Notorious

by

Duran Duran

Edit

Notorious is the fourth album by Duran Duran, released in November 1986 on EMI/Capitol Records. The band had by this point seen both Andy & Roger Taylor depart (though Andy Taylor does play on four songs) and so had to utilise producer Nile Rodgers and session musician Warren Cuccurullo on guitar (the latter would subsequently join the band as an official member four years later) and Steve Ferrone on drums.

The singles "Notorious" (a number 2 hit in the US and number 7 in the UK) and "Skin Trade" (number 22 UK, 39 US) demonstrated a Duran Duran reaching for funk, heavy on bass and brass. The gap between previous efforts and the new one, however (one year removed from "A View To A Kill" and the Arcadia/Power Station projects, two years from Arena & three from Seven and the Ragged Tiger), was hard to handle for the greater part of the fan base, since the album left the well-worn path of the successful euro-dance-pop of earlier days. Many fans felt that the album seemed to lack the sparkle of the band's peak era (roughly 1982 to 1985). Nevertheless it still reached the top 20 album charts on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number 12 in the US and number 16 in their native Britain. The three singles (the aforementioned duo plus "Meet El Presidente" - their first ever single released on CD) also enjoyed varying degrees of chart success.

In 2010, EMI remastered & reissued the album, along with a collection of associated material. This includes a three disc box set, a digital only Remix EP, and a digital only live album (recorded at The Beacon Theatre, New York City in August 1987). The box set includes remixes, live tracks, new artwork & sleeve notes and the Working for the Skin Trade live video (for the first time on DVD).