Demon Days

Untitled

Demon Days is the second studio album and a concept album by Gorillaz, released on May 23, 2005 in the UK and on May 24 in the U.S.. Demon Days entered the UK charts at #1 and the US charts at #6, neatly outperforming the band's 2001 debut, Gorillaz.

Demon Days lead single "Feel Good Inc." became Gorillaz' biggest hit (UK #2, US #14) 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. Since its release, Demon Days has been certified double platinum in the US and 5 times platinum in the UK.

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.

The album cover is a semi-parody of Let It Be by The Beatles.

Album history

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 and to date there has been no word of any release. In early April 2005 the album was leaked onto the internet.

Singles

• "Feel Good Inc." was the first single released from the album. It was released as an EP in Japan on 27 April 2005 and as a single in the UK and Australia on 9 May 2005.
• "Dare" was the second single released from the album. It was released 29 August 2005 in the UK, and 7 September 2005 in Japan as an EP.
• "Dirty Harry" was the third single released from the album. It was released 21 November 2005 in the UK, and 7 December 2005 in Japan as an EP.
• "Kids with Guns" / "El Mañana" was the fourth and final single released from the album. It was released 10 April 2006 in the UK, and 19 April 2006 in Japan as an EP (see 2006 in British music). The winners for the Search for a Star competition collaborated with Gorillaz in various ways on this single.

Limited edition

The limited edition of Demon Days

The limited edition of Demon Days

A limited edition of the album was released in a special digipak gatefold, allowing the owner to choose which band member is on the cover. It also contains an exclusive booklet, with lyrics and illustrations for each song, a DVD containing the video (with audio commentary), 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 "Happy Landfill".

Gorillaz on Demon Days

In the interview tape We Are the Dury, the band answered questions about the record's details and their opinions on the musical theory of the new album:

• Noodle - "It was the procedure of recording this that became the education; the final outcome is the document, but the journey was the destination."

• Russel Hobbs - "As a body of work, Demon Days is more focused and considered than the first album, and maybe it has a greater gravity to it than the first record...The music has a stricter discipline to it, with an undercurrent of dark optimism."

• 2D - "Like someone's taken the first album and colored it in."

• Murdoc Niccals - "Yeah, well, it came out pretty well like I told her to make it in the first place."

Track listing

All songs were written by Gorillaz, except where noted.

1. "Intro" (Gorillaz, Don Harper) – 1:03
2. "Last Living Souls" – 3:10
3. "Kids With Guns" – 3:45
4. "O Green World" – 4:31
5. "Dirty Harry" (Gorillaz, Romye Robinson) – 3:43
   • featuring Bootie Brown
6. "Feel Good Inc." (Gorillaz, David Jolicoeur) – 3:41
   • featuring De La Soul
7. "El Mañana" – 3:50
8. "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" – 4:53
9. "November Has Come" (Gorillaz, Daniel Dumile) – 2:41
   • featuring MF DOOM
10. "All Alone" (Gorillaz, Rodney Smith, Simon Tong) – 3:30
    • featuring Roots Manuva
11. "White Light" – 2:08
12. "Dare" – 4:04
    • featuring Shaun Ryder
13. "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" – 3:16
    • featuring Dennis Hopper
14. "Don't Get Lost in Heaven" – 2:00
15. "Demon Days" – 4:28

Bonus tracks

1. "68 State" – 4:44
   • first Japan release; B-side on British 7" single for "Feel Good Inc."
2. "People" – 3:26
   • second Japan release; B-side on British DVD single for "Dare"
3. "Hong Kong" – 7:14
   • live at Manchester Opera House (Grammy Edition USA and Japan release)
4. "Happy Landfill" – 3:42
   • available only on the limited edition DVD
5. "The Swagga" – 4:57
   • DVD-Audio track, available only on the limited edition DVD

Personnel

According to the album liner notes, the contributors were as follows:

Additional musicians

• Neneh Cherry – vocals
• Amanda Drummond – viola
• Isabelle Dunn – cello
• Dennis Hopper – spoken word
• Sally Jackson – violin
• Al Mobbs – double bass
• Prabjote Osahn – violin
• Stella Page – viola
• Antonia Pagulatos – violin
• Emma Smith – double bass
• Simon Tong – guitar
• Martina Topley-Bird – vocals
• Ike Turner – piano
• Rosie Wilson – backing vocals
• London Community Gospel Choir – choir
• San Fernandez Youth Chorus – children's choir

This list is exhaustive of the core fifteen tracks (see above), but does not include contributions to bonus tracks.

Production

• Danger Mouse – production, mixing
• Gorillaz – production, mixing
• Jason Cox – production, engineering, mixing
• James Dring – production
• Steve Sedgwick – mixing assistant
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Jamie Hewlett and Zombie Flesh Eaters – design, artwork

Release details

The album was released in various countries:

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Japan	May 11, 2005	Toshiba-EMI	CD	TOCP 66380
			CD/DVD	TOCP 66381
	August 31, 2005		CD	TOCP 66466
	March 8, 2006		CD - Grammy Edition	TOCP 66534
United Kingdom	May 23, 2005	Parlophone	LP	8738381
			CD	8738382
			CD/DVD	4744070
United States	May 24, 2005	Parlophone, Virgin	CD	7243 8 73838 2 1
			CD/DVD	7243 4 77304 0 5