So Red the Rose

So Red the Rose is the platinum-selling album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, which was released in 1985 — the only album the band ever released. It included the singles "Election Day", "Goodbye is Forever" and "The Flame".

There were many musical guests on the album, including David Gilmour, Herbie Hancock, Grace Jones, and Sting (who provided backing vocals on "The Promise").

Musically, the album was a more lush, ambient affair than the previous output of Duran Duran. The songs explored new sonic spaces and a number of the tracks were quite lengthy.

The album's artwork featured painted ink drawings inspired by the sketches of Jean Cocteau as well as an innovative "light space" photograph of the band by Dean Chamberlain, who also directed the video for the song, "Missing".

Box sets

As part of EMI's massive Duran Duran reissue plans, a jewel case 3 disc (2CD, 1 DVD) boxset of So Red the Rose was released 12 April 2010. It included the entire album, single mixes, the b-sides "She's Moody and Grey, She's Mean and She's Restless" and "Flame Game (Yo Homeboy Mix)", four versions of non-album track "Say The Word" (a track specially commissioned for the soundtrack of Playing for Keeps), and an unreleased instrumental mix of "The Promise". The DVD contains the original 1987 video release Arcadia.

But in 2008 a previously existing, more complete LIMITED EDITION for Japan fan club (23-track digitally) was remastered into 6 CD single set, comprising all the singles ever released for the Arcadia project ('So Red the Rose' album LP), also including 'Say The Word'. The packaging is a 'so red the velvet', faithfully replicating the original single sleeve artwork, plus 8-page fold-out picture booklet of lyrics and biography.

Encrypted messages

Some versions of the album and related singles contained a numeric code in their artwork, this code allocated random numbers to letters. The numbers on the cover say "So Red the Rose" and then the surnames of the band members being "Rhodes, Le Bon and Taylor (as in Roger Taylor)".

The album title is almost (but not quite) palindromic, whether by accident or design. Reading backwards from the "s" in Rose, and swapping the "d" and "h" creates the palindrome.

Track listing

1985 Original Release

• All Songs Written By LeBon-Rhodes-Taylor, except where noted.

1. "Election Day" - 5:29
2. "Keep Me in the Dark" - 4:31
3. "Goodbye Is Forever" - 3:49
4. "The Flame" - 4:23
5. "Missing" - 3:40 (LeBon, Rhodes)
6. "Rose Arcana" - 0:51 (LeBon, Rhodes)
7. "The Promise" - 7:30
8. "El Diablo" - 6:05
9. "Lady Ice" - 7:32 (LeBon, Rhodes)

2010 Reissue

CD1

1. "Election Day" - 5:29
2. "Keep Me in the Dark" - 4:31
3. "Goodbye Is Forever" - 3:49
4. "The Flame" - 4:23
5. "Missing" - 3:40 (LeBon, Rhodes)
6. "Rose Arcana" - 0:51 (LeBon, Rhodes)
7. "The Promise" - 7:30
8. "El Diablo" - 6:05
9. "Lady Ice" - 7:32 (LeBon, Rhodes)
10. "Say The Word (7" edit)" - 4:30 (LeBon, Rhodes)
11. "Election Day (Single Version)" - 4:31
12. "Goodbye Is Forever (Single Mix)" - 4:17
13. "The Promise (7" Mix)" - 4:46
14. "The Flame (7" Remix)" - 4:06
15. "Say The Word" - 5:08
16. "She's Moody And Grey She's Mean And Restless" - 4:29

CD2

1. "Election Day (Consensus mix)" - 8:39
2. "Goodbye Is Forever (12" Extended Mix)" - 6:45
3. "The Promise (Instrumental)" - 5:44
4. "Rose Arcana" - 5:33
5. "The Flame (Extended Remix)" - 7:17
6. "Say The Word (Extended Vocal Remix)" - 6:33
7. "Election Day (Cryptic Cut)" - 9:09
8. "The Promise (12" Mix)" - 7:06
9. "Goodbye Is Forever (Dub Mix)" - 5:15
10. "Say The Word (Extended Instrumental Remix)" - 5:48
11. "Election Day (Early Rough Mix)" - 9:04
12. "Flame Game (Yo Homeboy Mix)" - 2:51
13. "Election Day (Cryptic Cut No Voice Mix)" - 8:28

DVD

1. "Introduction"
2. "Filming Election Day"
3. "Election Day"
4. "Filming The Promise"
5. "The Promise"
6. "Filming Goodbye Is Forever"
7. "Goodbye Is Forever"
8. "Filming The Flame"
9. "The Flame"
10. "Filming Missing"
11. "Missing"
12. "Credits"

Singles

1. "Election Day" (October 1985)
2. "Goodbye Is Forever" (January 1986)
3. "The Promise" (January 1986)
4. "The Flame" (July 1986)

Personnel

Arcadia

• Simon Le Bon: vocals
• Nick Rhodes: keyboards
• Roger Taylor: drums

Additional musicians

• Additional vocals: Sting, Grace Jones
• Guitars: Carlos Alomar, David Gilmour
• Additional keyboards: Herbie Hancock
• Saxophone: Andy Mackay
• Bass: Mark Egan
• Additional Drums and Percussion: David Van Tieghem, Rafael DeJesus, Steve Jordan
• Drum Programming: Wendel Jr.
• Harp: Jean-Claude Dubois
• Violin: Masami Tsuchiya, Pierre Defay

Production

• Produced By Alex Sadkin & Arcadia
• Recorded By Larry Alexander; assisted by Phillippe Lafont
• Engineered By Larry Alexander
• Mixed By Larry Alexander, Phil Burnett, Nick Delre, Billy Miranda & Ron Saint-Germain
• Mastered By Bob Ludwig

External links

• "So Red the Rose" at allmusic
• "So Red the Rose" at discogs