RED CARPET MASSACRE CD
(c) 2007 Epic Records / Sony Music • official release
There will be two versions of RED CARPET MASSACRE available. Regular CD version and Delux CD/DVD package:
Regular - jewel case version with 8-page booklet. Deluxo - soft digipak in a slipcase, with full-length CD plus 30-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!
RED CARPET MASSACRE:
01. The Valley
02. Red Carpet Massacre
03. Nite Runner (with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland)
04. Falling Down (with Justin Timberlake)
05. Skin Divers (feat. Timbaland)
06. Box Full O'Honey
07. Tempted
08. Tricked Out (instrumental)
09. Zoom In
10. She's Too Much
11. Dirty Great Monster
12. Last Man Standing
Album Release Dates:
Austria 2 Nov: Digital Single // 16 Nov: Album release date
Belgium 29 Oct: Digital Single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Denmark 28 Sept: Digital Single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Finland 21 Nov: Album release date
France 12 Nov: Digital Single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Germany 16 Nov: Digital Single //16 Nov: Physical Single // 16 Nov: Album release date
Italy 28 Sept: Digital Single // Nov 5: Physical Single // 16 Nov: Album release date
Holland 29 Oct: Digital Single // 16 Nov: Album release date
Norway 19 Oct: Digital Single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Portugal 29 Oct: Digital Single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Poland 19 Nov: Album release date
Spain 20 Nov: Album release date
Sweden 22 Oct: Digital Single // 21 Nov: Album release date
Switzerland 26 Oct none 16 Nov
UK 4 Nov: Digital Single // 5 Nov: Physical single // 19 Nov: Album release date
Canada 25 Sep: Digital Single // 20 Nov: Album release date
South Africa 19 Nov : Album release date
Australia 16 Oct: Digital Single (iTunes only) // 17 Nov : Album release date
Mexico 19 Nov: Album release date
Brazil 20 Nov: Album release date
Chile 19 Nov: Album release date
Central America 20-Nov: Album release date
Japan 14 Nov: Album release date
Hong Kong 19 Nov: Album release date
Malaysia 20 Nov: Album release date
Philippines 19 Nov: Album release date
Korea 19 Nov: Album release date
Taiwan 23 Nov: Album release date
Thailand 20 Nov: Album release date
Review:
Duran Duran's RED CARPET MASSACRE marks an all time creative high in the band's illustrious 29-year career. Like all good things,
it came to those who waited.
By May 2006, after a two-year tour in support of their previous album ASTRONAUT, Duran Duran had completed 14 songs for a record
provisionally titled REPORTAGE. But according to singer Simon LeBon "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".
America's most pop savvy producer was more than happy to help and a session was duly set up at the Manhattan Center Studios in New York
in September of the same year. What none of the band realized prior to taking off in this new direction, however, was that one of their
biggest fans, Justin Timberlake, was also keen to get involved in the project, so when they arrived in the US he made room in the middle
of his album release campaign to spend time in the studio with them.
But as if this new collaboration wasn't enough to really change things up, in the midst of all this, guitarist Andy Taylor split with
the band, and with his departure the remaining four band members opted to change tack and start over completely.
"It was a real revelation working with producers that just understood the 'groove factor'", enthuses keyboardist Nick Rhodes
"And this really brought back the heart and the spirit of Duran Duran. They're an extraordinary team", he continues. "They have
a fantastic chemistry in the studio".
"With these guys on board it was as if Duran Duran had been taken and surrounded in chrome", adds bassist John Taylor. "In the past
we always went to the big cities to work with the people that were having hit records on the dance floor", explains drummer Roger Taylor.
"When we got to New York last year we found that inspiration again".
With three glorious tracks under their belt (Nite-Runner, Skin Divers and Zoom In), the new Duran left US shores and returned to the
UK where they proceeded to make an album that sounded quite different to REPORTAGE with a new production team headed by Timbaland's
right hand man Nate 'Danja' Hills and long-time Timbaland collaborator Jimmy Douglass. According to drummer Roger Taylor: "the first
time we met Timbaland we were very impressed with this guy sitting in the corner, Nate Hills. Not only was he one of the most incredible
beat guys we'd ever come across, he was also a great musician – which filled the gap that might otherwise have been left with Andy
gone. So after the initial sessions in New York, we basically kidnapped him and took him to London. He's got so many ideas. Talent
in bucket loads".
