Album Cover:
This is the 2nd album from the Gorillaz, which was released in the UK on the 23 of May 2005. This was the 1st time the four animated fictional characters were shown to the world. The four characters are shown in a fictional animated world that we can see in the music videos such as the single Dirty Harry and Dare which features Sean Rider from The Happy Mondays. The 1st track of the album “intro” contains a sample from "Dark Earth", from the soundtrack to the 1978 film ‘Dawn Of The Dead.’ This straight away shows the tone of the album and lets the listener know what they’re in for. The four characters look of the Asian origin, which is ironic because the album was released 23 days earlier in Japan that in Britain. This may be because Japan love the animations created by the unique band. The front cover shows the four animated character from a side view, split into four pictures with the artist name shown at the top, and the album name shown at the bottom.
Front man, Damon Alabarn was previously in the band Blur before the Gorillaz formed. To the right we can see the cover used on the front of “Blur: the best of”. The two album covers are very similar in the way that they use the same layout, of showing four animated pictures of four of the band members. The source of the similarity could possibly be from Damon Albarn. One reason he may have made the two similar is that people may recognise the similarity between the Blur album cover that was released 5 years before Demon Days. By Damon making the two albums similar, he could possibly attract Blur fans to listen to Demon Days.
The concept band Gorillaz, conceived by Blur Frontman Damon Albarn and British comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. The band are the most successful band that have no real members, with the band themselves simply being fictional creations. From the start Gorillaz has always been about visual representation and a whole concept based around the bands formation and each member’s history. The artwork in no way strays away from this visual overload and the cover for the bands sophomore LP ‘Demon Days’ has become there most iconic piece of visual work.
CD:
The cd itself also mirrors the image on the front cover with each member profile being silhouetted against a white background.
Parodying The Beatles 'Let it be’ album cover in which each member of the bands profile shot is placed within four squares on a black background. This intertextual reference to this classic album helps the audience connect with the album, they see the fact that the album is linked visually with the Beatles and can instantly be recognised by anyone associated with it. This is used in order to create an extra layer of meaning with the viewer and help broaden the target audience.
Limited Edition Of The Album:
A limited edition of the album also exists and although it contains similar artwork to the regular edition, it does boast constructional differences. The Digipack folds out into four panels in an 'X’ shape revealing the cd in the middle of them. This folding pattern allows for the owner to choose which individual member of the bands portrait takes up the front cover position. So, the consumer can customise their album by choosing which member they want on the front cover. On the foldouts are similar shots of each member however slightly changed with expressions and positioning having changed. There is a sense of continuity throughout and user personalisation that allows listeners to choose their own favourite members as the mascot for the album. This engages with the audience in a huge way as it allows them to create their own unique version of the album.
Booklet:
The booklet insert for the standard edition of the LP is interesting as well as instead of presenting the lyrics for each song, instead individual images that represent each are on the pages. This is due to the fact that Albarn and Hewlett wanted the theming and visual narrative to be more dominant than that of the lyrical contents relevance. Albarn has said that the album is meant to be a depiction of a journey through the night in which each track represents a confrontation with a personal 'demon’. Therefore, each song has its own visual representation of these demons that are part of the concept. Some of the illustrations are in different art styles but all of them consistently have some cartoons drawn by Jamie Hewlett on them. This will appeal to fans of Gorillaz in general and fans of Hewlett’s other works such as the comic Tank Girl.
Back Cover:
The back cover of the digipack is fairly tame with the track listing placement in top left hand corner in a standard black font against a pure white background. Opposite sits yet more artwork of the fictional band members. This time, Japanese guitarist Noodle Sits in the foreground holding a guitar accompanied by the recurring character of 'The Monkey’. The remaining members of the band are placed in the background in the shadows, this almost highlighting noodle as the creative influence for the album, that the spotlight is on her. This continual reinforcement of this characters is interesting as it forces viewers and listeners to invest into the idea that these characters are real, that they are the ones who created the album. It also helps people understand the members from the front cover image more of a contextual situation, how they relate to each other. The back also shows what is on the exclusive DVD that comes with the digipak. The back also reveals that the digipak allows you special access to a part of their website to download wallpapers and a screensaver as well as a special bonus track.
Poster:
The poster promoting Demon Days is very simple and is just the album cover extended to show the title of the album in much larger text so people can see the name from a farther distance. The bottom of the poster also shows the release date in bold text and the editions of the album available to buy. The poster advertises the very popular single “Feel Good Inc.” to show people that that song was on the album to make them buy it.
Conclusion:
Overall the Digipack for Gorillaz second album is a visual feast, one that incorporates a continuity for the characters created for their first album and gives them a coherently central placement within the record, there presence as characters and the motifs of the album are the core of the pack with every image bearing them as stimulus for the viewer.
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