Thank You (Duran Duran album)

Thank You
Studio album by Duran Duran
Released	4 April 1995 (1995-04-04)
Recorded	1992–1994
Genre	Alternative rock, pop rock
Length	54:26
Label	Capitol (US) Parlophone/EMI
Producer	John Jones & Duran Duran
Duran Duran chronology
Duran Duran (1993) Thank You (1995) Medazzaland (1997)
Singles from Thank You
"Perfect Day" Released: 25 March 1995 "White Lines" Released: 1 July 1995 "Lay Lady Lay" Released: 1995 (Italy only)

Thank You is a covers album by Duran Duran released in April 1995, their follow-up to 1993's Duran Duran (The Wedding Album). It did well on the charts (reaching number 19 on the Billboard 200),^[1] but was received very negatively by critics.

The album has garnered a reputation as one of the worst music releases of all time. Q magazine editors ranked it number one in their 2006 list, "The 50 Worst Albums Ever!"^[2] In 2014, Brian Boyd of The Irish Times said that the LP is "accurately known as 'the single worst album in the history of recorded music'."^[3]

The title cover ("Thank You", originally by Led Zeppelin) originally appeared in an edited form (5:06) on the soundtrack of the 1994 film With Honors. A still shorter edit (4:32) then appeared on Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin, a month before the full version was released on this album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	C[5]
NME	(48/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

The two singles from the album were covers of Grandmaster Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" and Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". "Lay Lady Lay" was a single in Italy.

J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone said "[S]ome of the ideas at play here are stunningly wrongheaded, like the easy-listening arrangement given Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives" or the version of Zeppelin's "Thank You" that sounds like the band is covering Chris DeBurgh. But it takes a certain demented genius to recognize Iggy Pop's "Success" as the Gary Glitter tune it was meant to be or to redo "911 Is a Joke" so it sounds more like Beck than like Public Enemy."^[7]

"Perfect Day", was the first single from Thank You, and became a moderate hit, peaking at number 28 on the British singles chart. In the U.S. the song narrowly failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100, only reaching as high as #101 from 24 June to 8 July 1995. The B side of the single was a version of The Velvet Underground's song "Femme Fatale", previously available in 1993, on Duran Duran's The Wedding Album.^[8]

However, despite such negative reception, Lou Reed said on the electronic press kit that accompanied the album that Duran Duran's version of "Perfect Day" was "The best cover ever completed of one of my own songs".^[9]

Track listing

1. "White Lines" (Grandmaster Melle Mel) – 5:31
2. "I Wanna Take You Higher" (Sly & The Family Stone) – 5:06
3. "Perfect Day" (Lou Reed) – 3:51
4. "Watching the Detectives" (Elvis Costello) – 4:48
5. "Lay Lady Lay" (Bob Dylan) – 3:53
6. "911 Is a Joke" (Public Enemy) – 3:59
7. "Success" (Iggy Pop) – 4:05
8. "Crystal Ship" (The Doors) – 2:52
9. "Ball of Confusion" (The Temptations) – 3:46
10. "Thank You" (Led Zeppelin) – 6:36
11. "Drive By" (Duran Duran) – 5:34
12. "I Wanna Take You Higher Again" (Sly & The Family Stone) – 4:25

Bonus tracks on Japanese release:

13. "Diamond Dogs" (David Bowie) – 6:10
14. "Femme Fatale" (The Velvet Underground & Nico) – 4:22

Personnel

Duran Duran are

• Warren Cuccurullo – guitar, production
• Simon Le Bon – vocals, production
• Nick Rhodes – keyboards, production
• John Taylor – bass guitar, production

Additional musicians

• Roger Taylor – drums on "Perfect Day" and "Watching the Detectives"
• Steve Ferrone – drums on "White Lines" and "Crystal Ship"
• John Jones - additional keyboards, guitars and vocals
• Terry Bozzio – drums on "Success", "Thank You" and "Drive By"
• Bruce Dukov – violin
• Jonathan Elias – Moog synthesizer on "Crystal Ship"
• Henry Ferber – violin strings
• Ron Folsom – violin strings
• Flo & Eddie – background vocals on "Success"
• Armen Garabedian – violin strings
• Berj Garabedian – violin strings
• Pamela Goldsmith – viola
• Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – background vocals on "White Lines" and "I Wanna Take You Higher"
• Grandmaster Melle Mel – background vocals, rapping on "White Lines"
• Scott Haupert – viola
• Suzi Katayama – cello
• Michelle Kikuchi-Richards – violin strings
• Curtis King – background vocals on "I Wanna Take You Higher"
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums on "Lay Lady Lay" and "I Wanna Take You Higher Again"
• Lamya – background vocals on "White Lines" and "I Wanna Take You Higher" and "Drive By"
• Maxanne Lewis – background vocals on "Ball of Confusion"
• Joy Lyle – violin strings
• Maria Newman – violin strings
• Tessa Niles – background vocals on "Perfect Day" and "Watching the Detectives"
• Lee Oskar – harmonica on "Watching the Detectives" and "I Wanna Take You Higher"
• Anthony J. Resta – drums on "White Lines", "Lay Lady Lay", "911 Is a Joke", "Ball of Confusion" and "I Wanna Take You Higher Again"
• Tony Thompson – drums on "I Wanna Take You Higher"

Technical personnel

• Steve Churchyard – engineering
• Jason Corsaro – mixing
• John Jones – producing, audio engineering, mixing, programming
• Avril McCintosh – engineering
• David Richards – mixing
• Tim Palmer – mixing
• Anthoy J. Resta – engineering, mixing, production, programming
• Bob St. John – mixing, production
• Ken Scott – engineering
• Tony Taverner – engineering
• Mark Tinley – programming
• Tim Young – mastering

Singles

1. "Perfect Day" (March 1995) #28 UK
2. "White Lines (Don't Do It)" (July 1995) #17 UK, #5 US

References