Marking ten years of the iconic HELP album.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the iconic HELP album a new generation of artists came together to create, at the time, the fastest album ever made. They recorded Help! A Day In The Life on Thursday 8th September 2005 with the album being available for download just 24 hours later.
Bands delivered tracks from all around the world; Damon Albarn cancelled a flight to China so Gorillaz could record their track, Hong Kong. The Kaiser Chiefs recorded a cover version of I Heard It Through the Grapevine whilst on tour in Berlin, Damien Rice delivered Cross-Eyed Bear in a break recording his second album in Dublin and the Manic Street Preachers sent in their third
contribution to a War Child album, Leviathan, from South Wales. In a late addition to the tracklisting Chris Martin recorded a new vocal and lyrics for How You See The World No. 2 from New York and Tuarweg musicians Tinawiren sent in Cler Achel from Paris.
Elbow recorded a new song called Snowball, which lead singer Guy Garvey described as dealing with his outrage at the UK involvement in the Iraq conflict. Its first line: "The biggest mistakes will be forgiven but the snowball of white lies will crush our hearts.” And a significant contribution came from Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier and refugee from Sudan who donated the track Gua.
Alongside The Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead, John Squire also returned from the original HELP album to design the cover of Help! A Day In The Life, which also features illustrations from Paul Smith and Duncan Lloyd of Maximo Park. Get your copy of Help! A Day In The Life in classic black or red vinyl exclusive to War Child Records store.
Listen to the record
Check out the record and full track listing below or listen to the record on your favourite streaming service.
Full track listing:
Side A
Coldplay – How You See The World No. 2
Razorlight – Kirby’s House
Radiohead – I Want None Of This
Keane and Faultline – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Emmanuel Jal – Gua
Side B
Gorillaz – Hong Kong
Manic Street Preachers – Leviathan
Kaiser Chiefs – I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Damien Rice – Cross-Eyed Bear
Side C
The Magic Numbers – Gone Are The Days
Tinariwen – Cler Achel
The Coral – It Was Nothing
Mylo – Mars Needs Women
Maximo Park – Wasteland
Side D
Elbow – Snowball
Bloc Party – The Present
Hard Fi – Help Me Please
The Go! Team – Phantom Broadcast
Babyshambles – From Bollywood To Battersea