In-sides of a Demon

After the release of the Gorillaz's 2005 album Demon Days, front man Damon Albarn declared the album would be the band's last. And it was an ideal stopping point: It's hard to see how a group could improve on having successfully lived up to its pretensions to create an album capturing the spirit of the post-9/11 world.\nSo why ruin that finale by tossing the public a collection of second-rate recordings? Probably because someone wanted money. But that aside, D-Sides is worth its release for the light it sheds on some of the fascinating aspects of Demon Days' peripheral vision. \nD-Sides has two discs: One of b-sides and demos and one of remixes of Demon Days songs. \nThe b-sides and demos range from numbers to get your hips moving, such as the ironically bouncy "We Are Happy Landfill," to the reggae-knockoff demo of "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" to introspective songs that reach for the sublime, such as the ethereal "Hong Kong" and the god-like power of "Murdoc Is God." \nBut the collection doesn't take itself too seriously. One of its best moments is "Rockit," in which the usually dramatic, pretentious Albarn raps in a detached and dry tone, "Don't you get too close or I'll blah blah blah blah blah / Stick it up your nose blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."\nThere's not a bad song on the demo disc, though none of them hold a candle to the ingenuity of Demon Days. But maybe that's the point. Demon Days, with its exploration of the boundaries between feeling and reality, could seem enigmatic. D-Sides doesn't solve that enigma, but it provides a bigger picture of how it developed. \nThe disc of remixes, on the other hand, seems to exist for the purpose of raising the album's price tag $8. \nD-Sides' main merit is its behind-the-scenes look at the making of Demon Days. Maybe only die-hard fans will be intrigued, and it's hardly worth its two-disc status. But it is worth a listen or two for every Gorillaz fan.