An early version of "The Chauffeur" was also taped with German sound engineer Renate Blauel. Dissatisfied with this version, the band rerecorded the song during the official sessions. This version of "My Own Way" was dance-inspired and featured bursts of electric guitar, a different bass line and pattering percussion. According to bassist John Taylor, the demo of "Last Chance on the Stairway" was identical to the final album version, while "My Own Way" and "New Religion" both had different arrangements. On 28 August 1981, Duran Duran recorded demos of several songs that would appear on their next album, including "Last Chance on the Stairway", " My Own Way", "New Religion" and "Like an Angel", at the basement studio of EMI's Manchester Square building.
We'd already moved on, and we'd got some songs that we thought were as good, if not better, than some of the songs on the first album already. When we went into the rest of the writing to prepare the Rio album, we hadn't really had time to think about the success that we'd achieved with the first album. Feeling pressure in England, the band briefly withdrew to a secluded chateau in France to continue writing.
Like their debut album, the band spent time writing at the Rum Runner in Birmingham-their resident nightclub-as according to Rhodes, "We didn't have very big budgets, we were on time constraints, and we felt that that was the best way to develop our songwriting." Nevertheless, the band's label, EMI, doubled their budget for the second album. Around July, their management instructed them to start writing songs for their second studio album. With the album, Duran Duran had established themselves as one of the biggest new pop groups of 1981. Aided by the LP's highly successful third single " Girls on Film", the album peaked at number three in the UK and remained in the charts for over two years. It has since made appearances on best-of lists and has been reissued several times.ĭuran Duran released their self-titled debut album in June 1981. With the album, Duran Duran were forerunners in the Second British Invasion of the 1980s, helping ensure the success of other English artists throughout the decade. Nevertheless, retrospective reviewers consider Rio Duran Duran's best work and praise its timelessness, instrumentation and band performances. The band toured the US and Europe throughout the latter half of 1982.ĭespite its commercial success, Rio initially received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who commended the melodies but were mostly distasteful towards the lyrics. Initially unsuccessful in the United States, the album was remixed, as commisioned by Capitol Records, to better match American radio at the time the remixed album spent 129 weeks on the Billboard chart and peaked at number six. Accompanied by three worldwide hit singles, Rio peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and remained in the chart for 110 weeks. The cover artwork, painted by Patrick Nagel and designed by Malcolm Garrett to resemble 1950s cigar packaging, is considered one of the greatest of all time.ĭuran Duran shot music videos for many of the tracks, all of which helped spearhead the 1980s MTV revolution. Bassist John Taylor conceived the album title, which the band felt represented the optimistic and exotic tone of the album. Singer Simon Le Bon's obtuse lyrics cover topics from chasing one's dreams to pursuing a love interest. Andy Hamilton played a saxophone solo on " Rio".Ī new wave album with musical elements ranging from dance to synth-pop, Rio is mostly composed of fast, upbeat numbers, along with a couple slower synthesiser-based ballads. The band utilised more experimentation compared to the debut, from vibraphone and marimba to the sound of a cigarette being lit and cracking ice cubes. Colin Thurston returned from their 1981 self-titled debut album as producer. The band wrote and demoed most of the material before recording the album at AIR Studios in London from January to March 1982.
Rio is the second studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on through EMI.
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