Everyday Demons

''Everyday Demons'' is the second studio album by Irish rock band The Answer. It was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK and 31 March 2009 in the US. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #25.

Style and composition

According to Cormac Neeson, "Demon Eyes" is "basically about the two-faced motherfuckers in this world who think they're the dog's bollocks. They pretend to be your friend but the whole time they're looking down on you in a very f—king condescending way and then going round the corner and slagging you off behind your back." "Too Far Gone" was written in response to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans to introduce ID cards in the UK. In Neeson's opinion, "they might as well attach tracking devices on to everybody so they know exactly where everybody's going at every moment of the day." "On and On" is "about stepping up to the challenges that everyday life throws at you."
Neeson explained that "Cry Out" is an attempt to "capture the spirit of youth, that kinda feeling when you're young". The song's lyrics reference ''Troublegum'' and "Take the Power Back", by Therapy? and Rage Against the Machine, respectively, two bands favoured by Neeson in his youth. "Why'd You Change Your Mind" relates to Neeson's efforts to comprehend why a friend of his chose to commit suicide. Neeson explains: "In the chorus of the song I'm just trying to understand what goes through a person's mind and why they should take their own life."

"Pride" pertains to Neeson's time working in a bar in Ireland, where "you'd see a lot of really beautiful young women coming into the bar and kinda drink themselves away all day and end up going home with some kind of fucking lowlife motherfucker, who was just hanging around the bars waiting to pick up women like that. I just remember thinking these girls don't need to do that. They're beautiful, intelligent and they deserve a lot better." "Walkin' Mat" is about "the world we're living in at the minute, the one that as you know yourself has the shallow music industry parties that you've got to go to, and everybody's a smiling face and a compliment and you have to really see through that. There's just some point along the way you just get sick of it. You're just talking like that because you're off your face on coke and you don't mean what you're saying." Neeson notes the influence of The Black Crowes and AC/DC on this track.

According to Neeson, "Tonight", the album's second single, is about the "simple philosophy" of "meeting a girl and taking her out and letting the f—king fireworks commence." "Dead of the Night" is about how the band views itself, both at home in Belfast, and around the world. Neeson explains, "When you're away from home you almost start to paint a prettier picture of where you're from, whether it's homesickness or just missing your local pub and friends. When you get back there and you're like, okay, this is the reality, this is the way it is, and that's cool too."

Neeson states that "Comfort Zone" is simply "about stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a chance. I'm a firm believer that you really benefit from taking the riskier decision." "Evil Man" portrays the story of "a girl I know that went to a bar one night and got her drink spiked by one of those date rape drugs. Luckily enough, she got away unscathed." Neeson suggests that the perpetrators of such actions "are fucking scum of the earth." The song is sung from the perspective of the man, "which gives the song a bit of a twist as well."

Promotion and release

The first single, "On and On", was released on 22 February 2009. The second single "Tonight" was released on 21 June 2009. The third single "Comfort Zone" was released on 4 November 2009.

"Demon Eyes" was the iTunes "Single of the Week" for the week beginning 10 March 2009.

The 2CD version of the album includes a concert recorded live at the Shibuya-AX in Tokyo, Japan, on 27 March 2007 as an audio on the second CD.

Critical reception

''Everyday Demons'' was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 7 reviews.

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "The Answer has the right sound and feel on ''Everyday Demons'' and that does make them the perfect opener for latter day AC/DC: they work as pleasant appetizer for the main course." ''Rolling Stone'' editor Christian Hoard said "the sound isn't very distinct, and the tunes don't usually stick." At ''Consequence of Sound'', Alex Young said: "''Everyday Demons'' is one of those alright albums that you can listen to a couple of times before tucking it away in the case and waiting for that accidental nostalgia to kick in ages later."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians
* Cormac Neeson – lead vocals, harmonica
* Paul Mahon – guitar
* Micky Waters – bass
* James Heatley – drums

Production
* James Cassidy − producer
* John Travis – engineer, producer
* George Marino – mastering
* Mike Fraser – mixing
* Tim Palmer - Mixing

Sales chart positions

References

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2009 albums
The Answer (band) albums
Albert Productions albums