Red Carpet Massacre
Album by Duran Duran
Released	November 13 2007
Recorded	2006/2007
Genre	New Wave, rock, synth pop, alternative rock
Length	49:13
Label	Epic Records
Producer(s)	Duran Duran Danja Timbaland Justin Timberlake
Duran Duran chronology
Astronaut (2004) Red Carpet Massacre (2007)

Red Carpet Massacre is a Duran Duran studio album, released on November 13, 2007 in the USA and November 19 in Europe.

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

Early sessionsEdit

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.

The record was provisionally titled Reportage and was 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.

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. 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 "Zoom In"." Also mentioned were two other tracks; "48 Hours Later" and "Transcendental Mental".

Remaking the albumEdit

After Andy Taylor departed from Duran Duran, the band decided to rewrite the whole album. Fourteen 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 that month Le Bon was still touting it as the probable first single in a post to the band's official website. 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 London concert . They completed one more recording session in New York and then returned to London to put the finishing touches on Red Carpet Massacre.

Track listingEdit

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

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

Bonus Tracks: Edit

1. "Cry Baby Cry" – 3:57
2. "Nite-Runner (Live)" – 4:05
3. "Red Carpet Massacre (Live)" – 3:09

Delux Edition DVD Edit

consists of videos showing the making of the album.

1. "The Artwork" "
2. "The Album"
3. "The Video" - the making of the "Falling Down" music video
4. "The Campaign"
5. "The Out-Takes"

PersonnelEdit

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - Vocals
• John Taylor - Bass
• Nick Rhodes - Keyboards
• Roger Taylor - Drums

With:

• Dominic Brown - Guitar
• Simon Willescroft - Saxophone (track 11)
• Marcella Araica - Additional Programming (track 1)
• Terri Walker - Additional Vocals (track 6)
• Jim Beanz - Additional Vocals (tracks 3 & 10)
• Justin Timberlake - Additional Vocals (tracks 3 & 4)
• Timbaland - Additional Vocals (tracks 3 & 6)

Production:

• Engineer - Jimmy Douglass (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 12), Marcella Araica (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10 to 12)
• Executive Producer - Paul Adams, Wendy Laister
• Mastered by - Vlado Meller
• Mastered by (assistant) - Mark Santangelo
• Mixed by - Jean-Marie Horvat (tracks: 3 to 5, 11), Jimmy Douglass (tracks: 1, 2, 6 to 10, 12)
• Mixed by (Mix Prep) - Colin Miller (tracks: 3 to 5, 11)
• Producer - Duran Duran (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 12), Jimmy Douglass (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10 to 12), Floyd Nathaniel Hills (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 12)
• Producer (vocal production) - Jim Beanz (tracks: 5, 9 to 12)
• Technician (studio assistant) - Darren Moore, Graham Archer, Jammeel Davis Jones, Joshua Blair, Karen Leite, Neil Tucker, Rohan Onraet, Zach McNees
• Art design: Patty Palazzo, John Taylor
• Cover photography by Nick Rhodes
• Band and paparazzi photography by Kristin Burns
• On the cover: Ann Stupak. Inside: Natasha Belova, Irena Artemova, Masha Stupak