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Demon Days

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Untitled

Demon Days is the second studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released in May 2005. The album features contributions from De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF DOOM, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder, Dennis Hopper, the London Community Gospel Choir and the Children's Choir of San Fernandez.

Demon Days entered the UK charts at #1 and the U.S. charts at #6,[1][2] outperforming the band's 2001 debut, Gorillaz. The album has sold six million copies worldwide.[3] The album features the singles "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", "Dirty Harry" and "Kids with Guns"/"El Mañana".

Much like 2001's Gorillaz, the release of Demon Days and its respective tour were accompanied by various multimedia. These included interactive features on the Gorillaz website, a total of four animated music videos, virtual interview sessions with the band, and animatics for each song. Almost all of the visuals associated with the album were designed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett as his design company Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Album information

Demon Days was first mentioned in articles detailing the reopening of Gorillaz' website in early December 2004. Initially, a March or April 2005 release date was announced, but it was later pushed back. In an article for Q magazine in February 2005 it was reported that the album was to be titled We Are Happy Landfill. Another early title was reported to be Reject False Icons, which is also the title of Gorillaz' culture jamming project. In January 2005 a promo for the song "Dirty Harry" was released as a white label 12" and an exclusive video was released online entitled "Rock It". It was later reported that the track would not appear on the album, although it later appeared on D-Sides, a collection of remixes, rare songs and B-sides released in November 2007. Demon Days' lead single "Feel Good Inc." became Gorillaz' biggest hit at the time. The album's second single, "Dare" featuring Shaun Ryder, became a big hit as well, giving the band their first #1 single in the UK. Gorillaz also collaborated with Roots Manuva & Martina Topley-Bird on the track "All Alone", and another song called "Snakes & Ladders" was recorded, however it does not appear on Demon Days or the B-Sides complitation album D-Sides. However, thesong's instrumental appears on the Martina Topley-Bird song "Soldier Boy", which appears on her single "Poison". It is a B-Side which features both Gorillaz and Roots Manuva. Since it's release, Demon Days has been certified double platinum in the US[4] and 5× platinum in the UK.[5] It was also certified Gold in Japan.[6]

The album cover is a reference to Let It Be by The Beatles. It also resembles the artwork from Blur: The Best Of. The insert is composed entirely of artwork for each track as opposed to a lyric booklet. This makes it technically possible, by folding the insert the right way, to choose which piece of artwork, and therefore which track, appears on the front cover. However, one of the sections is slightly larger than the others, making folding difficult and the results unprofessional. This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions. A limited edition of the album was released including a copy of the album with a special four-way folding cover, allowing the owner to choose which fictional band member is on the cover. Packaged with it was an exclusive booklet containing partial lyrics, though the full lyrics are only available through the sheet music released for the album. The limited edition also includes DVD containing the video, audio commentary and an animatic for the music video "Feel Good Inc.", short animated films featuring the band, an exclusive audio track titled "The Swagga" and online access to exclusive sections of the band's website, with various wallpapers and screensavers, as well as a crowbar, facilitating the opening of a locked cupboard in the kitchen on Gorillaz.com in order to download the song "We Are Happy Landfill".

Marketing

Reject False Icons

The phrase 'Reject False Icons' was first mentioned on 24 November 2004 on a Gorillaz mail out to fans.[7] On 8 December, the Gorillaz website was re-opened with a brand new music video, "Rock It", which has the saying "Reject False Icons" at the end.[8] On 19 December the 'Reject False Icons' campaign kicked off with the launch of rejectfalseicons.com. Fans could submit their photos of ways to spread the message by using graffiti or by sticking 'Reject False Icons' stickers that were available for a limited period from the site and from selected record shops in the UK. It was first Respect False Icons, but Albarn changed it to Reject False Icons. Noodle said it is both 'Respect' and 'Reject'.

Search for a Star

In December 2004, the Gorillaz launched their own talent contest, Search for a Star, to find an artist to collaborate with.[9] There were on average over 100 entries per week whittled down to around 10 to be put forward for the public vote. The 200+ entries were viewed over a million times. A gallery room was added to Kong Studios which displayed all of the entries. Originally, Gorillaz' competition was initially run to pick just one winner from entries submitted to Gorillaz.com. However, at the end of the competition, it was announced that two further entries—one from the submitted images, and one from the submitted audio files—would be chosen by online vote.

All three collaborated on the fourth single release of Phase Two, "Kids with Guns" / "El Mañana". Sourbee provided his animated incarnation of the "Don't Get Lost in Heaven (Original Demo Version)" B-side, featured on the DVD version of the single. Asidus made a "Dirty Harry" remix called "Uno Quatro" featured on the Gorillaz website. Irina Bolshakova aka Schneeflocke created her own artistic interpretation of "El Mañana", featured on an insert included on the DVD version of the single. The winners were also originally supposed to have their own rooms in Kong Studios, but that never came to pass.