Most of RED CARPET MASSACRE was recorded in three sessions: the first with Timbaland, with a guest spot from Timberlake, at the
Manhattan Center Studios in New York; the second phase on the band's home turf, Sphere Studios in Wandsworth, London over Christmas
2006, presided over by Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass. And the final burst at Metropolis Studios in West London, produced by Hills
and Douglass in early '07.
And that would have been that, had it not been for a chance meeting in Birmingham in the Spring when Simon LeBon hooked up again with
Justin Timberlake during his UK tour. "Justin asked to hear everything we'd recorded and at the end he said, 'I think you need an
Ordinary World to round things out'". Duran's 1992 smash, Timberlake revealed, had been his favorite song when he was a pop crazed
14 year old. And as LeBon remarks, with powerful understatement: "What goes around, comes around".
A few days later when Justin's tour touched down in Manchester, England, Duran Duran and Timberlake got together in Blueprint studio
and spent 36 hours writing and recording Falling Down – a tune destined to rank as one of the finest pop songs of the early 21st
century and now the first single from their upcoming release. Marking one of Timberlake's first solo productions, this 'tempo-ballad'
as Justin describes it is "very Duran Duran. He (Simon) wrote some very melancholic/inspirational/cryptic lyrics that are beautiful",
explains Justin. "I think it's certainly one of the best lyrics that Simon's written for a very long time", concurs Nick.
Its parent album RED CARPET MASSACRE is consistently bold and adventurous. "We had to let go of most of our old ideas of what it means
to be a band making this", notes bassist John Taylor, a point which is expanded by Nick Rhodes: "Most of our producers this time had
never worked with a band before, and we'd never worked without a guitarist". "We really had to put our egos aside", adds Roger Taylor.
"We've always been very self-contained in the past".
All four band members agree that they have never worked so hard and fast on any album as they did on RED CARPET MASSACRE. The results,
however, speak for themselves. A stellar album that is daring and contemporary and yet quintessentially Duran Duran.
"By the time we get to finish an album", explains John. "It always feels to me like 'wow'... there's a book in there.
This is another massive chapter in the band's history. We've made a record that we all feel really good about".
Tracklisting with comments by Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Timbaland: The Valley
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
JT "This was the breakthrough, the crossover, the song we could build an album around. We set up the gear in the control room and
came up with a progressive groove. It ended up becoming the album opener and feels like the perfect track to start our upcoming shows
with".
SLeB "It's about looking at life as moments rather than achievements. It's about making one's way through the trials and tribulations
of life".
Red Carpet Massacre
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
NR: "Punk electronica - a bit like Warm Leatherette, the 1979 track by the Normal. Very tongue-in-cheek and very apropos of where we
are now in the world with regards to reality TV and the whole 15 minutes of fame existence".
SLeB "It's about Hollywood 'A-listers' having a go at each other – about the fantasy of celebrity and the media. It's sex, seduction
and glamour - all the things we stand for, which is why we made it the album title. We wanted something with teeth".
Nite-Runner (with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland)
Music: Duran Duran, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Nate Hills
NR "This was the first collaboration we did with Justin, Tim and Nate. It felt like we were in a nightclub. When we finished it we knew
we were on the verge of something new".
SLeB: "This reminded me of NOTORIOUS when the band first split and we worked with Nile Rodgers".
Falling Down (with Justin Timberlake)
Music: Duran Duran and Justin Timberlake
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Produced by Justin Timberlake
NR: "It's a really beautiful, fragile song. It was so easy. Sometimes that's the mystery of making music and writing songs. It can be just
natural and happens there and then, and other times you can struggle for weeks and not get what you want".
SLeB "It's about a crash I had when I was racing a motorbike, the thoughts that ran through my mind before I hit the ground. As soon as I
got the chorus, Justin was like, 'That's it!!'"
JT "It's easy to be esoteric. It's so much harder to write from the heart. This is an important song for Duran".
RT "I'd just got back from my honeymoon in St Lucia and the phone rang. Justin was talking about us recording the new Ordinary World.
An hour later we were all in a van driving to Manchester".
Skin Divers (featuring Timbaland)
Music: Duran Duran, Timbaland, Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon and Timbaland
Co-produced: Duran Duran, Timbaland, Nate Hills
Timbaland: "That one hit me instant".
