Why don't you love it anymore? ;-(

I love Aries.

Listened to the leak today, early days but it is indeed a strong album, stronger than the last 3 definitely. The bonus tracks are a bit shit but the main album is strong. 

Right now I'd rank the albums as follows:

1. Demon Days (God tier, unbeatable, once in a lifetime masterpiece, the lore was at its peak too)
2. Gorillaz (Haunting vibes and awesome experimental trip-hop, I love this album and the lore in this phase, very sentimental about it)
3. Plastic Beach (Some great songs but massively overrated by the general fanbase, the vibe of both the music and the lore was lost in this one, catered more to a younger fanbase, much less eerie/haunting and atmospheric than the previous 2 phases)
4. Song Machine (Solid tunes with a couple of crap features, videos were good in this phase and you can tell the effort was made)
5. The Now Now (Good songs but lost its momentum quite quickly, not one I listen back to often other than Humility)
6. The Fall (Mostly forgettable other than the incredible Amarillo, one of Gorillaz best songs, wasted on this album though)
7. Humanz (This simply wasn't a Gorillaz record, or certainly didn't feel like one. Damon was scarce on this record and it was too bloated with featured artists).

I dunno, Gorillaz have left me cold since Plastic Beach. I have no idea how that album got the reviews it did because I thought it was just confused, messy and tuneless. Lacked any real 'hit'.

Much like Damon Albarn's form since 2010, I think his songcraft has been really poor since then. Melodically insipid or dull dirge like structures (just spoken word nonsense half the time), he hasn't come anywhere close to the craftsmanship of Feel Good Inc or Dirty Harry. For all the dynamic influences and guest stars, you've still got to distil it all into a decent tune and the latter is where Gorillaz has gone missing. Maybe Danger Mouse had more of a say in these classic Demon Days tunes, who knows?

I'll give the new one a shot but when mentioning the above, it's hard not to conclude that Gorillaz is all style over substance most of the time now.

?

I think Opium is one of the best songs.

Re-listened to it there, tbf that song is pretty decent. Still doesn't hold up to the likes of Aries or Momentary Bliss IMO.

I agree with the best album since Plastic Beach comments.

I love Aries and other favourites are Lost Chords, Chalk Tablet Towers, Opium and Valley of the Pagans.

I liked it, damon said the album is quite conceptual.

Got to admit I find this thing a pretty good piece of work.

A fair few Gorillaz efforts I didn’t exactly fall over about, however I really like this. Verse has one of those earworm tunes that sticks in your head, and the lyrics tell a dark and interesting story open to interpretation. In a similar way to Moscow Rules i guess.
8/10.

Not into it on first listen.
I don't like the way this album seems to be going, even the cover artwork looks unfinished.