Demon Days (2LP)

Demon Days features contributions 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. As with the band's eponymous 2001 debut, the release of Demon Days and its respective live performances were both accompanied by various multimedia, including interactive features on the Gorillaz website, a total of four animated music videos, and animatics for select videos. Almost all visuals associated with the album were designed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett, under his design company Zombie Flesh Eaters.

The album that would eventually become Demon Days first began life while Jamie Hewlett was in the process of putting together a script for a Gorillaz movie, which had been under discussion since the band’s self-titled debut album was released in 2001. More specifically, it came about because the Gorillaz movie fell through, leaving some of the concepts toyed with in the script available to be cannibalized for song lyrics, although the majority of the lyrics on Demon Days were inspired by Damon Albarn taking a train trip from Beijing to Mongolia. However the album eventually came to pass, the long and the short of it is that the band members were excited at the prospect of putting together a new record, and it showed in the final product.

Upon its release, Demon Days peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 6 on the US Billboard 200, and was later certified six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. Outperforming their debut, the album has sold eight million copies worldwide.