mike fell for it. Fortunately Julie, some kind of double person or something as she lived in both Motorcity and Deluxe saved him. But Motorcity was already being destroyed by robots, however Mike and his squad always came on the right time, they saved Motorcity once again with cool action scenes, and then the episode end. Bam. I'm bad at recap. Just watch it for yourself, okay?

The Burners are unimpressed with my recap ability

What stands out from Motorcity the most in my opinion is the animation. Wow, to think this was done in Adobe Flash! It's so unbelievable! There's a lot of great action scenes and the movement is so fluid. It looks like hand-drawn animation, honestly. Some people hate Flash because it oftenly resulted in a very poor quality cartoons, but Motorcity proved them that it also can be used for stunning animation. It was made by Titmouse Studio after all, which is well known for being ambitious.

This is Flash, people

Some small detail that I love is Kane's movement. There something about it that felt elegant and powerful, which is what he is as a character. I love that a simple movement decision can tell the audience about the character's simple trait.

This is actually a horrible example to prove my point but I couldn't find any Kane gif

There are more positive things but I don't want this post to be too long, so let's talk about things that I found... not so good. I don't know, but I just hate it when character talks in the most unnecessary or possibly dangerous time possible. For example, in one scene Julie tried to find out what Kane's up too. She literally said it out loud in a place that still has a bunch of people in it, then said "I gotta tell the boys", like, can't people there hear what you're saying? It bugs me a lot. Show, don't tell! Also I feel like sometime the show can give the audience way too much information to handle, like in one scene where Mike decided to go to Deluxe. He was arguing with Dutch and Chuck a little bit and they talked about why Mike shouldn't go to Motorcity, some unknown phrases, and their backstory with Kane. I know it doesn't sound much but that scene's pacing was too fast. I guess they need to save their time?

I found this by accident I'm tearing up

Overall, amazing looking show, probably second best looking show after Sym Bionic Titan but the writing need more polishing. I'm looking forward for more episodes because some of it sounds cool. And yeaaa if you haven't guessed yet my favorite character is Chuck. I'm weak for nerdy tall character. See ya!

I actually haven't watch this episode and I'm excITED seriously Chuck with a tuxedo?? hit mE UP

ALBUM REVIEW: Gorillaz's Demon Days

   Hi guys, so if you read my introduction post you'll notice that I mentioned a band called "Gorillaz" that I love so much. Now I am going to talk about my personal favorite album of theirs, Demon Days. This is probably my favorite album outside of Gorillaz as well, but since I don't listen to much albums so I'm not very sure.

One of the most iconic album cover ever

  Before I talk about this masterpiece, I would like to talk about Gorillaz as a whole, because people might be confused. Gorillaz is a virtual band created by Damon Albarn (musician) and Jamie Hewlett (illustrator) back in 2001. What is a virtual band? It's basically like a cartoon show, but in real life and it's a band. There are people behind the scene who worked on the songs and illustration and it will be released in the name of the band. There are a lot of fake interviews that is written by the writers behind the scene. The creators, however, want the audience to view them as if they were exist. The first band who introduced this concept is The Archies back in the 60s, however I feel like Gorillaz is the one who nailed the virtual band concept perfectly.

Jamie Hewlett (left) and Damon Albarn (right)

   There are 4 members of Gorillaz, which are 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, And Russel. Short description: 2D is the singer that oftenly acts looney but very sweet and sometimes really thoughtful, Murdoc is the bassist and is also a jerk but he's very likable and also has a very sad backstory, Noodle is a strong little girl who plays the guitar, and Russel is the lovable and huggable drummer. I love Murdoc the most because he's hilarious and attractive (don't judge me). They're fictional but I love them so much and I feel like they shape my life. Without them, I would be a very different person.

