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''Reportage'' is the working title of an unfinished album that English
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
band
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...
wrote and recorded as the intended follow-up to their 2004 reunion album ''
Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
''. After the departure of original guitarist Andy Taylor in 2006, the band decided to start anew with a new batch of songs that became 2007's ''
Red Carpet Massacre ''Red Carpet Massacre'' is the twelfth studio album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 13 November 2007 by Epic Records. Most of the music on the final incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 following the departur ...
''.


The making of ''Reportage''

In Andy Taylor's 2008 autobiography, ''Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran'', he revealed that the band had originally been offered the opportunity to record their next album "aboard a 450 millionsuperyacht owned by
Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...
... but sadly the plan fell through at the last minute due to the boat becoming unavailable." Instead they began with three weeks of self-produced recording sessions at
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
's Tiburon mansion in September 2005.YouTube video: Duran Duran - Reportage
/ref> They moved the recording sessions to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in October, where they continued working on the album until April 2006 with
Michael Patterson Michael Patterson may refer to: * Michael Patterson (animator), American director and animator, creator of MC Skat Kat * Michael Patterson (English footballer) (1905 – after 1931) * Michael Patterson (Australian footballer) (1941–2002), AFL play ...
as engineer and co-producer. In March, drummer Roger Taylor commented that "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." Bassist
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar is the name of: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) ...
discussed the circumstances behind ''Reportage'' during a 2007
XM Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable t ...
Artist Confidential Session: "We'd been on the road with the reunion tour for a couple of years and we were feeling pretty confident. We felt that we'd found ourselves again as musicians, so we were quite excited to come off the road and start writing and recording straight away. Our confidence was such
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
we felt we didn't need a producer, we could make all the decisions ourselves, so we wrote songs quite quickly and really felt that we had an album." According to Andy, John was taking charge of the sessions: "We did some more recording in February 2006, and this time John seemed more determined than ever to take on the role of producer." Following sessions at London's Sphere Studios, they submitted a rough mix of the album to their record label
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
in May 2006, but it was rejected for not having an obvious lead single. According to John, "I guess we'd worked on it for about six months, we got a title ''Reportage'' and we kind of had a cover and we presented it to the label. They said they heard the second single and the third single but not the first single, so they suggested could we perhaps go and cut a couple of songs with a producer—maybe something a little bit more commercial." According to Andy, the band met with producer
Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
in June and discussed working with him at his studio in Spain that autumn to "work out which bits were the most important and how to make all the various components work together as a whole." They also made plans to record a few potential singles with
Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...
in October. The band and Timbaland had previously met and expressed their desire to work together.


Timbaland sessions and second split with Andy Taylor

The Timbaland sessions were advanced to September to allow for the participation of
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
. They both joined the band along with Nate "Danja" Hills at Manhattan Center Studios in New York City for writing and recording sessions, but Andy didn't appear. After a month of fan speculation, on 26 October 2006, Duran Duran announced that "As of last weekend, the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together. Although obviously disappointed and saddened about this, we are excited about the next chapter of the Duran Duran story and look forward to seeing you all soon.". One week later, before a concert in
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
, John went on to suggest that the split had been coming for some time: "We've not really been on the same page for a while. And it's been getting very testy most of this year, actually. And there's just been a break coming. We've had different aims, different considerations, different loyalties. (...) And life goes on. Four out of the five of us have rediscovered each other, and realized that we're the best friends we've ever had. And we're enormously grateful to have each other in our lives. And there's nobody I'd rather make music with, and I can say the same for the other three. I don't think I could say that for Andy." Andy later wrote in his autobiography that there had been "pressure building up" between the band members, a "lack of clear direction" during the sessions, and that the music had been prematurely submitted to Sony in his opinion: "the album needed more work" he wrote, although he had "played enough guitar parts for about three albums". Andy attributed the cause of his departure to a combination of "constant arguments within the band", clinical depression brought on by his father's recent death, and "administrative failures by the band's management" in neglecting to renew his US work visa, leaving him feeling "as if I'd been trapped on a derailed runaway train." The band initially planned to incorporate the new Timbaland-produced songs into ''Reportage''. A December 2006 ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' article claimed that "the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2004's ''Astronaut'' would also feature the reggae-tinged '48 Hours Later' and 'Transcendental Mental,' which ickRhodes says takes aim at 'new-age frauds. It's one of the funniest lyrics Simon has written in many years.'... Asked if the disparate sounds of he Timbaland trackscompared to the album's more guitar-driven songs may be jarring to the listener, Rhodes says, 'With hose cuts you can tell there was another hand in them for sure. Although they are a slight change of direction in that some of the others are a bit more guitar-heavy or indie-sounding, Simon is the glue that holds them all together.'"


