Duran Duran (1993 album)

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Duran Duran
Duran Duran - The Wedding Album - Cover.jpg
Upper left: the Le Bons, centre: the Bateses (Rhodes), upper right: the Taylors, lower right: the Cuccurullos.
Studio album by
Duran Duran
Released15 February 1993 (1993-02-15) [1]
Recorded1991–1992
Studio
Genre
Length63:34
Label Parlophone
Producer
Duran Duran chronology
Liberty
(1990)		Duran Duran
(1993)		 Thank You
(1995)
Singles from Duran Duran
  1. "Ordinary World"
    Released: December 1992 (US)
  2. "Come Undone"
    Released: 29 March 1993 (UK)
  3. "Too Much Information"
    Released: 23 August 1993 (UK) [2]
  4. "Drowning Man (remix)"
    Released: August 1993 (US)
  5. "Femme Fatale"
    Released: 1993 (France)
  6. "None of the Above"
    Released: 1994 (Japan)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Calgary Herald C [4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Entertainment Weekly D [6]
Music Week Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Select U+25A0.svgU+25A0.svgU+25A1.svgU+25A1.svgU+25A1.svg [11]

Duran Duran (commonly known as The Wedding Album [12] ) is the seventh studio album and the second self-titled album by English rock band Duran Duran. It was released on 15 February 1993 by Parlophone.

Contents

Background and development

After the general low performance of their 1990 studio album Liberty , Duran Duran desperately needed money. The band's financial future appeared hopeless due to low album sales, not touring to support Liberty and excessive spending. [13] [14] Duran Duran's career had hit a low point by early 1991. As their once-certain popularity in the 1980s began to wane, many critics began to write them off as a throwback to the New Wave era. [15] Keyboardist Nick Rhodes said in a 2013 retrospective piece: [16]

The '80s had ended and a lot of people wanted to lock the door and close Duran Duran in that decade, too, I think. At the end of the '80s, music changed considerably. We had grunge, techno and rave culture, which left us in a place where we felt we had to make ourselves relevant to the times. We weren't about to make a grunge or techno album, but we had our songwriting. We very much went back to basics.

— Nick Rhodes

Their 1990 studio album Liberty was a commercial decline, peaking at number 46 in the US. [17] Additionally, neither of its two singles—"Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" nor "Serious"—did particularly well on the US or UK charts. [14] Even though Liberty came in at number eight in the UK, it wasn't enough to persuade Capitol or EMI, Duran Duran's record labels, that the band was on the right path. [18] However, Capitol didn't forsake them altogether. They agreed to advance the band money for a new album under strict supervision. Duran Duran was recorded and produced mainly at American musician Warren Cuccurullo's home studio in Battersea, London, named "Privacy". [19] Record producer John Jones told Forbes in 2023: [20]

Warren, of course, does not want to waste time. He wants to get going and he wants to start writing songs. So he suggested that they come over and start writing at his place. That's basically where The Wedding Album started right there...I would say [the band members] trusting each other, being able to work together in that room with one mike in the middle, all of us wearing headphones, clapping, singing, whatever—it was just so brilliant.

— John Jones

The band began developing Duran Duran after they settled in Privacy studios, writing songs everyday. From the classic soft rock ballad "Ordinary World" to "Come Undone", a last minute addition to the album's track list. [20] Duran Duran finished the album in early 1992 with an impending release by their record label. [20]

Release

The album was Duran Duran's first in three years. Manager Tommy Manzi later told HitQuarters it was the industry that were unenthusiastic about the return of the band rather than the music consumer. [21] Manzi said that industry insiders "laughed at" Left Bank while they worked on reviving the careers of not only Duran Duran but also Meat Loaf because they would rather focus on "the next hip band" than perceived "old" acts. [21] As it happened, the album reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart, their highest charting album since 1983's Seven and the Ragged Tiger .

In the UK, three singles from the album reached the Top 40 including "Ordinary World" (#6), "Come Undone" (#13) and "Too Much Information" (#35). Four singles taken from the album charted in the US: "Ordinary World" (#3), "Come Undone" (#7), "Too Much Information" and "Drowning Man".[ citation needed ]

Title

While officially titled Duran Duran worldwide, the general belief that the alternative name was first adopted by fans post-release—due to the use of the members' parents' wedding photos on the cover and to differentiate it from the band's 1981 album—is incorrect. Instead, the name was originally used on two different UK promo cassettes prior to release – one calling it The Wedding and the other The Wedding Album.