From left to right: Noodle, 2D, Russel, and Murdoc

   Now let's review the album. Demon Days is an album that was released on May 23, 2005. It has 15 tracks. It has a very positive review. Spin ranked Demon Days as the fourth-best album of 2005, while Mojo ranked it at number eighteen on their year-end list and hailed the album as a "genre-busting, contemporary pop milestone." NME placed it 98th on their list of 100 greatest albums of the decade. Uncut ranked it at 75 on their list of top 150 albums of the decade. Complex included it on their list of 100 Best Albums of the Complex Decade, placing it at number 43. Spin later included it in their list of The 300 Best Albums of 1985–2014. The single Feel Good Inc was nominated on Grammy's Best Music Video and won Grammy's Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. It also won and nominated on much more awards. Oh, and they also performed on Grammy and MTV Music Video Awards with Madonna on that year, to celebrate the success of Demon Days. Awesome, right?

Murdoc, Noodle, and Madonna on the Grammy

   This album has a very heavy theme. It dealt with the "demons" of the world, such as war, addiction, etc. Most of the lyrics from this album are very deep and thoughtful. Here's a sample, which is from the song Demon Days:

...

In these demon days
It's so cold inside
So hard for a good soul to survive
You can't even trust the air you breathe
Because mother earth wants us all to leave
When lies become reality
You numb yourself with drugs and T.V.
So pick yourself up, it's a brand new day
So turn yourself round
Don't burn yourself, turn youself
Turn yourself around
To the sun!

   That song is about how we are too attached with our addiction and cope our trauma with more addiction, which isn't good for our own mental health. We must do positive thing for a change to make us happy! At least that's my own interpretation. The writing is subtle and on point, it's not too obvious so that the listener can interpret it on their own, and it really make us think while listening to it. I really love interesting songs like this. Not to mention that this song has a very emotional beat and always makes me shiver whenever I listen to it. It sounds very ghostly yet beautiful. These positive things are scattered throughout the album and I love it. Another thing that I love about this album, despite that it's kinda a minor thing is the instrumental. It's very clear and crisp. In El Manana, you can hear the violin note that makes your heart break in pieces. In Feel Good Inc and Kids With Guns, you can hear the awesome bassline that will stuck in your head in a good way. In All Alone, you'll hear a very heart-pumping drumbeat. Oh, and Every Planet We Reach Is Dead is just mesmerizing. The instruments really pop and I don't know, it's so bizarre yet unique and memorable. One of my favorite.

Tracklist of Demon Days

   In my opinion, the only negative thing about this album is the track White Light. I think it's a very mediocre track compared to all these fantastic songs. It still fits the theme of the album, but it could've been replaced with a much better track. Like Rockit or Highway (Under Construction). Both of those tracks are from D-Sides, which is an album filled with unused songs that didn't make it into Demon Days. Those are much better than White Light.

Murdoc and his legendary bass

   For those who are new to this band, I recommend you all to listen to the singles first, which are Feel Good Inc, DARE, Dirty Harry, El Manana, and Kids With Guns. You might view the non-single tracks as "weird", like I was before I went nuts with this band. Gorillaz is one of those band who need second or more listen to really "absorb" the meaning of their songs. But when you fully get it, I guarantee that you'll love it. Oh, and I want to add that you should watch the music video while you listen to those singles. Gorillaz's music videos are so unique and fantastic. No wonder why they were always nominated for Grammy's Best Music Video in each album (I hope Saturnz Barz, their newest MV, will be nominated again next year, maybe won the award!).

Noodle on the windmill

   If you want to listen to the entire album, PLEASE DON'T PIRATE IT. Gorillaz uploaded the entire album on their Youtube channel, you should listen to it there! Or you could buy the album, digital or physical. It's really worth your money!

My copies of Demon Days

   And that's my review of Demon Days, the best Gorillaz album. Sorry if this review sounds so biased and pretentious. I hope you enjoy your listen to Demon Days! :D

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FAV TRACKS: Every Planet We Reach Is Dead, Don't Get Lost In Heaven/Demon Days, O Green World, All Alone, Kids With Guns

LEAST FAV TRACKS: White Light

RATING: 9/10
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Source:
en.wikipedia.org/Demon_Days
azlyrics.com
tumblr.com