''Red Carpet Massacre''

After parting ways with their guitarist the band soon decided to abandon all of the ''Reportage'' songs, cancel the Youth sessions, and further explore their new musical direction with Dom Brown on guitar and Danja producing and co-writing. John was quoted as saying, "we were kind of coming to the decision that we were going to let go of all of this music, and we were going to let go of songs that we had been working on for months and months. But there was such a thing that we were moving forward, that we were creating this new identity." As Rhodes commented later, "Our sound exploded with pop culture's brightest flowers (...) The vision became clear". Duran Duran wrote and recorded three songs with Timbaland, and they became the starting core of an entirely new album titled ''Red Carpet Massacre''. Completed with the help of Hills,
Jimmy Douglass Jimmy Douglass, also known as "The Senator", is an American recording engineer and record producer. Active since 1970, he has been credited on singles and albums for fellow Virginia-based acts including Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Career In ...
and Timberlake, and anticipated by the "
Falling Down ''Falling Down'' is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Ebbe Roe Smith, and starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall. Set in Los Angeles, the film tells the story of William Foster, a disgruntled, une ...
" single, ''Red Carpet Massacre'' was released on 19 November 2007 to mixed reviews and disappointing sales (it peaked at #44 on the UK album chart compared to the #3 peak position of ''
Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
''). As a result, the band broke ties with
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
and its parent company Sony. In a 2011 interview for the release of their album ''
All You Need Is Now ''All You Need Is Now'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran. Produced by Mark Ronson, a truncated version of the album was released digitally on 21 December 2010. A physical package was released on 21 March 20 ...
'', Rhodes and John commented on the ''Reportage'' / ''Red Carpet Massacre'' days. According to John, "That whole project was a fucking nightmare. We delivered an album to Sony that was a natural-sounding, almost rock album, and they were like 'We need something a bit pop, do you fancy doing a couple of tracks with Timbaland?' And around the same time we fell out with Andy, so the Timbaland stuff sounded hugely different from what we'd done before." Rhodes expanded: "The thing was, we got an opportunity to work with Timbaland, so we thought 'Great, let's go for it.' We knew it was a risk in terms of what the fans would like, if you're working with someone who is ostensibly an electro/hip hop producer. When Timbaland saw the guitar and the bass and the drums come in to the studio, I think he was mortified, because everything's in a box for those guys. But I'm really glad we made that album, because in time I think it will stand up."Boys On Film: Duran Duran Interviewed
/ref>


Songs recorded for ''Reportage''

