2015 studio album by Duran Duran
Paper Gods
Standard and deluxe edition cover
[a] Released 11 September 2015 Studio
Genre
Length 57 :21
Label
Warner Bros.
Producer
"Pressure Off" Released: 19 June 2015
"Last Night in the City" Released: 10 March 2017
[1]
Paper Gods is the fourteenth studio album by English
rock band
Duran Duran , released on 11 September 2015 by
Warner Bros. Records . The album was produced by
Mr Hudson and Joshua Blair, who had worked with the band on
All You Need Is Now (2010) and
A Diamond in the Mind: Live 2011 (2012);
Nile Rodgers , who had previously first worked on the band's "The Reflex", his remixed version reaching number one, "
The Wild Boys " single and
Notorious album; and
Mark Ronson , who produced All You Need Is Now . The first single, "Pressure Off", features vocals from American singer
Janelle Monáe .
[13] The album was supported by the Paper Gods on Tour.
Release
The album cover, designed by artist
Alex Israel , consists of his 2013 painting titled "Sky Backdrop"
[14] that features icons that represent the band's history. This includes lips and the eye painted by artist
Patrick Nagel for their
Rio album;
[15] also representing the Rio album is a chauffeur's cap alluding to that record's closing track "The Chauffeur"; a pink telephone, champagne glass and the saxophone representing the single "
Rio "; a sumo wrestler representing their controversial video for "
Girls on Film "; Duran Duran's teeth are shown to be from "
The Wild Boys "; the
Eiffel Tower is a reference to the title song from the film
A View to a Kill ; a rocket from the greatest hits album,
Decade ; a silhouette of a female representing the single "
Skin Trade ";
[16] an image of a tiger and a snake nodding to their third album
Seven and the Ragged Tiger ; a white shoe from the single cover and the music video of "
Come Undone "; a stylized ice cream cone taken from their "
Perfect Day " single.
[13]
[17] The deluxe physical copy of the record comes with sixteen stickers of Duran Duran iconography to mirror the album cover.
[18]
Promotion
The band announced a tour of the United States and the United Kingdom to coincide with the album's release.
[19]
The
lead single from the album, "Pressure Off", was released in the United States on 19 June, first via
Microsoft 's
Xbox Music .
[20] The song subsequently appeared on
Google Music .
[21]
Commercial performance
The album entered the
UK Albums Chart at number five, becoming the band's ninth top-five album overall and making them one of only a handful of bands who have scored top-five albums in four consecutive decades. In the United States, it entered the
Billboard 200 at number 10 and became their first top-10 album since
Duran Duran (1993). In its second week, the album fell to number 76, and in its third and final week fell to number 194, though it re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 45 in January 2016. In Italy, the album peaked at number two.
Track listing
All tracks are written by
John Taylor ,
Roger Taylor ,
Nick Rhodes and
Simon Le Bon , with additional writers noted
Standard edition
[22] Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Paper Gods" (featuring
Mr Hudson ) Mr Hudson 7:04 2. "Last Night in the City" (featuring
Kiesza ) Duran Duran Hudson Josh Blair 4:44 3. "You Kill Me with Silence" Mr Hudson 4:26 4. "Pressure Off" (featuring
Janelle Monáe and
Nile Rodgers ) Duran Duran Ronson Rodgers Hudson Blair
[a] 4:21 5. "Face for Today"
Dom Brown 3:52 6. "Danceophobia" Duran Duran Blair Hudson
[b] 4:14 7. "What Are the Chances?" Duran Duran Blair Hudson
[b] 4:55 8. "Sunset Garage" Hudson 4:43 9. "Change the Skyline" (featuring
Jonas Bjerre ) Hudson Duran Duran Blair Rodgers
[b] 3:57 10. "Butterfly Girl" Brown 3:15 11. "Only in Dreams" Duran Duran Rodgers Ronson Hudson
[b] Blair
[b] 6:05 12. "The Universe Alone" 5:48 Total length: 57:40
Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)
[23] Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 13. "Planet Roaring" Brown 3:49 14. "Valentine Stones" 3:30 15. "Northern Lights" Brown 5:13 Total length: 69:54
Target -exclusive edition (bonus tracks)
[24] Title Producer(s) 13. "On Evil Beach" 2:48 14. "Cinderella Ride" 3:56 Total length: 63:05
Notes
^[a] signifies lead vocal production
^[b] signifies an additional producer
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of Paper Gods .