JT: "This is the song that best captures the sense of Timband meets Duran Duran. It wrote itself during a jam and then Tim finished off his
parts a couple of months later when he was in the UK - very late at night, after a gig. He came down to the hotel ballroom and just recorded
them on a laptop. Fucking genius. When you are that talented you don't need too much technology to create the magic!"
NR: "This is my favorite track. A real hybrid of Timbaland and Nate's grooves and our live playing. It's riddled with hooks".
Box Full O'Honey
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
NR "I started playing some chords late one night in the studio and it sort of grew from there".
SLeB "It's my best lyric on the album. I can see the person I'm writing about, my 'queen of tumbledown'. No, I won't say who she is.
People seem to be able to really relate to this song. It touches them in an emotional way".
Tempted
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
JT "This is the dance party track. It's arms in the air for French discos".
SLeB "Nate Hills said before we recorded this, 'do you wanna go up, or go down?' It's about dance-floor politics".
NR "It was instant smiles as soon as we gave in to our disco temptation. Which is always a good sign. It's like a song inside a mirror
ball".
Tricked Out
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
NR "We set out to do something unusual for the live show, a special moment. Usually the instrumental song is the one that doesn't make
the album and ends up as a bonus track, so I'm very happy we all liked this one".
SLeB "I was going to do a melody over it but then I thought I'd leave it. This gives me a chance to change my shirt during the concert!"
RT "This takes us back to our roots. 1979, Joy Division, Siouxsie, post punk with a bit of techno".
Zoom In
Music: Duran Duran, Timbaland, Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced: Duran Duran, Timbaland, Nate Hills
NR "This is a very cool mixture of electro and rock. It feels very super-cyber-futuristic. The drum track was really one-take, all the
way through".
JT "Very Timbaland, very Nate, very New York, a real transition track for us".
SLeB "It's about the Second Life virtual world that exists on the web which Neil Stevenson writes about in his novel Snow Crash, where
you can create an avatar. The sound was angular, digital, something from a different perspective".
She's Too Much
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
SLeB "It's about my 16 year old daughter Saffron. She was in the studio that day and triggered the lyrics. I didn't know I was writing
about her until the second line ‘she's everything head first.' It tells a story. It's a soft moment on the album".
NR "This is a key track, a story telling ballad, which touches base with our traditional songwriting".
JT "We built this up in a very textural way around the chords".
Dirty Great Monster
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
NR: "It's about the elephant in the living room. We brought in a sax player for this one and said to him 'play something that's really
'sick''. And he did and it really made the track."
SLeB: "It's a song without a chorus. It doesn't pay off in the way that everyone expects".
Last Man Standing
Music: Duran Duran and Nate Hills
Lyrics: Simon LeBon
Co-produced by Duran Duran, Nate Hills and Jimmy Douglass
SLeB "This one has very soft vocals".
RT "This is one of my favourites. We did a lot of overdubbing with Dom Brown, the guitarist we use for our live shows".
NR "The missing link between this album and our last, ASTRONAUT. Simon is so good at assuming a character".
LYRICS:
1. The Valley
these are days of hit and run
in the stream with everyone
these are moments of our lives
on a wandering river
going on together
many journeys to arrive
I been walking through the valley through the tall grass and the shadows
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
through the city and the towers turning minutes into hours
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
when I think I'm being strong
and I lose direction
then a life starts looking mischievous
finding revelation
out of desperation
always stretching time but it’s never long enough
you think you’re happy, think you’re free but maybe we’re just comfortably deceived
but I'm running through the valley through the tall grass and the shadows
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
through the city and the towers turning minutes into hours
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
but I'm running through the valley through the tall grass and the shadows
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
through the city and the towers turning minutes into hours
and I feel it, I can see it, yes I need it, I believe it
2. Red Carpet Massacre
dark sun rose on the ridge cut clear across the sky
as good a day as any to die
no reservation Madam no reason to know why
running late stiletto heels
strike the crew, send up the wheels
you spend a life in preparation for this day
breathe in the air it’s loaded with fame
check out those weapons sister before you hit the fray
string o pearls -V- ditzy gems
enter the battle of the lenses
red carpet massacre
don't wanna hassle ya
red carpet massacre
death squad paparazzi ah!
