Greatest (Duran Duran album)

Background and release

Greatest was an update of the 1989 tenth anniversary compilation album, Decade: Greatest Hits. The new release included songs from their eponymous debut album through 1997's Medazzaland. The album includes all 14 songs featured in Decade: Greatest Hits, plus "New Moon on Monday" and four singles from the '90s, however both "Save a Prayer" and "Rio" are presented in their shorter US versions in order to fit on a single CD whereas they appeared in their full versions on the former compilation.

The album was released by EMI after parting ways with the band after the disastrous Medazzaland album release in 1997, and marked the first of many releases designed to capitalise on the band's extensive EMI-controlled back catalogue.

To coincide with the release of the Greatest album in the United Kingdom, the song "Electric Barbarella" was released as a single. This track was originally released as a single in North America in 1997 to promote the Medazzaland album (which was never released officially in the UK). "Electric Barbarella" was also the basis for a retroactive correction in licensing payments in the band's favour, after Cuccurullo discovered that the song was mistakenly credited as having been licensed by Capitol Records instead of the band itself (rights had reverted to the band).

As of 2008, the collection had sold 1.3 million copies in the United States.

To date, a full collection of Duran Duran's singles on one album still hasn't been released.

Track listing

1. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:10 (Non-album single)
2. "The Reflex" {single version} – 4:24 (from Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
3. "A View to a Kill" – 3:34 (from A View to a Kill)
4. "Ordinary World" {single} – 4:42 (from Duran Duran (The Wedding Album))
5. "Save a Prayer" (US single) – 3:47 (from Rio)
6. "Rio" (US edit) – 4:45 (from Rio)
7. "Hungry Like the Wolf" – 3:25 (from Rio)
8. "Girls on Film" – 3:27 (from Duran Duran)
9. "Planet Earth" {single} – 3:57 (from Duran Duran)
10. "Union of the Snake" – 4:22 (from Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
11. "New Moon on Monday" – 4:16 (from Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
12. "Wild Boys" – 4:17 (from Arena)
13. "Notorious" – 4:00 (from Notorious)
14. "I Don't Want Your Love" {Shep Pettibone 7"} – 3:48 (from Big Thing)
15. "All She Wants Is" {45 mix} – 4:26 (from Big Thing)
16. "Electric Barbarella" {edit} – 4:17 (from Medazzaland)
17. "Serious" {edit} – 3:56 (from Liberty)
18. "Skin Trade" {radio cut} – 4:26 (from Notorious)
19. "Come Undone" {edit} – 4:15 (from Duran Duran (The Wedding Album))

VHS edition

The album release was followed in 1999 by the release of a videotape compilation of the band's groundbreaking music videos, also entitled Greatest. It was not released on DVD at the time.

Video album track listing

1. "Planet Earth"
2. "Girls on Film" (Uncensored)
3. "The Chauffeur" (Uncensored)
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf"
5. "Save a Prayer"
6. "Rio"
7. "Is There Something I Should Know?"
8. "Union of the Snake"
9. "New Moon on Monday"
10. "The Reflex"
11. "The Wild Boys" (extended version)
12. "A View to a Kill"
13. "Notorious"
14. "Skin Trade"
15. "I Don't Want Your Love"
16. "All She Wants Is"
17. "Serious"
18. "Burning the Ground"
19. "Ordinary World"
20. "Come Undone"
21. "Electric Barbarella"
22. "My Own Way"
23. The Wedding Album EPK

In November 2003, the videotape compilation was released in DVD format, titled Duran Duran: Greatest — The DVD, with hidden extra materials, including alternative versions of some of the videos and interviews of the band, however, this version is much criticised for its extensive use of easter egg features, which make it difficult to find and play some materials.

DVD one

A) Girls on Film (6:26 - long, uncensored version with an alternative ending):

B) Union of the Snake (4:19 - Dancing on the Valentine version):

C) New Moon on Monday (4 alternative versions):

1. Dancing on the Valentine version, with moon shots – 5:30
2. Alternative version 1, with intro dialogue; not the same one shown on MTV (that version has never been released commercially) – 5:00
3. Alternative version 2 – 5:01
4. short version, without intro – 3:43
5. Movie version, with extended dialogue, uses unique extended version of song, not the 12" remix – 17:37

D) The Wild Boys (4:10 - Long Arena Version):

La Galerie De Duran

From the main menu, enter the "Galerie" by selecting the "A" in the word "GREATEST".

a) Planet Earth (4:05 - Club Version):

b) A Day in the Life featurette 2:26:

c) Girls on Film (3:24 - Censored/MTV version):

d) Midsummer Night's Tube Feature (4:31 - Nick and Simon discuss the recording and production of the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger):

e) Wild Boys Interview (8:53 - Paul Gambaccini talks to Roger, Andy and Simon):

f) View to a Kill Interview (1:52 - Paul Gambaccini talks with John and Andy):

DVD two

From the main menu, enter the "Galerie" by selecting the "A" in the word "GREATEST".

a) Liberty album Electronic Press Kit (EPK):

b) Serious (Multi-angle version):

c) The Wedding Album Television Commercial

d) Come Undone (Censored/MTV version)

Full hidden track listing

The hidden tracks may be accessed directly using the Title/Chapter number keys on a DVD player (or DVD remote control). This may not necessarily work from "inside" the disc's navigation menus depending on the DVD player. On some players the disc must be fully stopped (sometimes by pushing the "stop" button two or three times) to navigate directly to a Title, on others the disc must be playing. This DVD contains user operation prohibition on jumping directly to Titles in an attempt to prevent direct Title access, but not all DVD players obey such prohibitions. There are several duplicates of standard videos among the hidden tracks, in addition to the easter eggs.

DVD one

DVD two