While this name was officially dropped before release—with, for example, the UK & US TV adverts calling it simply Duran Duran—the commercially released UK vinyl and cassette versions still titled it Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) on the LP centre labels and the tape itself, though this was almost certainly in error.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Duran Duran, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Too Much Information" 4:56
2."Ordinary World" 5:39
3."Love Voodoo" 4:58
4."Drowning Man" 5:15
5."Shotgun" 0:54
6."Come Undone" 4:38
7."Breath After Breath"
4:58
8."UMF" 5:33
9."Femme Fatale" Lou Reed 4:21
10."None of the Above" 5:19
11."Shelter" 4:25
12."To Whom It May Concern" Nick Rhodes 4:24
13."Sin of the City" 7:14
Japan bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Time for Temptation" (Alternate version)3:46
2."Stop Dead" (Edit)3:52
Bonus disc (UK tour edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Falling Angel"4:35
2."Stop Dead"4:31
3."Time for Temptation"4:09
4."Come Undone" (12" mix – Comin' Together)7:21
5."Ordinary World" (Acoustic version)5:07
6."Too Much Information" (David Richards 12" mix)4:14

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes. [22]

Duran Duran
Additional personnel
Production

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Duran Duran
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [43] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [44] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ "BPI".
  2. ↑ "Duran Duran singles".
  3. ↑ AllMusic review
  4. ↑ Obee, Dave (21 February 1993). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald .
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  7. ↑ Jones, Alan (13 February 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week . p. 20. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Wood, Sam (27 April 1993). "A Trumpeter Breaks Out of Marsalis' Shadow". Philadelphia Inquirer .
  9. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  10. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Duran Duran". The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ↑ Collis, Clark (April 1993). "Duran Duran: Duran Duran". Select : 74. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Krassner, Katy (20 February 2013). "Duran Duran » Reflections on Duran Duran's "The Wedding Album"". wmeentertainment.com. WME Entertainment. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020. Quote: NIGEL REEVE/EMI RECORDS, UK: The Wedding Album, or Duran Duran to give its official title, had a long gestation period. The first sounds out of the studio were in late 1991, even then 'Ordinary World' existed and sounded like a sure fire hit.
  13. ↑ Power, Ed (3 April 2020). "No Thank You: why a reviled covers album almost sank Duran Duran". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  14. 1 2 Gerard, Chris (24 April 2015). "Duran Duran: Ranking their albums Worst to First". Metro Weekly . Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  15. ↑ "December 1992: Duran Duran Launch Comeback for the Ages with ORDINARY WORLD". Rhino Entertainment . 19 December 2022. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  16. ↑ "Reflections on Duran Duran's "The Wedding Album"". Duran Duran. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 – Week of February 20, 1993". Billboard . Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  18. ↑ ""Official Albums Chart Top 100"". Official Charts Company . Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  19. ↑ Zaleski, Annie (15 February 2023). "30 Years Ago: Duran Duran Makes a Comeback With the Wedding Album". Ultimate Classic Rock . Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  20. 1 2 3 Chiu, David (11 February 2023). "Duran Duran's Pivotal Comeback 'The Wedding Album' Marks 30 Years". Forbes . Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  21. 1 2 "Interview With Tommy Manzi". HitQuarters. 7 May 2001. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  22. ↑ Duran Duran (booklet). Duran Duran. Parlophone. 1993. 0777 7 98876 2 0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  24. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  25. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0992". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  26. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  27. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 10, no. 10. 6 March 1993. p. 18. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
  28. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
  29. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2019.Select "DURAN DURAN" from the drop-down menu and click "OK".
  30. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  31. 1 2 3 "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 11. 13 March 1993. p. 24. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
  32. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1993. 20. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  33. ↑ デュラン・デュランのアルバム売り上げランキング [Duran Duran's album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  34. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  35. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  36. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  37. ↑ "Duran Duran Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  38. ↑ "The RPM Top 100 Albums of 1993". RPM. Vol. 58, no. 23. 18 December 1993. ISSN   0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  39. ↑ "1993 Year-End Sales Charts – Eurochart Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 51/52. 18 December 1993. p. 15. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
  40. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1993" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  41. ↑ "Top 100 Albums 1993" (PDF). Music Week . 15 January 1994. p. 25. ISSN   0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  42. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1993". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  43. ↑ "British album certifications – Duran Duran – Duran Duran (Wedding) Album". British Phonographic Industry. 1 April 1983. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  44. ↑ "American album certifications – Duran Duran – Duran Duran 2". Recording Industry Association of America. 18 June 1993. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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