red carpet massacre
It's gonna mess wiv ya
we’re in business - you're on the hit-list
there's not so many now, still standing on their feet
the knives are out and singing so sweet
engaged with sharper minds that cut you when you meet
ain't the place to mess around
when someone wants to take you down
maybe you think you're above it
but baby we know that you love it
baby you know where to shove it
apply your lipstick, for dying in public
red carpet massacre
don't wanna hassle ya
red carpet massacre
death squad paparazzi ah!
red carpet massacre
don't wanna mess wiv ya
now it’s time - next in line
we’re so busted – done and dusted
3. Nite-Runner
you're nocturnal only come out at nite
I'm learning all the ways you wanna ride
you're on the roam but not until the darkness arrives
but I'm certain I'll catch up to you one of these times
Can I put my hands on you tonight
I must be feeling something
Something tells me I’m in for the ride
I wonder if you see me coming
Can I put my hands on you tonight
Tonight has got me running
Something tells me I’m in for the ride
right into your nite-time world
coz of a
nite-runner I think I'm falling for you
nite-runner got a spell to put me under
nite runner what you gonna do with it?
nite-runner nite nite runner
Light scatters when you walk into the room
Under shadow I can feel the heat in you
Should I be surprised I see the possibility moving right across to me
It all matters when I'm getting close to you
Can I put my hands on you tonight
I must be feeling something
Something tells me I’m in for the ride
I wonder if you see me coming
Can I put my hands on you tonight
Tonight has got me running
Something tells me I’m in for the ride
right into your nite-time world
coz of a
nite-runner I think I'm falling for you
nite-runner got a spell to put me under
nite runner what you gonna do with it now?
nite-runner nite nite runner
love is haunting she wanted to go that's what she told me
love is haunting she wanted to go but I cannot cannot
nite-runner I think I'm falling for you
nite-runner got a spell to put me under
nite runner what you gonna do with it now?
nite-runner nite nite-runner
4. Falling Down
once was a man who consumed his place and time
he thought nothing could touch him
but here and now it's a different story-line
like the straws he is clutching
why has the sky turned grey?
hard to my face and cold on my shoulder
and why has my life gone astray?
scarred by disgrace I know that it’s over
because I'm falling down
with people standing round
but before I hit the ground
is there time could I find
someone out there to help me?
howl at the wind rushing past my lonely head
caught in silent slow-motion
how I wish it was somebody else instead
howling at all this corrosion
why did the luck run dry?
laugh in my face so pleased to desert me
why do the cruel barbs fly?
now when disgrace can no longer hurt me
because I'm falling down
with people standing round
but before I hit the ground
is there time could I find
someone out there to help me?
You see I'm falling down
with people standing round
but before I hit the ground
is there time could I find
someone out there to help me?
because I'm falling down
with people standing round
but before I hit the ground
is there time could I find
someone out there to help me?
You see I'm falling down
with people standing round
but before I hit the ground
is there time could I find
someone out there to help me?
5. Box Full o' Honey
at the sharp end of the view
the edge of me and you
in all good sense dare tread no further
and as the ghost will shiver trees
how I'm trembling on my knees
but I'm still drawn on by the murmur
are you laughing at me now?
in my circumstance
when still I wear your crown
my life's penitence for what?
what's so funny
box full o' honey
what I thought a pretty tune
was howling at the moon
to keep me company this evening
it's so lonely in the dirt
a-scratching at the hurt
that I so generously did leave you
are you laughing at me now?
in my circumstance
when still I wear your crown
some cruel penitence for what?
what's so funny
box full o' honey
is she flirting with me now
ooh is she dallying with me now?
ooh are you flirting with me now?
you'll always be my
queen of tumbledown
miss melancholy
are you laughing at me now?
in my circumstance
when still I wear your crown
and my life's a penitence for what?
what's so funny?
ain't it funny
box full o' honey
6. Skin Divers
walking under skies, waiting for the fall
meet me at the cornershop I show you it all
free you of your mind, something you won’t find
in the West End pages with yer Google-dirty fingers
it’s a skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... dip into the water
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
wipe us off the face of the human race
whichever way you look it’s indisposed or disgraced
fighting on the shore, the hoi polloi want more
howling bloody murder but it’s nothing, just a murmur
in your skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... slip into the water
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
a blushing rose is torn from these sugar walls
I misplaced my future, could I please borrow yours?
