About the Album
Notorious is the fourth studio album by Duran Duran. Released in November 1986, it peaked at #16 in the UK and #12 in the US. The singles “Notorious” and “Skin Trade” demonstrated a Duran Duran reaching for funk, heavy on bass and brass. The gap between previous efforts and the new one, however (one year removed from “A View to a Kill” and the Arcadia/Power Station projects, two years from Arena, three from Seven and the Ragged Tiger), was hard to handle for the greater part of the fan base, since the album signaled a stylistic departure from the successful dance-pop of their earlier days. Many fans felt that the album seemed to lack the sparkle of the band’s initial peak era (1981 to 1985).
In 2010, EMI released a raft of material surrounding the Notorious reissue consisting of a three disc boxset, a digital only EP, and a digital only live album. The boxset also includes remixes, live tracks and the Working for the Skin Trade live video (for the first time on DVD).
