Won’t Cry for Yesterday: Duran Duran’s Mid-’90s Albums Re-Appear on Vinyl for the First Time in Decades
Ever since EMI – yes, before their assets were divided between Universal and Warner Music Groups – expanded the Duran Duran catalogue with deluxe reissues in 2009 and 2010, fans have hoped that the shepherd of their most prominent major label material (now Parlophone, through Warner) would complete the campaign with reissues of the band’s last three albums originally released through Parlophone/Capitol. That day has finally (sort of) come with long-requested vinyl editions of two of those mid-’90s albums.
Parlophone will reissue 1993’s Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) and 1995 follow-up Thank You as 2LP sets and new CD pressings on April 10. It’s the first time either have been available on vinyl since their original, extremely limited quantities, with the nearly hourlong Thank You originally crammed onto one disc. There are, however, no deluxe editions yet scheduled, nor have mastering credits been confirmed. Still, it’s a magnifying glass held back up to a lively and unexpected time in the long-running Birmingham band’s more than 45-year history.
As the ’90s dawned, Duran found themselves somewhat stymied even before popular music started fully moving in new directions, from alternative rock to hip-hop. 1990’s Liberty was their first as a quintet in years, with key members Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (bass) officially joined by longtime touring musician/ex-Frank Zappa and Missing Persons associate Warren Cuccurullo on guitar and touring drummer Sterling Campbell. Unfortunately, the decision to record straight off of a tour and mounting personal issues (Taylor’s drug habits, by his own admission, cloud his recollections of even working on the album) led to less-than-inspired material and a considerable commercial dropoff. With Campbell making an exit after Liberty‘s release (he’d go on to tour with David Bowie), the quartet retreated to England to focus on something different. What emerged was an album unlike any in their catalogue, demoed in Cuccurullo’s home studio and created from rawer takes with eventual producer John Jones. Stylistically, the set was all over the map, combining new directions in dance music (“Drowning Man”), pulsating mid-tempo grooves (“Come Undone,” “Love Voodoo,” a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale”), upbeat rock (“Too Much Information”) and shimmering Latin-tinged surprises (“Breath After Breath,” featuring vocals by Brazilian vocalist Milton Nascimiento.
Then, of course, there was the album’s unexpected highlight: Le Bon, continually working through the death of his friend David Miles (a topic first obliquely addressed on 1988’s “Do You Believe in Shame”), wrote a set of mellow, contemplative lyrics to match an acoustic groove of Cuccurullo’s. The result was “Ordinary World,” a single that turned so many heads after an unexpected leak that Parlophone rush-released it just before the end of 1992. “Ordinary World” was an unexpected sensation, peaking in the U.S. at No. 3 and the U.K. at No. 6; it was their first Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic since 1986’s “Notorious.” Duran further defied expectations when “Come Undone” peaked in the States at No. 7 – the first time the band scored multiple Top 10s off one album since Seven and the Ragged Tiger during the band’s peak commercial heyday in 1983-1984. The album, technically self-titled like their 1981 debut but colloquially known as The Wedding Album due to its cover art featuring photos from the band members’ parents’ weddings, reached the Top 10 in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Italy, receiving a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. The group embarked on a unique acoustic tour, which included a performance on MTV Unplugged that remains a fan favorite.
Hot off The Wedding Album‘s unexpected success, Duran Duran continued to defy expectations, reconvening with John Jones for a series of sessions of cover tracks of artists the band found inspiring. The candidates were unexpected, mixing familiar rock icons (Led Zeppelin’s title track, The Doors’ “Crystal Ship,” Iggy Pop’s “Success,” Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”) with takes on Bob Dylan (“Lay Lady Lay”), Sly and The Family Stone (“I Want to Take You Higher”), The Temptations (“Ball of Confusion”) and even hip-hop acts (Melle Mel’s “White Lines,” a version of Public Enemy’s “911 is a Joke” that sounded like a Beck B-side). Despite the pedigree of both “Perfect Day” (cited by Reed as one of his favorite interpretations of his work) and “White Lines” (which featured guest turns by both Melle Mel and even turntable scratches from his old partner Grandmaster Flash) – and even a surprise return from former drummer Roger Taylor on two tracks – fans and critics were stymied.
Though hardly deserving of its harshest critical brickbats, Thank You halted the unexpected momentum of The Wedding Album and pushed the band into a lengthy period of transition. (Taylor left midway through production on 1997 follow-up Medazzaland, which Parlophone declined to release in the band’s native England, and morale was at a low ebb until the early ’00s reunion of the classic quintet lineup from decades past.) True to form, though, Duran remain unfazed by the cool-off; “White Lines” is still a frequent number in their live sets, and there were shades of Thank You‘s interpretative spirit in 2023’s Danse Macabre, which combined original material and re-interpretations of deep cuts with covers of The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Siouxsie and The Banshees and Billie Eilish. (For the first time in decades and the first time on one album, both classic Duran guitarists – Andy Taylor and Cuccurullo – contributed to the release, and it’s believed that Taylor has also worked on completing Reportage, the shelved 2006 album that was to be their second since reuniting, for a prospective future release.)
Both straight reissues on each format will be available on April 10; they can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)
Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) (originally released as Parlophone CDDDB 34 (U.K.)/Capitol CDP 07777 98876 2 0 (U.S.), 1993 – reissued Parlophone, 2026)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Too Much Information
- Ordinary World
- Love Voodoo
- Drowning Man
- Shotgun
- Come Undone
- Breath After Breath
- UMF
- Femme Fatale
- None of the Above
- Shelter
- To Whom It May Concern
- Sin of the City
Thank You (originally released as Parlophone CDDDB 36 (U.K.)/Capitol CDP 72438 29419 2 7 (U.S.), 1995)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- White Lines
- I Wanna Take You Higher
- Perfect Day
- Watching the Detectives
- Lay Lady Lay
- 911 is a Joke
- Success
- Crystal Ship
- Ball of Confusion
- Thank You
- Drive By
- I Wanna Take You Higher Again
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Bought both of these when they were new in the 90s. Personally I have no need for the vinyl but for those fans that do it’s great that these are re-issued like this. But it is amazing that they’ve continued to play White Lines at nearly every concert for 30 YEARS while ignoring some of their own classics like Union Of The Snake or Skin Trade. They must really enjoy playing it.