| Democrazy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | 8 December 2003 | |||
| Recorded | June–July 2003, various US hotels | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 29:30 | |||
| Label | Honest Jon's | |||
| Producer | Damon Albarn | |||
| Damon Albarn chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Damon Albarn solo chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Democrazy | ||||
| ||||
Democrazy is a 2003 vinyl-only doubleEP of demos byDamon Albarn, frontman of Britishrock bandBlur and thevirtual bandGorillaz. It was released throughHonest Jon's record label.
Albarn recorded these songs, which are little more than demos, during the US leg of Blur's tour forThink Tank in various hotel rooms. He then decided to issue the result, on 8 December that year, in a double 10" vinyl set on hisHonest Jon's label. On 22 December Albarn showcased the demos at a live gig in London's Neighbourhood club.
Some of the EP's tracks were later finished and repurposed for Albarn's other projects; the track "I Need a Gun" was used as the basis for theGorillaz song "Dirty Harry", which appeared on their 2005 albumDemon Days, while the track "Half a Song" was repurposed 20 years later as "The Ballad" appearing on Blur's ninth studio albumThe Ballad of Darren (2023).[1] The track "A Rappy Song" has often been mis-labeled as an unnamedGorillaz' track featuringBootie Brown andCee-Lo Green, however the song is little more than a remix made by a fan.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 45/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |   [3] |
| NME | 2/10[4] |
| Pitchfork Media | 3.2/10[5] |
| Stylus Magazine | F[6] |
The EP received mixed-to-negative reviews from music critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 45, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 9 reviews.[2] Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian described the album as "occasionally brilliant and frequently irritating beyond belief" and wrote: "It is packed with interesting ideas, but is founded in an appalling self-importance."[3] Mark Beaumont ofNME panned the album, describing it as "the half conceived, cottonmouthed rubbish."[4]Pitchfork Media critic Jedediah Gilchrist stated: "He's already recorded such a wealth of great material that no mystique remains, leaving no real reason for anyone—including the most dedicated fan—to seek out these poorly produced musical shreds."[5] Scott ofStylus Magazine wrote: "Serving as nothing more than a temporary diversion or side note to his fully realised work, this is worth a cursory listen for the insight alone."[6]
