''Dark Days'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Loaded. Recorded between December 2000 and February 2001 at Jupiter Studios in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, it was self-released in July 2001.

History

In 2000, Duff began re-recording some of the songs from ''

Beautiful Disease ''Beautiful Disease'' is an unreleased solo album by Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan which was slated to be released as his second solo album in 1999. However, it was shelved after a merger between McKagan's parent label Polygram and Universal, ...

'' (" Seattlehead", "Then and Now" and "Superman"), as well as new material at Jupiter Studios in

. For recording, he brought in drummer

Geoff Reading Geoff Reading (born February 23, 1968) is an American drummer. In his career, he has been a member of a number of groups, including Loaded (band), Loaded (the group formed and fronted by Duff McKagan of Velvet Revolver, formerly of Guns N' Rose ...

formerly of

Green Apple Quick Step Green Apple Quick Step, often abbreviated as GAQS, is an American rock band from Seattle. Their sound was described as hard-edged, post-grunge rock. The band began as Inspector Luv and the Ride Me Babys in Tacoma, Washington before becoming Gree ...

and New American Shame, guitarist

Dave Dederer David Dederer (born October 5, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer. He was a member of the alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. An alumnus of Seattle, Washington's The Bush School and Brown University ...

formerly of The Presidents of the United States of America and producer Martin Feveyear who also performed keyboards on the album. Duff performed the bass on all tracks as well as guitar and the piano on the song "Misery". Former

Nevada Bachelors Nevada Bachelors were an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1997. The band's lineup consisted of Robb Benson (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard), Mike Squires (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Ben Brunn (bass, backing vocals). Du ...

and

Harvey Danger Harvey Danger was an American alternative rock band that was formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 by journalism students at the University of Washington. The band rose to prominence in 1997 with the single "Flagpole Sitta", which was later us ...

guitarist

Mike Squires Michael Lynn Squires (born March 5, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball player who played for the Chicago White Sox primarily as a first baseman from 1975 and 1977 to 1985. He won the American League Gold Glove Award at first base ...

was also invited to record additional guitar parts on the album. In June, 2001, Duff announced that the album would be titled Dark Days and that it would be released under the moniker ''Loaded'' rather than using his own name for the project.

Release and promotion

Dark Days was released in the US and Japan in July, 2001. It was later released in Europe in July, 2002. Loaded announced three dates at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

taking place in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

in November 2001. To perform at these shows, Mike Squires was added as the group's lead guitarist and when Duff took up the second guitar position,

Alien Crime Syndicate Alien Crime Syndicate, often abbreviated to ACS, were a rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1997. From 1999 to the band's breakup in 2005, the lineup consisted primarily of Joe Reineke (vocals, guitar), Jeff Rouse (bass, backing voca ...

bassist

Jeff Rouse Jeffrey Norman Rouse (born February 6, 1970) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Rouse represented the United States in two consecutive Olympic Games in 1992 ...

joined the group. Additional US dates were announced for 2002 as well as a tour in Japan. European tour followed in summer of 2002. The album was reissued in February 2008 by Pimp Records on both CD and digital download formats, with a limited edition version with the bonus live tracks from the band's 2002 tour of Japan available exclusively at

CDBaby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...

Track listing

Personnel

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Misery",

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– guitar, production *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, production *

Martin Feveyear Martin John Feveyear born late '66 is a British record producer and audio engineer based in Seattle, Washington. Beginning as a singer-songwriter and musician, Feveyear soon began recording work for artists in both the UK and US before moving to ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals, production ;Additional personnel *

– additional guitars *Jon Irvie –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

*Mike Easton – engineering *Dave Colins – mastering

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Days (Loaded Album) 2001 debut albums Albums produced by Martin Feveyear Loaded (band) albums

History

Release and promotion

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References