Duran Duran: Classic or Dud?

I'd have found "Sunrise" to be a much more stylized improvement on the demo of said song. I'd have felt "Want You More" was a great driving song to listen to, not incredibly involving or complex but incredibly catchy and liable to bring a smile to the faces of all but the most dour of individuals. I would've thought "What Happens Tomorrow" was a lovely little ditty, not quite the power ballad they might've been reaching for, but still a good reminder that some of the people behind (my beloved) Pop Trash were still involved with this project. I'd have listened to "Astronaut" and realized it was a fully fleshed out relative of the demo song "Pretty Ones", with a distinct difference in lyrical theme. (I was disappointed to find "Pretty Ones" didn't make the cut, when I first saw the track listing, seeing as though that was my favorite demo song. FYI. Hopefully they'll reserve it for a b-side.) "Bedroom Toys" to me would've been a slightly hilarious but very funky track and what Duran must've been trying to reach for when they attempted (but failed) to sound like Prince in the Wedding Album-era track "UMF". I would've gone apeshit over "Nice", thinking it to be a Perfect Pop Song, very danceable, very catchy, very funky, and perhaps a fantastic song to go for in re: a second single. I'd have felt a deep sense of pride about "Taste the Summer", seeing that my old As Sweet As Melody board ID was taken from the lyrics of this song, since it, like "Sunrise", would've been another much more stylized, fully realized improvement on its demo. (Maybe by Astronaut's release, I'll decide to revive the As Sweet As Melody ID.) "Finest Hour" would've sounded to me like a bit of a weak point in the album, still rather crisp and fresh and perhaps a Perfect Pop Song to someone else, but I might've felt it would've been an inferior relation to the Pop Trash-era song "The Sun Doesn't Shine Forever". I'd have listened to "Chains" and happily picked up on its slow-burn nature, its relaxed pace and energetic undertones working together to create an exciting track. I would have been thrilled to discover that "One Of Those Days" was a delightful candy confection that left me with a rush akin to mainlining Pixy Stix. After listening to "Point Of No Return", I could've thought of how complex that song really is, with little musical hooks cluttered throughout its little nooks and crannies. And then finally I would have listened to "Still Breathing", swooned and swayed to the swirly whirly lusciousness of it all, and delighted in how it continued DD's tradition of putting really solid material at the end of (most of) their albums (see: "The Chauffeur", "The Seventh Stranger", "Proposition", "Lake Shore Driving", "Sin of the City", "Undergoing Treatment", "Kiss Goodbye/Last Day On Earth" -- the only studio albums not represented here are the debut and Liberty).

And finally, when I'd have finished listening to the entirety of the album, I would've triumphantly collapsed with a blissful smile on my face, satisfied that the three years spent waiting for this album were well worth it and safe in the knowledge that the people responsible for the album were not just looking to cash in on the novelty value of having the so-called "Fab Five" reunite, but were also looking to record a great pop album in the tradition of Rio and Seven & the Ragged Tiger. That is, if I'd actually previewed the new album.

;)

(Oh, and one more thing -- I would have absolutely, unequivocably still purchased at least one copy of the album, even though I had already listened to the tracks therein. I would have been cognizant of how thrilling actually having the Real Thing in my hands, how Duran's CD booklets are almost always little works of art, and how the "limited edition" album would've also included a special live DVD of Duran's concert performance at Wembley earlier this year. You know.)

Duran Duran To Go Hip-Hop?
Pop act draft in urban producers...
http://www.gigwise.com/news.asp?contentid=17913

Nick Rhodes:

”It'll have an identifiably Duran Duran sound, which we want to preserve, but it's also going to be a lot more modern. So we've been working with American urban producers."

(And, I mean, nobody dectracts from the greatness of "Pet Sounds" just because Beach Boys made "Keeping The Summer Alive" 15 years later.