Reception

  • Spin (p. 64) – Ranked #4 in Spin's "40 Best Albums of 2005" – "[A] vivid, spastic concept album about the last primates to survive the apocalypse"
  • Spin (p. 105) – "Albarn still has great taste in other people's music. His new accomplice, copyright pirate Danger Mouse, fills in suggestively dubby spaces with choirs, staggering synths, and MCs ranging from De La Soul to Roots Manuva to MF Doom." – Grade: B
  • Entertainment Weekly (No. 821/822, p. 136) – "[This] follow-up is spookier, blippier, and more on edge." – Grade: B
  • Uncut (p. 106) – 4 stars out of 5 – "Dazzlingly clever – great beats, brilliant production, top tunes and some of Albarn's best singing."
  • CMJ (No. 914, p. 4) – "...an immensely absorbable experience with plenty of rhymes and funked-out marching beats to bite into."
  • Vibe (p. 143) – "[A]s original – and just as much fun – as the first."
  • Mojo (p. 18) – Ranked #18 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" – "[A] genre-busting, contemporary pop milestone."

Track listing

  1. "Intro" – 1:02
  2. "Last Living Souls" – 3:09
  3. "Kids with Guns" (featuring Neneh Cherry) – 3:45
  4. "O Green World" – 4:31
  5. "Dirty Harry" (featuring Bootie Brown and Children's Choir of San Fernandez)– 3:43
  6. "Feel Good Inc." (featuring De La Soul) - 3:41
  7. "El Mañana" – 3:49
  8. "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" (featuring Ike Turner) – 4:52
  9. "November Has Come" (featuring MF Doom) – 2:43
  10. "All Alone" (featuring Roots Manuva and Martina Topley-Bird) – 3:30
  11. "White Light" – 2:08
  12. "DARE" (featuring Shaun Ryder) – 4:03
  13. "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" (featuring Dennis Hopper) – 3:16
  14. "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" (featuring The London Community Gospel Choir) – 2:00
  15. "Demon Days" (featuring The London Community Gospel Choir) – 4:28
Limited Edition Bonus DVD
  1. "The Swagga" (Audio) - 4:57
  2. "Feel Good Inc" (Video)
  3. "Feel Good Inc" ('The Making Of' Animatic)
  4. "Feel Good Inc" (Audio Commentary)
  5. "Gorillaz Talent Quest" (G-Bite)
  6. "Gorillaz On Set" (G-Bite)
  7. "Online Content"
  • Wallpapers & Screensavers
  • Secret Website Area
  • "We Are Happy Landfill" (Audio) - 3:39
Japanese Bonus Tracks
  • "68 State" – 4:49 (1st Release)
  • "People" – 3:26 (2nd Release)
  • "Hong Kong" (Live From The Manchester Opera House) – 6:38 (3rd Release)

Personnel

Production

  • All tracks produced by Danger Mouse and Gorillaz. Co-produced by James Dring and Jason Cox except "68 State", "The Swagga'", "We Are Happy Landfill" and "People" produced by Gorillaz, James Dring and Jason Cox.
  • The album was recorded at the Gorillaz' own studio and mixed at The Pierce Rooms. "All Alone"'s instrumental was also partially recorded in Africa.

Singles

  • "Feel Good Inc." was the first single released from the album. It was released as a single in the UK and Australia on 9 May 2005, and charted at #2 in the UK, #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks.
  • "Dare" was the second single released from the album. It was released on 29 August 2005 in the UK. The single charted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and #87 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • "Dirty Harry" was the third single released from the album. It was released on 21 November 2005 in the UK, and charted at #6 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • "Kids with Guns" / "El Mañana" was the fourth and final single released from the album. It was released on 10 April 2006 in the UK. The winners for the Search for a Star competition collaborated with Gorillaz in various ways on the single. The single charted at #27 on the UK Singles Chart.

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 2[1]
Austrian Albums Chart 3[1]
French Albums Chart 1[1]
German Albums Chart 2[1]
Irish Albums Chart 2[1]
Italian Albums Chart 5[10]
New Zealand Albums Chart 3[1]
UK Albums Chart 1[1]
U.S. Billboard 200 6[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Gorillaz – Demon Days – Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  2. ^ Raftery, Brian M. (13 June 2005). "Gorillaz in Our Midst". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 December 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Artist Profile – Gorillaz". EMI. 2006. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  4. ^ "American album certifications – Gorillaz – Demon Days". Recording Industry Association of America.
  5. ^ "British album certifications – Gorillaz – Demon Days". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Type Demon Days in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  6. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Gorillaz – Demon Days" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2005年12月 on the drop-down menu
  7. ^ "'Reject False Icons' Gorillaz mailout / new site up 8 December". Gorillaz-Unofficial. 25 November 2004. Retrieved 12 February 2007.
  8. ^ "'Rock It' new Gorillaz video premiered on new site – possible single?". Gorillaz-Unofficial. 8 December 2004. Retrieved 12 February 2007.
  9. ^ "Gorillaz launch 'Search For A Star competition' on Gorillaz.com and in NME". Gorillaz-Unofficial. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 12 February 2007.
  10. ^ "Italian Charts - Gorillaz - Demon Days". ItalianCharts.com
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