| Rio | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Duran Duran | ||||||||||
| Released | 10 May 1982 7 September 2009 (Special Edition) |
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| Recorded | January–February 1982 at AIR Studios in London ("My Own Way" recorded at Townhouse Studios, London, October 1981) |
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| Genre | New Romantic, synthpop, Alternative Rock, dance rock[1] | |||||||||
| Length | 42:38 | |||||||||
| Label | EMI, Capitol | |||||||||
| Producer | Colin Thurston | |||||||||
| Duran Duran chronology | ||||||||||
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| Singles from Rio | ||||||||||
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Rio is the second studio album by the British rock band Duran Duran, originally released worldwide on 10 May 1982. It reached #2 in the UK and #1 in Australia.
The album was re-released in the United States in November 1982. It earned a Gold disc on 1 March 1983, and went Platinum on 26 April 1983, eventually reaching Double Platinum status. It peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 album chart in the US on 12 March 1983, and remained on the chart for 129 weeks.
Contents |
The first song to be recorded for Rio was "My Own Way", written and recorded in October 1981, and released as a single in November 1981. The rest of the album was recorded in the early months of 1982 at Air Studios in London, with producer and engineer Colin Thurston. "My Own Way" was re-recorded for the album and the newer version is significantly different from the 1981 single version.
The second single, "Hungry Like the Wolf", was released in the UK on 4 May 1982. It peaked at #5 in the charts on 26 June 1982.
The Rio album was first released worldwide on 10 May 1982, peaking at #2 in the UK in its second week of release. The image on the album's distinctive purple cover was painted by artist Patrick Nagel. The cover itself was designed by Malcolm Garrett.
The band had their own plans and ambitions for promotion. They reunited with director Russell Mulcahy (who had directed the music video for their first single, "Planet Earth"), and planned the release of a full length video album—eleven videos for the best songs off of the Duran Duran and Rio albums. The band travelled to Sri Lanka and Antigua between tour dates to film the memorable videos for the singles "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer", as well as the lesser-known "Lonely in Your Nightmare" and "Nightboat" — the latter video being a creepy zombiefest set on a deserted island.
While filming the videos, guitarist Andy Taylor contracted a tropical virus and was hospitalised on his return to England.[2] This forced the delay of the band's European tour, and the record company decided to hold the release of the third single until the band was ready to promote it again.
"Save a Prayer" was finally released on 9 August 1982, and peaked at #2 on the UK charts in mid September 1982.
The North American version was first released on Capitol's Harvest Records label and had the same songs and mixes as the UK version. Some fans claim that the U.S. edition suffered from rather poor sound quality, apparently due to differences in the mastering of the vinyl record. The first version of the album did not perform well on the U.S. Billboard chart.
Cassette version, was released with catalog number 4XT-12211 on XDR system.
Meanwhile, the band had worked with producer David Kershenbaum to create some new dance mixes for their twelve-inch club singles. In September, EMI collected the remixes and released them on an EP called Carnival. It included the songs "Rio", "Hold Back The Rain", "My Own Way", "Hungry Like The Wolf", and "New Religion", and was released in North America, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan.
Following the success of the Kershenbaum remixes, Capitol changed its marketing strategy on Duran Duran in the U.S. from a New Romantic band (something that was a British phenomenon) to a dance band. Frustrated with their lack of success in the U.S., the band capitalized on the moment and pressed Capitol to allow them to issue a remixed and remastered version of the Rio album in North America. The company agreed, and brought Kershenbaum back to remix more songs from the album.[3]
On 1 November 1982, the "Rio" single was released worldwide. It peaked at #9 in the UK in December 1982.
Capitol re-released the Rio album in the U.S., with Kershenbaum's new remixes on side one in November 1982. Differences in the songs on this second pressing (matrix #ST-1-12211-Z13-REI #1) are:
As the album began to take off, Capitol rushed a third pressing of the Rio album into stores, identical to the second, except that the Kershenbaum album remix of "Hungry Like the Wolf" was replaced with longer Kershenbaum "Night Version". The third pressing (matrix #ST-1-12211-Z16 #2) is much more common than the second.
These remixed "Night Versions" of "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Hold Back the Rain" were later released on CD on the Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran compilation in 1998, and "My Own Way" was released in the 2003 Singles Box Set 1981-1985.
On 3 December 1982, the Kershenbaum album remix was used for the "Hungry Like the Wolf" single. This was released in the US some six months after its initial UK release. The single included both the album version and the Carnival remix. It peaked at #3 in the US on 26 March 1983.
Part of the continued success of the album was due to the very popular videos, in heavy rotation on MTV. The video album Duran Duran was released (on VHS, Betamax, and laserdisc) to coincide with the North American re-issue of the "Rio" single on 11 March 1983, four months after its original release. This single included the Kershenbaum 7" remix of "Rio" and peaked at #14 in US on 14 May 1983.
The first pressing of 30,000 copies of the Japanese version of the LP (Toshiba/EMI EMS-91037) came with a colour poster. There is a notation on the OBI that mentions this. Later issues of the album have the notation on the OBI removed and contain only a lyric insert with a bio in Japanese and some photos.
