The group recorded just one album, the platinum-selling So Red the Rose. It peaked at No. 30 in the UK and No. 23 in the US, and featured the UK/US Top 10 single "Election Day",[1] as well as the top 40 hits "The Promise" and "Goodbye Is Forever". It also contains the single "The Flame" and the promo-singles "Missing", "El Diablo" and "Keep Me in the Dark".
Simon Le Bon described So Red the Rose as "the most pretentious album ever made",[4] while AllMusic called it "the best album Duran Duran never made".[5] Musicians who contributed to the album included guitarists David Gilmour[6] (Pink Floyd) and Carlos Alomar, pianist Herbie Hancock, Sting (who provided backing vocals on "The Promise"), Grace Jones (who provided the spoken-word intro/interlude on "The Flame" and "Election Day"),[1] bass player Mark Egan of the Pat Metheny Group (whose distinctive fretless sound can be recognised in "The Promise", "El Diablo" and "Lady Ice"), Masami Tsuchiya and David Van Tieghem, a percussionist from New York.
A video collection was also released which featured music videos for the singles directed by Roger Christian, Marcelo Anciano, Russell Mulcahy and Dean Chamberlain. The band also recorded and released the stand-alone single "Say the Word" for the Playing for Keeps movie soundtrack, which was not included on So Red the Rose.
EMI re-released the album as a three-disc box set in April 2010. This remastering collected all permutations and remixes of tracks released by the band. The third disc comprised the video collection on DVD, but it does not include the video for "Say the Word".
Band changes
Arcadia continued the Duran Duran tradition of a slick image. For the Arcadia incarnation of their ever-changing band aesthetic, Le Bon, Rhodes and Roger Taylor donned an upmarket 'gothic' look of black tuxedos, vintage formal wear, and bow ties. The three also dyed their hair black, as seen when they performed (as Duran Duran, with Andy and John Taylor) at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. By the time the video for their single "The Flame" was made in early 1986 (in which John Taylor made a cameo), Rhodes had changed his hair colour to golden blond and Le Bon had returned to his regular highlighted hairstyle.
Other appearances
The group made a variety of promotional appearances on television, but never toured. When Duran Duran released their Notorious album and toured, "Election Day" was included as part of the set along with "Some Like It Hot" from the Power Station. Drummer Roger Taylor retired from the music business for 15 years after the release of the Arcadia album, but returned in 2001 to rejoin the most famous classic Duran Duran lineup.