Keyboardist Nick Rhodes described the album's edgy sound in an interview with '' Details'' magazine: "It was a very angry record for Duran Duran, quite political. We've always reflected what's around us; it's just that we always tried to pick the more uplifting subjects. But there was so much doom and gloom and horror that it had got pretty deep under our skin. There's one track on there called 'Criminals in the Capital', about our dueling leaders on both sides of the Atlantic... there was one song about a fighter pilot in the
raq Raq may refer to: Aviation *No. 610 Squadron RAF (codename RAQ), British Royal Air Force * Rath Aviation (ICAO airline code code: RAQ), see List of airline codes (R) * Sugimanuru Airport (IATA airport code: RAQ), Raha, Muna, Southeast Sulawesi, ...
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
. There's another song, one of my favourites on the record, actually, about the decay of the world and how we're all ignoring it—a song of desperation." Singer
Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is an English singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the Briti ...
said of the album in 2011: "I would be failing in my duty if I didn't get at least the song '48 Hours Later', which is sublime. It's one of the best Duran Duran songs I've ever heard. And it would work well with what we're doing now. You could easily have it on ''All You Need Is Now''. There's another one called 'Transcendental Mental' which sounds great. There's another called 'Traumatized' which lyrically isn't as strong, but the melody is great." He also mentioned a song with the working title of 'Nobody' in a September 2005 interview on YouTube: "We wanted to recapture the rawness and energy of our first album and I think we've got it with songs like 'Traumatized' and 'Nobody', which are working titles obviously." John commented on a song called "Under the Wire" in April 2006:
We have been working on around fifteen songs over the last couple of months... We're mixing today, a song for the new album. It's a noisy one, quite aggressive in places, and Mike Patterson our engineer/co-producer is working several knobs at once so that Simon sounds just the right mixture of nasty and cool. It's new territory for us, this song. It's about alienation...or is it? I have to be careful making assumptions about Simon's lyrics. The chorus line, 'We go under the wire, we go in under fire.' But this war zone is domestic, a council estate.
He also mentioned the songs "Angel Fire" and "Criminals in the Capitol" during the band's 2007 XM Radio session: "we were writing songs about the stuff that was on the television, the stuff that was in the newspapers—there was a song called 'Criminals in the Capitol', there was a song called 'Angel Fire'." Information on another song was provided by the Duranasty news site: "There is one song of ''Reportage'' called 'Judy, Where Are You'. Nick told me that the song is about their friend in New Orleans who went missing after
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
. Nick said it's a beautiful song and has got
Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
influence." Additionally, the song titles 'Naomi Tonight' and 'You Ain't Foolin' No One' were revealed by music industry insiders on the Velvet Rope message board. Both song titles have also been registered by the band with
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
. These are the working song titles that have been identified by band members and music industry sources as being part of the ''Reportage'' project before it was abandoned: * "Criminals in the Capitol" * "48 Hours Later" * "Transcendental Mental" * "Traumatized" * "Angel Fire" * "Under the Wire" * "Judy, Where Are You?" * "Naomi Tonight" * "You Ain't Foolin' No One" All of the above song titles are registered with
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
. "Criminals in the Capital" was registered as "Criminals in the ''Capitol''", "Traumatized" was registered with the American spelling and "Judy, Where Are You?" was registered as "Judy". The song mentioned by Le Bon as having the working title "Nobody" is likely the same song that was registered with ASCAP as "You Ain't Foolin' No One". Additional working song titles have also been confirmed with ASCAP's ACE Title Search engine: * "Cathedral" * "Faster" * "Finally" * "Lions and Wolves" * "Midnight City" * "Under Snow" The title "City" was also registered prior to "Midnight City". All of these song titles can be confirmed as originating from the ''Reportage'' sessions based on their ASCAP songwriting credits and assigned Work ID number sequences.


The future of ''Reportage''

Although John Taylor called it "our misunderstood masterpiece", ''Reportage'' has not been released, and none of its songs have been performed live. No recordings are known to have leaked, aside from a few brief studio session clips that were posted online.YouTube video: Simon Le Bon Talking About Reportage 2005
/ref> The members of Duran Duran have discussed eventual plans for ''Reportage''. According to Rhodes, the group hopes to release it someday: "We want it to come out one day, it's a really interesting record... more of an edgy, indie rock album, obviously going back to our earlier roots. There are a lot of songs I'm very proud of that I'd like people to hear." As part of their deal with new record label
BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...
, Duran Duran hope to release ''Reportage''. Rhodes told ''Classic Pop'' magazine in 2021: "It's in pretty decent shape overall, we'd need three weeks to finish it... I'd no objection if Andy
aylor Aylor may refer to: * Aylor, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Mark Aylor (born 1978), American former rugby union flanker * J.M. Aylor House, a historic house in Hebron, Kentucky, United States See also

* Ayler {{disam ...
wanted to do some tweaks." Further, in a YouTube live stream interview entitled 'Duran Duran's Premium Afterparty' with Rhodes on 29 November 2023, as part of the music video premiere for the ''
Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...
'' track "Black Moonlight",
lack Moonlight, Official Video
Rhodes reiterated—upon a recent review of the album and the return of all of the band's members—that ''Reportage'' could be their next project. Simon Le Bon recently mentioned in a BBC radio show that he guest presented the band's plans in 2025 which involved a European Tour and working on the unreleased 2006 reportage album which was currently unfinished.


References

{{Duran Duran Duran Duran albums Unreleased albums Unfinished albums