order of songs

How does the band go about deciding the order of the songs on a particular album? Obviously, it would seem that the strongest songs are included early...but some of my favorite Duran Duran songs usually occupy the final track of an album, or the middle (what would be the first track of the "B" side in the pre-CD days). (e.g., Seventh Stranger, Proposition, Edge of America, Last Day on Earth, Downtown as great last songs...Vertigo, Union of the Snake, Do You Believe in Shame, My Antarctica, as great lead-ins to the second half)...does the band give a lot of consideration to the songs' order? Or is more attention paid to the tempo of the songs, and not having too many fast or slow songs consecutively? Thanks, Chris Wallingford, CT, USA

THIS IS WHAT THE BAND HAD TO SAY: THE TRACK LISTING ARGUMENTS CONTINUE UNTIL THE DAY THE CD HAS TO BE PRESSED. ONE (OR FIVE IN THIS CASE) HAS TO TAKE IN TO ACCOUNT MOOD, TEMPO, THE KEY OF THE SONG AND MORE THAN ANYTHING, THE INTROS AND OUTROS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CREATES THE MOST PERFECT RUNNING ORDER. FRANKLY, YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU GET THERE, BUT SOMEHOW THE OVERALL ‘VIBE’ IS REALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING AND YOU INSTINCTIVELY KNOW WHEN TRACKS ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. IN A WAY, IT IS EASIER TO SEQUENCE CDS THAN IT WAS WITH VINYL BECAUSE IT IS ONE COMPLETE LISTENING EXPERIENCE. HAVING SAID THAT, WE ARE FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT PEOPLE NOW DECIDE THEIR OWN RUNNING ORDERS ANYWAY.