Duran Duran (commonly known as The Wedding Album[11]) is the seventh studio album and the second self-titled album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 15 February 1993 through Parlophone and Capitol Records.
As the 1990s progressed, the once-certain popularity that Duran Duran enjoyed in the 1980s began to fade. Many critics began to write them off as a throwback to the new wave era, with some declaring their career "over".[12][13][14] During this period, the band found themselves struggling to adjust to the evolving music scene, which was being shaped by the rise of genres like hip hop, techno, and alternative rock. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes said in a 2013 retrospective piece:[15]
The '80s had ended and a lot of people wanted to lock the door and close Duran Duran in that decade, too, I think. At the end of the '80s, music changed considerably. We had grunge, techno and rave culture, which left us in a place where we felt we had to make ourselves relevant to the times. We weren't about to make a grunge or techno album, but we had our songwriting. We very much went back to basics.
Following the release of their studio album Liberty in 1990, Duran Duran faced worsening financial difficulties.[16] This was primarily attributed to poor album sales, lack of touring to promote Liberty, and excessive spending.[17][18] The album saw limited commercial success, peaking at number 46 in the US.[19] The singles "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" and "Serious" achieved only moderate to low success on the US and UK charts.[18] Despite reaching number eight in the UK, it wasn't enough to convince Capitol or EMI, Duran Duran's record labels, that the band was on the right track.[20] Nonetheless, Capitol did not completely abandon them, agreeing to provide financial support for a new album under strict supervision.
The band ultimately chose to self-title the album after describing themselves as having to go "back to the basics".[15] After its publication, the album became known alternatively as The Wedding Album, inspired by the album's cover art and to distinguish it from the band's 1981 album.[12]
British visual design artist Nick Egan collaborated with bassist John Taylor and graphic designer Eric Roinestad to create the album cover for Duran Duran.[15] Egan's design was a departure from most of the band's previous album covers, which typically involved an expensive album cover photoshoot.[15] Instead, Egan opted for a more unique approach by creating a collage using wedding photos of the band members' parents, suggested by John Taylor.[15] The inspiration behind the collage came from American graphic artist Robert Rauschenberg, renowned for his influence on the pop art movement.[15] Egan aimed to capture the essence of Rauschenberg's collages, which he describes as having "seemingly random images [laid] on top of each other with the faintest hint of off-register color as if the whole thing were screen-printed".[15] Additionally, the lettering for the album's liner notes was created using embossing tape from a Dymolabel printer and grease pencil writing on masking tape, adding to the do-it-yourself concept Egan envisioned.[15]
Before they met, Taylor was looking for an artist to design the band's new album cover.[15] He mentioned to American actor Billy Zane, who happened to be visiting London at the time, that he was interested in having Nick Egan create the artwork.[15] To Taylor's surprise, Zane revealed that he was good friends with Egan, and that he was also in London.[15] Taylor shortly reached out to Egan, and within hours arranged a meeting at Taylor's residence to discuss the band's vision for the album cover.[15]
Recording of the album was completed in early 1992, with a planned mid-year release by Capitol Records in the United States.[11] However, Duran Duran's new management company, Left Bank, was distressed at the label's apparent lack of enthusiasm for the promotion of the album, and had it temporarily pulled from the release schedule. Left Bank manager Tommy Manzi told HitQuarters that this was due to industry resistance to the revival of the band, who he said would rather focus on "the next hip band".[13] Manzi said that industry insiders "laughed at" Left Bank while they worked on reviving the careers of not only Duran Duran but also Meat Loaf.[13] The album was subsequently shelved, and scheduled for release at some point in 1993.
During this hiatus, the remaining members of Duran Duran found themselves at a creative crossroads. John Taylor returned to his wife in Los Angeles, while Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Warren Cuccurullo began working on cover songs for what would later become the Thank You album. The unexpected leak of their song "Ordinary World" to radio stations in Jacksonville, Florida caught the band off guard.[12][14][21] Speculation arose that their own record label had intentionally leaked the track to gauge public interest, as Duran Duran had seen a decline in popularity after a decade of chart success.[12][21] To their surprise, "Ordinary World" received positive reception from listeners and was a hit at radio stations, sparking a renewed interest in the band's music.[12][14] The positive feedback led to Capitol Records advancing the song's release as a single.[12] "Ordinary World" was officially released as a single on 19 December 1992[22] by Capitol Records and made its debut on record charts the following year, reaching number six in the UK[23] and number three in the US.[24]
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