More on the 'hip-hop' album:

Nearly six years after their last release, rockers Duran Duran are currently working on their upcoming album with the help of Hip-Hop producer Timbaland and his protégé Danjahandz. Danjahandz, a young Virginia native, first caught Timbaland’s attention in 2001 and two years later, the young producer was brought to Timbaland’s studio in Miami to put his production talents to work. "The actual process of making the album [with Duran Duran] was cool," Danjahandz told AllHipHop.com. "We just went in there as musicians, I think that's what was beneficial for me, playing those instruments, came into play. Because I had to become a musician, not a producer a beat maker, I had to become a musician and write songs."

No word on the Ne-Yo/Le Bon duet?

I decided on Monday that Rio > Metamatic.

Sorry, K-Punk:(

I heard Reflex in the store today and I really wanted to kill someone. Much as I love early Duran, that has to be the greatest landmark of where they started to absolutely suck ASS.

Sorry, but the album version -- before Nile Rodgers stuck his mitts in it -- kick serious ass.

I've got early Duran Duran b-side/remix FEVER!! This all started because at work this week I got "New Religion" in my head for no reason.

Anyone heard the likes of "Khananda"/"Late Bar"/"Faster Than Light"? I"ve never heard these before and they are really freaking cool. Their cover of Bowie's "Fame" isn't bad, either. I used to have the damn Carnival EP, I want those mixes again, too. "Faith In This Colour" & "Secret Oktober" & "Tiger Tiger" are some of my fave things of theirs as well.

I cannot believe they covered Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)". I'm in speechless shock right now. It's pretty amazing at least until the guitars come in...

Hm. It's outside Le Bon's vocal range, methinks.

check the backing vox on this one

Astronaut and Red Carpet Massacre are superb albums. Far more consistent than most/all of the band's earlier records.

I can't adequately explain what pleasure the b-side of the Rio 45 called "Hold Back The Rain" (wasn't it an extended remix?) brought me when I was about 12 years old. FUCKING 12" MIX FOR THE WIN!

Late Bar is my favourite Duran Duran song, and the 'Night Version' is possibly even better.

Actually, Careless Memory came on in the pub last night and was awesome.

Duran Duran - pop's excreta in a basket.

I always liked Khanada as a kid, it was mysterious-sounding and talked about dragons, was very suitable for sitting in a treehouse thinking about having adventures with Indiana Jones or Doctor Who.

I recorded it onto a cassette by holding the cassette recorder up to the record player.

PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME NOW
IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW

12" MONSTER MIX

=

Happy Bimble

cool -- a rio remaster with bonus goodies
http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/?p=15861
hopefully they've replaced the inferior mix of "my own way" on the CD with the one originally on the vinyl

Carnival! Yay!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2brXlRo5ZtU

great viddy, Turangalila.
have been on a bit of a D-squared the past month or so, after not really listening for years. was surprised how much i still LOVE Nick Rhodes' enoesque keybs which sort of put the whole thing over for me; as well as the extended/"night" versions. So red the rose was not a half bad record either, IMO

Duran Duran will follow up this fall’s expanded edition of Riowith new multi-disc reissues of the band’s self-titled 1981 debut and 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, both due out in March, the group announced this week.

Both special editions will be available in 2CD sets or limited-edition 2CD/1DVD packages; each will include a remastered version of the original album on one CD, plus a second CD with B-sides, demos, remixes and BBC session tracks. The DVDs will include concert footage, TV performances and music videos such as the infamous uncensored version of “Girls on Film.” (See full tracklists below.)

Additionally, Duran Duran will release download-only live concert recordings in conjunction with both reissues. For the Duran Duran: Special Edition, the band will release a BBC In Concert session recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on Dec. 17, 1981. The Seven and the Ragged Tiger: Special Edition will be accompanied by the release of a download-only audio version of “As the Lights Go Down,” a one-hour concert movie spun off from Duran Duran’s “Arena” film (the video will be included on the Ragged Tiger DVD).

Both albums also will be reissued on limited-edition 180-gram vinyl, each with a bonus 12-inch featuring four remixes (including, on the Duran Duran reissue, a previously unreleased mix of “Girls on Film”).

