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 British
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
trio
Dirty Vegas
Dirty Vegas are an English house music group initially made up of Ben Harris and Paul Harris (no relation) on instruments and production and Steve Smith (British musician), Steve Smith on vocals. The group formed in 2001, then broke up in 2005 b ...
, released in the United States on 4 June 2002.
The album was successful in the United States, debuting at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It would spend 19 weeks on the chart and eventually going Gold. The album also spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at number-one on the ''Billboard''
Dance/Electronic Albums
Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...
chart.
The album features the radio hit " Days Go By" which was also used in a commercial for the
Mitsubishi Eclipse
The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a sport compact car that was produced by Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi in four generations from 1989 until 2011. A convertible body style was added during the 1996 model year.
The first two generations share the autom ...
Frontman Paul Harris had worked as a club DJ in Europe prior to forming Dirty Vegas, while Ben Harris worked at a Camden recording studio and Steve Smith was performing as part of a band called Higher Ground. After Higher Ground disbanded, Paul met Smith at a party in Switzerland; the two began performing together. Ben Harris later joined and the trio began to record songs together, the first of which was " Days Go By."
Recording
The group released "Days Go By," and the song's striking video was seen by an executive who worked for
Mitsubishi Motors
is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. He tracked the group down and got permission to feature the song in an ad for the company. Following the song's licensing, the group returned to the studio to record more songs for a full-length album. Ben Harris commented to
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
that, when recording the album, they were "trying to not really fit anywhere," opting to attempt to create "something unique" instead. The group informed
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
that they didn't have one specific songwriting strategy for the album: "Ben and I might get a chord sequence going, and then Steve may add the lyrics - or vice versa. We handle it from many different angles." The album's recording was completed in October 2001, shortly before the Mitsubishi ad began running.
Critical reception
The album garnered generally mixed reviews from music critics. John Bush, writing for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, gave the album 2 and a half out of 5 stars, praising the album's production but criticizing the lyrics and Smith's vocals. John Aizlewood, writing for ''The Guardian'', compared the album to
Air
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
and
Everything But the Girl
Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt ...
and singled out "7AM", "Throwing Shapes", "Candles", and "All or Nothing" as highlights. Music critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
praised the album's catchiness but commented that "Days Go By" didn't stand out on the album the way it did in the Mitsubishi advertisements.
Release and commercial performance
The album was released in the US on 4 June 2002. The album debuted at number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 64,000. It spent more than three months on the chart and eventually attained a
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
certification from the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. The album also entered the Top 40 of the
UK album chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
.
Track listing
All tracks written by Paul Harris, Ben Harris, and
Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to:
Academics
* Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager
* Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...
, except where noted.
#"I Should Know" – 6:09
#"
Ghosts
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
" – 5:18
#"Lost Not Found" – 4:05
#" Days Go By" (
Victoria Horn
Victoria Jane Horn (also known as Lady V) is an English Grammy Award winning songwriter and ASCAP and BMI heavy rotation award winner.
Personal life
Victoria Horn began studying the piano at age three and later learned the guitar. At an early ...
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
) – 6:44
#"Days Go By" (Acoustic) – 2:43
Release details
The album was released in various countries in 2002.