Medazzaland

Medazzaland is the ninth album by British pop rock group Duran Duran. It was released by Capitol Records on October 14, 1997 in the U.S., where it reached #58 on the Billboard album chart. It was never officially released in Europe. The album is the follow-up to the poorly-received covers album Thank You, and bassist John Taylor left the band in January 1997 before recording was complete. With only three members remaining - Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Warren Cuccurullo - Duran Duran wrote and recorded several new tracks for the album, and re-recorded songs previously done with Taylor. His work remains on only four songs. Cuccurullo later stated that most of the finished album was reworked TV Mania material originally written by himself and Rhodes. The dismal performance of the album led in part to the dissolution of the band's contract with EMI after almost two decades. EMI gave the band ownership rights and the master tapes to the Medazzaland album, as well as several unreleased audio and videotapes of their 1995 and 1997 concerts. It was rumoured that the band would independently release the album in the UK, but they went on to sign with Hollywood Records and released Pop Trash instead. Medazzaland is only available in Europe as an import or digital download.