CoronaVinyl Day 243 (G): Demon Days by Gorillaz

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "G," and I'm going with the 2005 album Demon Days by Gorillaz.

Gorillaz was founded as a virtual band by Blur member Damon Albarn and comic artist Jamie Hewlett, with the idea that the characters in the band would be cartoons (drawn by Hewlett, of course).  Albarn wanted to explore musical genres other than the Brit pop Blur was known for, and Gorillaz touched on various genres from hip hop to alt rock to electronic, among others.  When the band toured, the actual band members stayed obscured, and their cartoon versions were displayed on a screen.

Produced by Danger Mouse, Demon Days was the group's second album, and it features cameos by the likes of De La Soul, Ike Turner, Dennis Hopper, Neneh Cherry, and the London Community Gospel Choir, among others.  It's a funky mix of hip hop, trip hop, pop, and art rock.

The album was an international success, reaching #6 on the Billboard album chart, #1 on the album charts in the UK, France, and Switzerland, and Top 10 on the album charts in 15 other countries.  It has gone double platinum in the U.S. and 6x platinum in the UK.

Demon Days also featured the group's only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Feel Good Inc.," which went to #14.  The song also went to #2 on the UK pop chart, and three other songs made the Top 40 on the UK pop chart, including the band's only #1 ("Dare"), another Top 10 song ("Dirty Harry"; #6), and "Kids With Guns" (#27).

I have a special edition that was released in 2017 and that I got as part of the Vinyl Me Please record club.  It splits the album into four sides, and as you can see from the blurry photo -- Get it, blurry? Because Damon Albarn was in Blur -- the vinyl is red.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "O Green World"
This song has kind of a trippy garage rock feel to it.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Feel Good Inc."
One of the group's most well-known songs, "Feel Good Inc." does, in fact, make you feel good.  Then again, it features De La Soul, so how could it not?

Favorite Song on Side 3:  "Every Planet We Reach is Dead"
This one has a funky intro and riff, but is otherwise mellow and spacy.

Favorite Song on Side 4:  "Don't Get Lost in Heaven"
This one has a late '60s Beach Boys feel to it -- kind of psychedelic pop, with the help of the London Community Gospel Choir.