[25]
Duran Duran
Additional musicians
Mr Hudson – vocals (track 1)
David Emery – additional drum programming (track 1)
Kiesza – vocals (track 2)
Janelle Monáe – vocals (track 4)
Nile Rodgers – featured performer (track 4)
Davide Rossi – string arrangement and performance (tracks 4, 5, 7, 12, 15)
Josh Blair – string arrangement (tracks 5, 7, 12)
Lindsay Lohan – special guest vocals (track 6)
John Frusciante – guitars (tracks 7, 10, 12, 15)
Hollie Cook – additional vocals (track 8)
Jonas Bjerre – featured performer (track 9)
Dom Brown – guitars (tracks 10, 15)
Anna Ross – additional vocals (tracks 10, 13)
Voce Chamber Choir – additional voices (track 12)
London Youth Chamber Choir – additional voices (track 12)
Suzi Digby – conducting, artistic direction (track 12)
Toby Young – choir arrangement (track 12)
Steve Jones – guitars (track 13)
Technical
Duran Duran – production (all tracks)
Mr Hudson – production (tracks 1–4, 8) ; additional production (tracks 6, 7, 11)
Josh Blair – production (tracks 2, 5–10, 12–15) ; lead vocal production (track 4) ; additional production (track 11) ; mixing (tracks 14, 15) ; engineering (all tracks)
Mark Ronson – production (tracks 4, 11)
Nile Rodgers – production (tracks 4, 11) ; additional production (track 9)
Riccardo Damian –
Pro Tools operator (tracks 4, 11)
Graham Russell – Janelle session engineering (track 4)
Ghian Wright – Janelle session engineering (track 4)
Jake Valentine – Janelle session engineering assistance (track 4)
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing at Mixsuite and Battersea Park Studios (London)
Geoff Swan – mix engineering assistance
Ted Jensen – mastering at
Sterling Sound (New York City)
Wendy Laister – executive production
Artwork
Alex Israel – artwork, art direction
China Chow – creative direction, art direction
Brian Roettinger – art direction, logo
Nick Rhodes – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Notes
^ On the
Target -exclusive edition, the shades of blue in the background are replaced with additional shades of pink.
^
a
b Additional recording
References
^
"Last Night in the City" . iTunes Australia. Retrieved 20 June 2017 .
^
"Reviews for Paper Gods By Duran Duran" .
Metacritic . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^
Stephen Thomas Erlewine .
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods" .
AllMusic . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ Partridge, Kenneth (18 September 2015).
"Duran Duran Party Like It's 1989 on Guest-Filled 'Paper Gods': Album Review" .
Billboard . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ Sackllahon, David (4 September 2017).
"Duran Duran - Paper Gods" .
Consequence of Sound . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ Beardsworth, Luke (11 September 2015).
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods" .
Drowned in Sound . Archived from
the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ Anderson, Kyle (3 September 2015).
" 'Paper Gods' by Duran Duran: EW review" .
Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ Simpson, Dave (10 September 2015).
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods review – synth-pop survivors still bouncing" .
The Guardian . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^ "Duran Duran: Paper Gods".
Magnet . No. 124. p. 55.
^ Gerard, Chris (14 September 2015).
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods" .
PopMatters . Retrieved 23 March 2021 .
^ "Duran Duran: Paper Gods".
Q . October 2015. p. 109.
^ Dolan, Jon (11 September 2015).
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods" .
Rolling Stone . Retrieved 4 September 2017 .
^
a
b
"Duran Duran Announce Title & Release Date of Upcoming New Album" . DuranDuran.com . 15 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2022 .
^
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Artsy . Archived from
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^
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^
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^
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^
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the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015 .
^
"Duran Duran US & UK Tour Pre-Sale/On Sale Information!" . DuranDuran.com . 13 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2022 .
^
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the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015 .
^
"Duran Duran: Pressure Off" .
Google Music . Retrieved 20 June 2015 .
^
"Duran Duran: Paper Gods" .
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^
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^
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Duran Duran .
Warner Bros. Records . 2015. 9362-49251-4.{{
cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link )
^
"Australiancharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^
"Austriancharts.at – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
^
"Ultratop.be – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^
"Ultratop.be – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^
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Billboard . Archived from
the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022 .
^
"Top Kombiniranih – Tjedan 38. 2015" [Top Combined – Week 38, 2015] (in Croatian). Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2018 .
^
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ČNS IFPI . Archived from
the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2022 .
^
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^
"Dutchcharts.nl – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^ "
Duran Duran: Paper Gods" (in Finnish).
Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved 21 September 2015.
^
"Lescharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
^
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GfK Entertainment Charts . Retrieved 4 May 2018.
^
"Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart – Week: 41/2015" .
IFPI Greece .
Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2018 .
^
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MAHASZ . Retrieved 3 October 2015.
^
"GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 38, 2015" .
Chart-Track .
IRMA . Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^
"Italiancharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^
"ペイパー・ゴッズ | デュラン・デュラン" [Paper Gods | Duran Duran] (in Japanese).
Oricon . Retrieved 4 May 2018 .
^
"Charts.nz – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^
"Portuguesecharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
^
"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved 4 May 2018.
^
"Spanishcharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
^
"Swisscharts.com – Duran Duran – Paper Gods" . Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
^
"Official Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^
"Duran Duran Chart History (Billboard 200)" . Billboard . Archived from
the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022 .
^
"Duran Duran Chart History (Alternative Albums)" . Billboard . Archived from
the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022 .
^
"Alternative Albums – Year-End 2016" . Billboard . Retrieved 21 June 2022 .
External links
Studio albums Live albums Compilations, EPs and remixes Singles Videography Related artists Related articles