Red Carpet Massacre is the twelfth studio album by British pop group Duran Duran. It was released on November 19, 2007 in Europe, and on the 13th in the United States. On June 26, the official Duran Duran website confirmed the title of the album and announced some of the song titles.^[3]

Most of the music on the current incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 after the departure of band member Andy Taylor, when music producer Timbaland began working with the band.

For the week of November 19th, Red Carpet Massacre debuted at #36 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 29,000 copies in its first week.^[4] However, the following week the album fell to #116. For the week of November 26th, the album debuted at #44 in the UK, becoming the 2nd poorest UK Chart entry in the bands career. The album entered the Italian chart at #10.

Early sessions

The band did its initial recording for its follow-up to Astronaut with producer Michael Patterson between September 2005 and April 2006. Roger Taylor said in March of 2006, "The record will be in some ways a homage to our roots as a band, more direct and a return to our dance and 'new wave' origins," and that they had brought fifteen tracks to near completion.^[5]

The record was provisionally titled Reportage and expected in late May 2006 with a summer tour to follow but as reported in Billboard, the new album was delayed as guitarist Andy Taylor had a falling out with the rest of the band for unknown reasons. ^[6][7]

In early October, vocalist Simon Le Bon announced that the band had recorded three songs with famed hip-hop producer Timbaland, his protégé Nate "Danja" Hills and engineer Jimmy Douglass at Manhattan Center Studios during September.^[8] Trade magazine Billboard reported that one of those tracks was "Nite Runner", featuring Justin Timberlake, which at the time was expected to be the first single from the album. Two additional songs on which the band worked with Timbaland were titled "Skin Divers" and "Zooming In." Also mentioned were two other tracks; "48 Hours Later" and "Transcendental Mental".^[6]

Andy Taylor leaves the band

Andy Taylor did not perform at any of Duran Duran's October shows and had not participated during the New York sessions with Timbaland, and on October 25, a message posted on the band's site announced: "As of last weekend [...] the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together."^[9]

Dominic Brown, who had taken Taylor's place at several previous missed concerts, was hired as Duran Duran's permanent guitarist, taking part in the recording sessions. Brown has since performed with the band as their full-time touring guitarist.

Andy told Rolling Stone magazine that he was in favor of a more electric sound, whereas Simon wanted to go in a different direction involving people like Justin Timberlake.

Remaking the album

The band decided to rewrite the whole album following Taylor's departure. 14 songs had been completed for Reportage but according to Simon le Bon: “When we sat down and listened to what we had done on our own, we didn’t feel we had a lead track, so we got in touch with Timbaland, who was the only producer out there that we knew we all liked."

Following the New York sessions in September, Duran Duran moved to Metropolis Studios in London with Danja and Douglass for the next sessions. According to tabloid newspaper The Sun, in March 2007 Duran Duran had one track left that needed a female vocal, and they were trying to arrange to work with Nelly Furtado and/or Lily Allen.

In June, Duran Duran announced on their official website that they were recording yet another track with Justin Timberlake titled "Falling Down". However, it was "Nite Runner" that the band decided to debut live at the much-anticipated fan-club only Hammerstein Ballroom concert in New York City on 17 June, and Le Bon was still touting it as the probable first single in a post to the band's official website.^[10] Several other album tracks ("The Valley", "Red Carpet Massacre", "Skin Divers" and "Box Full O' Honey"), were played over the sound system at the concert (but not performed live).

Following the New York concert and a listening party for the media at which the album title was announced, band members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor went back to England to work on some mixes for the album and perform at the Concert for Diana and the Live Earth concert in London. They completed one more recording session in New York and then returned to London to put the finishing touches on Red Carpet Massacre.^[11]

Nick Rhodes mentioned during an interview at Live Earth that two songs on the final album lineup feature Justin Timberlake, three songs feature Timbaland and the rest are produced by Danja.

Release versions

There are two versions of Red Carpet Massacre available.

Regular

• Jewel case version with 8-page booklet.

Deluxe

• Soft digipak in a slipcase, with full-length CD + 40 min bonus DVD showing the making of the album, making of the “Falling Down” video, and more. Special package also contains a 28-page booklet and a 16-page foldout booklet plus a special press badge sticker.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Duran Duran and Nate 'Danja' Hills unless otherwise stated:

Standard Edition

1. "The Valley" - 4:57
2. "Red Carpet Massacre" - 3:17
3. "Nite Runner" (featuring Timbaland & Justin Timberlake and produced by Timbaland) - 3:58
4. "Falling Down" (featuring and produced by Justin Timberlake) - 5:41
5. "Box Full O' Honey" - 3:10
6. "Skin Divers" (featuring and produced by Timbaland) - 4:24
7. "Tempted" - 4:22
8. "Tricked Out" - 2:45 (instrumental)
9. "Zoom In" - 3:25 (produced by Timbaland)
10. "She's Too Much" - 5:30
11. "Dirty Great Monster" - 3:40
12. "Last Man Standing" - 4:05

• Extra Tracks

13. "Cry Baby Cry" - 3:57 (iTunes and Japan bonus track) ^[12]

Deluxe Edition

Disc 1 The track listing as above.

Disc 2 (DVD)

Singles

Personnel

Performances

• Simon LeBon - vocals
• John Taylor - bass
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards
• Roger Taylor - drums
• Dominic Brown - guitars
• Simon Willescroft - sax on track 11
• Marcella "Ms Lago" Araica - additional programming on track 1
• Terri Walker - additional vocals on tracks 6
• Jim Beanz - additional vocals on tracks 3 & 10
• Justin Timberlake - additional vocals on tracks 3 & 4
• Timbaland - additional vocals on tracks 3 & 6

Production

• Duran Duran - producer
• Danja - producer
• Timbaland - producer tracks 3, 6 & 9
• Justin Timberlake - producer tracks 3 & 4
• Jim Beanz - vocal production on tracks 5, 9, 10, 11 & 12
• Jimmy Douglass - producer, engineer, mixer

References

External links

• The Second Supper Review of Red Carpet Massacre