The CD releases of the "Rio" album include an alternate version of "Hold Back the Rain" with added lyrics previously only available on the Night Version 12" remixes. The 2009 EMI Re-release restored the official UK version of the song, in which the lyrics are omitted. The lines in question are as follows:
People tell me I haven't change at all / But I don't feel the same /And I bet you've had that feeling, too / You can't laugh all the time [...] / So what if the words ain't rhyming? / Did you think that it's just a game? / I probably didn't even say that right / And I really don't give a damn
Until 2009, all official versions of the Rio album released on CD had been made from the original UK master tapes, and did not include any of the Kershenbaum remixes. This includes the release, in 2001, of a 20-year anniversary reissue, completely remastered from the original. The Kershenbaum remixes were included as part of a 2-CD set released in 2009.
The packaging on a limited edition version of this release (EMI; 529 9240/Capitol; 72435-25919-0-9) included an alternate version of the famous Nagel cover painting, submitted by the artist along with the first when he completed the commission (this image was first used for the Japanese 7" single of "My Own Way").
On 7 April 2009, Duran Duran's official website announced that Rio would be reissued as a 2 CD Special Edition on 7 September 2009 in the UK and 6 October 2009 in the US. This edition includes the album's original UK vinyl release tracks but adds substantially more to make this a definitive edition (including several tracks that have never been released in CD form as well as previously-released material from Singles Box Set 1981–1985). This issue reached #185 in the UK Albums Chart
All songs written and arranged by Duran Duran.
| CD One | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Rio" | 5:37 | |||||||
| 2. | "My Own Way" | 4:51 | |||||||
| 3. | "Lonely In Your Nightmare" | 3:51 | |||||||
| 4. | "Hungry Like The Wolf" | 3:41 | |||||||
| 5. | "Hold Back The Rain" | 4:00 | |||||||
| 6. | "New Religion" | 5:32 | |||||||
| 7. | "Last Chance On The Stairway" | 4:21 | |||||||
| 8. | "Save A Prayer" | 5:33 | |||||||
| 9. | "The Chauffeur" | 5:22 | |||||||
| 10. | "Rio (US album remix)" | 5:25 | |||||||
| 11. | "My Own Way (Carnival remix)" | 4:29 | |||||||
| 12. | "Lonely In Your Nightmare (US album remix)" | 4:52 | |||||||
| 13. | "Hungry Like The Wolf (US album remix)" | 4:03 | |||||||
| 14. | "Hold Back The Rain (US album remix)" | 6:31 | |||||||
CD 2:
| CD Two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Last Chance On The Stairway (The Manchester Square Demo)" | 5:04 | |||||||
| 2. | "My Own Way (The Manchester Square Demo)" | 4:39 | |||||||
| 3. | "New Religion (The Manchester Square Demo)" | 5:33 | |||||||
| 4. | "Like An Angel (The Manchester Square Demo)" | 5:03 | |||||||
| 5. | "My Own Way (original 7" version)" | 3:40 | |||||||
| 6. | "Like An Angel" | 4:43 | |||||||
| 7. | "Careless Memories (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon)" | 4:15 | |||||||
| 8. | "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver) (Early version)" | 3:54 | |||||||
| 9. | "My Own Way (Night version)" | 6:34 | |||||||
| 10. | "Hungry Like The Wolf (Night version)" | 5:12 | |||||||
| 11. | "Rio (Night version)" | 6:40 | |||||||
| 12. | "New Religion (Carnival remix)" | 5:15 | |||||||
| 13. | "Hold Back The Rain (Carnival remix)" | 7:01 | |||||||
| 14. | "My Own Way (Instrumental version)" | 6:35 | |||||||
| 15. | "Hold Back The Rain (Alternate remix)" | 6:41 | |||||||
This makes the remastered version available in iTunes, a 29 track-version.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Robert Christgau | (C-) link |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | 2 | |
| 1983 | Billboard 200 | 6 |
In 2000, Rio was ranked #98 in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums". In 2003, it was listed at #65 in the NME "100 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2004, CMJ ranked it as #1 in their "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982".
Rio became part of the Classic Albums series when released on DVD on 4 November 2008.
Rio ranked no. 95 of Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.[1]
The album is included in the book '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'. [2]
The Duran Duran Tribute Album, a 1997 collection of cover versions, included the following tracks from Rio:
Other covers include:
"The Chauffeur", by Louis Guidone
Alt-metal band Korn's vocalist Jonathan Davis performs "The Chauffeur" on his solo tour Alone, I Play Tour which began in November 2007. Davis has been vocal for years about his love for Duran Duran and cites "The Chauffeur" as his favourite Duran Duran song.
British dance act Shut Up And Dance's 1995 single "Save It 'Til the Mourning After" samples "Save a Prayer" whilst retaining its original chorus.
English band Arctic Monkeys makes a tribute to this song on the lyrics of their debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", saying on its pre-chorus Your name isn't Rio and I don't care for sand as opposite of the original songs chorus Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand. Also, in 2007, "Save a Prayer" was referenced in the lyrics of "Teddy Picker" from their album Favourite Worst Nightmare: "I don't want your prayer, save it for the morning after".
Also credited:
| Preceded by Time and Tide by Split Enz |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 5 July 1982 – 11 July 1982 |
Succeeded by Avalon by Roxy Music |