Astronaut is an album by Duran Duran, released October 11, 2004 in Europe and Asia, and October 12 in North America.

Background

This is the band's first studio album since Pop Trash in 2000, and the first since Seven and the Ragged Tiger in 1983 to be recorded by the original five members of the band (the last studio recording of the original five was the "A View to a Kill" single).

Duran Duran made its fame and fortune with its original lineup (singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor, and drummer Roger Taylor) from 1980 to 1985. Then Roger retired, and Andy pursued a solo and producing career. The band continued to record with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and assorted sessions musicians until 2001 but, despite top ten hits with "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" in 1993, were never able to sustain the same level of success as they had achieved as a five-piece band.

The band was signed with Capitol/EMI from 1980 to 1999, and had a brief contract with Hollywood Records in 2000, but entered their reunion phase without a contract.

The making of the album

Duran Duran originally announced a reunion of the original five members in 2001, and began writing new music together in the south of France. They continued to write and record intermittently, working hard for a few months at a time, throughout 2002 and 2003.

Meanwhile, the search for a record label went on, complicated by the band's desire for independence, control, strong promotional support, and a commitment for more than one album, at the same time that the cash-strapped and risk-averse recording industry was unwilling to gamble on the "leftover fame" of a band best-known for a series of twenty-year-old hits.

The band, frustrated and with nearly thirty new songs approaching completion, set out on a world tour in 2003 to show that the band still had drawing power. The sold-out dates in Japan, America, the United Kingdom and Australia and New Zealand, and the nearly delirious news coverage that followed the reunited band, warmed the record labels to the possibilities. The new songs "Sunrise", "Still Breathing", "Virus", "Beautiful Colours" and "What Happens Tomorrow" were played during these concerts; John Taylor also played a demo recording of "What Happens Tomorrow" on the air at Los Angeles radio station STAR 98.7.

During this period, a "teaser CD" with short demo versions of a few of the unfinished songs (used to demonstrate the new work to potential labels and producers) was leaked to the Internet and quickly copied throughout the band's fan base. The songs were "Virus", "Sunrise", "TV vs. Radio", "Salt in the Rainbow", and "Pretty Ones". The band was very unhappy about the leak, and most of the leaked songs were not included in the final track listing for the album.

A remix of "Sunrise" by Jason Nevins was included on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack in February; it received a warm reception by DJs but was not released as a single. In March, the band donated "Beautiful Colours" to the European football association FIFA to use as its Centennial song. At the awards ceremony for the FIFA 100, honoring the top living footballers, a video of top moments in the sport was accompanied by the song.

New deal, new album

Finally, after lengthy negotiations, the band signed a four-album deal with Epic Records (a subsidiary of Sony BMG Music Entertainment) in June of 2004. The songs were given a final polishing with producer Don Gilmore and then mixed by Jeremy Wheatley in June and July. R&B producer Dallas Austin produced three tracks on the album, and Nile Rodgers' early production work remains on another three.

Limited copies of the new album were released with a bonus DVD which included 45 minutes of live and behind-the-scenes footage from Wembley Arena, recorded in April 2004. The CD/DVD set came in DVD-sized packaging and European copies bore copy protection, a hold over from the BMG days.

A worldwide media tour accompanied the September release of the first single, "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", with more surrounding the release of Astronaut in October; in fact, the pace became too hectic for guitarist Andy Taylor, and in November Duran Duran announced he was suffering from exhaustion and flu, and would not be participating in band promotion until January 2005. The remaining four members continued with television appearances, and a stand-in guitarist was hired for the scheduled radio station Christmas concerts in December.

"Sunrise" debuted at #5 in the UK singles chart. Astronaut debuted at #1 on the Internet album chart (that is, physical albums bought through Internet vendors), #3 in the UK album chart, and at #17 in the US Billboard Top 200 album chart, with similar Top Twenty debuts elsewhere in the world. In late November, it reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

Meanwhile, the CD/DVD set debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Music Video chart.

The second single, "What Happens Tomorrow" was released 31 January, 2005.

A world tour of arenas and stadiums, touted as the band's "largest tour ever" is slated to begin in the USA in February of 2005. January Japan dates had to be postponed until the summer, after Roger broke a bone in his right foot in December and Andy missed several American dates in February and March to attend his ill father's hospital bed and subsequent funeral.

Astronaut marks not only a new era for this supergroup, but serves to inspire a whole new generation of pop music fans.

Embracing New Media

On 29 March, 2005 SonyBMG reissued "Astronaut" on the burgeoning DualDisc format.

This double sided disc included the CD version on one side and a remixed 5.1 DVD-Audio surround mix of the album on the other side.

The DVD side also included a 25 minute program with never-before-seen footage, including:

1. Back Together Again
2. The Making of "(Reach up for the) Sunrise" Video
3. The Launch of ASTRONAUT

Track listing

1. "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise" (3:27)
2. "Want You More" (3:39)
3. "What Happens Tomorrow" (4:11)
4. "Astronaut" (3:26)
5. "Bedroom Toys" (4:01)
6. "Nice" (3:33)
7. "Taste the Summer" (3:55)
8. "Finest Hour" (4:02)
9. "Chains" (4:48)
10. "One Of Those Days" (3:52)
11. "Point Of No Return" (4:59)
12. "Still Breathing" (5:59)

Singles

1. "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise" (Australia September 20, 2004 / UK October 4, 2004)

• Charted #5 in the UK on 10 October, 2004
• Charted #89 in the US on 13 November, 2004

2. "What Happens Tomorrow" (31 January, 2005)

• Charted #11 in the UK on 6 February, 2005