Album Summary
Demon Days is the second studio album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 11 May 2005 in Japan, 23 May 2005 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone, and 24 May 2005 in the United States by Virgin Records. The album was recorded at Studio 13, based in London, United Kingdom, and was primarily produced by Danger Mouse, alongside the band themselves, Jason Cox, and James Dring. The album features guest appearances from De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF DOOM, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of The Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder, and Dennis Hopper. The album continues the band's musical approach of incorporating a wide variety of genres and styles, including rock, hip-hop, and trip hop. Its lyrics and tone are darker than those of the band's eponymous debut album (2001), addressing apocalyptic and post-9/11 political themes. Gorillaz frontman and co-creator Damon Albarn has described it as a loose concept album exploring "the world in a state of night", citing as inspiration a trip he took through impoverished areas of rural China. As with the band's previous album, the release of Demon Days was promoted across various multimedia, including interactive websites, animated music videos, and animatics created by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and his production company Zombie Flesh Eaters. The album produced four singles: "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", "Dirty Harry", and the double A-side "El Mañana" / "Kids with Guns". Demon Days was a major commercial success, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the US Billboard 200. The album has sold eight million copies worldwide, surpassing sales of the band's debut album. It was later certified six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. Lead single "Feel Good Inc." topped the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for eight consecutive weeks and won the band its sole Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Forgoing a traditional tour, the band promoted the album with concert residencies in Manchester and New York City in 2005 and 2006 billed as Demon Days Live, performing the album in full across five shows in each city. During these performances, which featured almost all of the guest artists on the album, Albarn and the band performed on stage in silhouette alongside a screen displaying Hewlett's visuals. As with the band's first album, B-sides and outtakes from the album's sessions were later released as a compilation album, D-Sides (2007), while the album's music videos and assorted multimedia were compiled into the video album Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades (2006). Demon Days received positive reviews upon release, with reviewers noting that the album established Gorillaz as a serious musical project as opposed to a one-off side effort for Albarn. It has since garnered further acclaim as one of the best Gorillaz albums and one of the greatest albums of the 21st century, with particular praise for its eclectic genre-bending musical style, prescient postmodern themes and dark, haunting atmosphere. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Demon Days number 437 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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