paint it opalscene, you know what I mean
anything you want to be, the only thing you want from me ...
skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... going South Dakota
Baby girl, you swimmin' a little too deep
So deep that I think you might hit a reef
I think you're low on oxygen and your tube got a leak
Baby girl, swim to the top
Grab my hand and hold me and breath
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
When you come up for air
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
When you come up for air
7. Tempted
Jupiter rising through the flow
you require a little bit more
to excite you to go
getting busy on the floor
all about the way you move it
when you really got to prove it
finally you will know
what it is you're turning on
That is gonna tempt you - oh yeah
Like you know it's meant to - oh yeah
Devil gonna tempt you - oh yeah
How much do you want to? - oh oh
give thanks to London coming undone
when you ride the underground
sonic islands breaking silence
got your party started now
and you love way you move it
when you really got to prove it
finally it's what you do
what it is you're turning on
That is gonna tempt you - oh yeah
Like you know it's meant to - oh yeah
Devil gonna tempt you - oh yeah
How much do you want to? - oh oh
That is gonna tempt you
Like you know it's meant to
oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, ...
If you want to know what it is you're turning on
Do you want to know what it is you're turning on
..............................What it is you're turning on
Finally you will know what it is you're turning on
10. She's Too Much
she's gentle to the touch
she's everything head-first
so happy to be causing trouble
sometimes the pressure gets too much
and you think she's going to burst
and shatter like a Xmas bauble
I'll be there when the world is coming down upon her
when she's scared I'll be there fighting in her corner
she cries when she's alone
for all life’s little knocks
everything that's supposed to make us tougher
thinking it doesn't really show
but I know how she hurts
and I can't bear to see her suffer
I'll be there when the world is coming down upon her
when she's scared I'll be there fighting in her corner
I'll be there when the walls are closing to surround her
in the air as she falls with my arms around her
holding on I'm looking out for her thin skin
because she's everything - and I don't think she knows
She’s such a gentle touch
She’s too much a gentle touch
she likes to catch the sun
plays with it like a ball
and never mind whatever keeps it burning
someday she might just be the one
who's going to save us all
if this apocalypse is coming
I'll be there when the world is coming down upon her
when she's scared I'll be there fighting in her corner
I'll be there when the walls are closing to surround her
in the air as she falls with my arms around her
holding on I'm looking out for her thin skin
because she's everything – but I don't think she knows
I don’t think she knows
she is such – a gentle touch - I don’t think she knows
she’s too much – the gentle touch - I don’t think she knows
she is such – a gentle touch - I dont think she knows
she’s too much – the gentle touch
11. Dirty Great Monster
There's a dirty great monster in this house
we pretend that it's not there
and there’s escape from it’s grip
but nobody seems to care
do you ever wonder
about the days
when we were straight?
but Daddy got the hunger
so much to hide
we learned to lie
so watch yourself in the hallway
you’re not supposed to know
but we're all afraid of each other
we’re the victims in this show
well do you ever wonder
about the days
when we were straight
when Daddy got the hunger
so much to hide
we learned to lie
silently outnumbered
we made mistakes
because we were straight
now we're all going under
and so with sigh
we say good-bye
12. Last Man Standing
Now an unexpected peace comes to the day
as the howling din of fighting dies away
when the hanging dust is clearing from air
you begin to see a lonely figure there
he's the last man standing on the track
he does not look down he does not look back
he's the last man standing on the track
you can't hold him down you can't hold him back
the last man standing on the track
he does not look down he does not look back
he's the last man standing on the track
you can't hold him down you can't hold him back
he is sorry for wrong that he has done
and he's cries out for the anger borne so long
all the cuts and bruises suffered in who's name
but now is not the time to face his shame
he's the last man standing on the track
he does not look down he does not look back
he's the last man standing on the track
you can't hold him down you can't hold him back
the last man standing on the track
he does not look down he does not look back
he's the last man standing on the track
you can't hold him down you can't hold him back
FALLING DOWN CD single
(c) 2007 Epic Records / Sony Music • official release
FALLING DOWN will not be released as a physical single in the US.
The single will be released in Europe as a physical single on October 29th (Europe) and November 5th (UK).
FALLING DOWN:
01. Falling Down
01. Sunrise (live)
Single Release Dates:
Commercial:
Monday, Nov. 12 - UK