The two new reissues will following the Feb. 8 release of an expanded 2CD/1DVD edition of So Red the Rose, the lone album from Arcadia, the mid-’80s, studio-only Duran Duran spinoff that scored a Top 10 hit with “Election Day.”

Somehow all appropriate given my random find of this old Dave Q review today.

New single 'All You Need is Now' is grouse.

Album released next week on iTunes and in shops in Feb. If it's up there with the last two (and with Mark Ronson producing there's a good chance) it's surely the band's longest good-album streak ever.

Now I will stand aside and watch while this thread sinks like a facking stone.

the last album was good?

Hm:

# Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment) (featuring Ana Matronic) (3:59)
# Girl Panic!
 (4:31)
# The Man Who Stole A Leopard
 (featuring Kelis) (6:13)

Not Rio good but worth at least a few dozen plays.

xp Kelis? Sod it I take everything back.

and with Mark Ronson producing there's a good chance

I weep for you.

I knew this would be embarrassing. All right. Hey, you know what? Let's pretend this never happened.

Like I said on the REM thread when somebody brought up Duran Duran, I've never been a great fan of theirs, but it's obvious when listening to this new album that they're actively trying to be good again. And I don't doubt that Mark Ronson had a lot to do with it.

Yeah, there's a fair amount of mutual mast with these two in press releases and such, but I get the impression Ronson really was/is a huge Rio fan and that they all genuinely like working together.

I really like this album. The single is the worst track on it. The collaborations are subtle and well used. Overall it sounds like Duran circa 82. Best album since Notorious (though I really like Big Thing).

The single is the worst track on it.

WOW. Officially gagging for this.

Rio is one of my favourite albums. I can be swayed.

I really like this album. The single is the worst track on it. The collaborations are subtle and well used. Overall it sounds like Duran circa 82. Best album since Notorious (though I really like Big Thing).

― brotherlovesdub, Friday, December 17, 2010 5:47 AM (9 hours ago)

I agree with all of this, apart from liking Big Thing (one of their worst albums for me) I can't believe the title track is the first single, the chorus is good but the verse is so bad. I think Runway Runaway is my favourite track.

I'm shocked they've pulled this off, every album since Medazzaland I've wanted to be their return to form it feels like they've got pretty close this time. I thought Astronaut was quite a poor album apart from Nice and Taste the Summer, it seems like they've done a whole album with that kind of sound.

this is great.

Don't mind the new single. Who's the new guitarist these days?

Dom Brown, I think.

It really is good. It sounds like a follow-up to Rio without sounding like it's trying to be a follow-up to Rio, and the actual songs are good as well. There's not a duff moment on the whole thing.

The only problem I have with it (if it's even a problem) is that it sounds a bit too '80s. Also, all the television appearances are on housewife shows like Loose Women and The One Show, which shits me a bit. Duran Duran's never been a backward-looking band so I hope it isn't starting now.

What a crap sentence.

New interview at the Quietus with Simon Price:

http://thequietus.com/articles/05889-duran-duran-interview-all-you-need-is-now

Duran Duran's never been a backward-looking band so I hope it isn't starting now.

I hope so. I mean, after the disastrous "Red Carpet Massacre", which was even worse than "Big Thing" (another disappointing album that would have benefited from being a bit more backward-looking)

I thought Astronaut was quite a poor album apart from Nice and Taste the Summer, it seems like they've done a whole album with that kind of sound.

"Nice" and "Taste The Summer" sound more like "Notorious" tracks than "Rio" tracks though.

Happy 30th to Rio.

Watched its Classic Albums" chapter Sunday afternoon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr3HCNIgv40

I suppose one or two of their songs I *do* have a mild soft spot for... but mostly dud.

Japan, on the other hand...

Apologies for the spam but I really think Duran Duran fans (and fans of Japan, post punk, new pop and glam) will find this feature interesting.

Duran Duran Versus Japan - The Substance Of Style

(It's not about who's better by the way...)

Fantastic article for sure.