Duran Duran: Classic or Dud?

"7UP! Between Sixth and...BROADWAY!"

It was all downhill when Andy Taylor released "Take It Easy," granted.

Utter classic band for le Bon's voice alone nevermind the awesome ripoff of Japan's best album (Paul Morley-you iz a twit).

Nick Rhodes - holy idol like Ron Mael.

Andy Taylor - your bar in Whitley Bay iz shit !

Even Biba Kopf (quite) liked Duran Duran.

In many ways the band that remind me most of Duran now are Radiohead.

The only disappointment is that for a band that began wanting to be Chic they were quite rockist, never producing a genuine disco anthem. Perhaps for that failing not a 100% classic.

For me total dud, especially Le Bon's nasal braying. I can't deny that "Rio" and "Hungry Like.." are good pop, but there's only so much billowy-shirted, fake suntan opulence I can bear. Wham did that so much better - I think because they didn't have (or kept hidden until Georges'solo career) the muso tendencies that puffed-up Duran into such an ugly spectacle.

I do like "Ordinary World" though - great melody.

Hungry Like the Wolf is the best song ever, and not just because I've always been convinced it's about oral sex. The video is just the most fantastic thing - I mean, wtf is going on in it? Why do they seem angry? Why are they chasing that girl, and then why is she chasing them? What's with the war paint? Why flip over a table? It's amazing, and so much better than the way overrated Rio video. I think all videos should look like Hungry Like the Wolf. I'd kill to watch Radiohead run around like that, flipping over tables and chasing war- painted girls in the jungle.

But all of the early videos were quite brilliant. Wild Boys in particular is so OTT that I would kill to see something near its like today.

Both are cute, charming, doomy, arty, angsty, made it big Stateside, owe more to Bowie than they’ll ever admit, surf the wave of current political fads (aspiration & no-logo respectively), make the old feel young.

Why are Radiohead not the new Duran?

Not enough hair products or trips to the make-up counter, no aspiring artist in the band, not enough singles.

CLASSIC for image, as everyone has already said, but DUD for Simon LeBon's voice, which only Dr. C seems to have noticed. (Gosh, what could be worse than the "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" cover?)

What does mark's post mean? I do feel like I'm jumping on a bandwagon by saying CLASSIC for image cos I've spent many years trying to distance myself from my childhood infatuations...

duran duran = roXoR also

I dug out the 12" of The Reflex a few days ago and the extended version is called the "Dance Mix". Now it would have to be something like the "Chics For Free mix".

If not, you are obviously very thick and need to check out some prime swampland real estate I'm about ready to sell to you. Either that or you've just started reading this forum.

Search & destroy? For me, I'd have to search just about every single Duran song out there, with the possible exceptions of "Shotgun" and "UMF" (off The Wedding Album) and "911 is a Joke" and "I Wanna Take You Higher" (off Thank You). Those four could be destroyed, thank you very much.

Hungry Like The Wolf is about ORAL SEX?!?!?!? Oh my god, I never knew that. Hey, I mean, I was 12 when it came out, it never dawned on my horny prepubescent brain! That makes it somehow ever better!

I think I've told the story about my Durannie friend and her super-indie boyfriend who sneered at Duran. She said "What would you say to a band who wanted to be a cross between the Sex Pistols, Chic and Brian Eno?" And he went "That would be my NEW FAVOURITE BAND EVAH!!!" and she shoved Rio at him and said "meet your new favourite band evah, suckah."

And don't forget to search for Arcadia, another fantastic album.

Because it was possibly the worst single they ever released! Come on, even at the age of 13 or whatever, I knew that.

New Moon On Monday was actually kinda ace. Yeah. I have the tendency to completely write off Seven and the Ragged Tiger, but it definitely had its moments.

Oh, and DD are ace, simply for having such an incredible body of work dedicated to their fan fiction. Maybe it's just cause I've only read good DD FF, (thanks, UMF/Lovely Blue Planet Of There) but it's of such a blatantly higher calibre that you think they must be doing something right.

(The one time that a band's fans can be held in their favour)

They spoilt it with mortifying spin off bands (Arcadia were ok - Power Station.... oh dear), their pro-Thatcher stance throughout the 80s and their ludicrous make up and dress sense.

And their mystifying arrogance (I've never encountered an arrogant Brummie in my life, have you?).

But a welcome return....

Oh, if that isn't part of what made them so classic I don't know what is. Nick Rhodes dyed for our sins!

http://www.middlemoon.com/sandra/img/nick_rhodes.gif

uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh...

http://www.b3ta.my-webserver.co.uk/colossus.jpg

http://members.tripod.com/rant58/7535eb80.jpg

(Why is it so hard to find a decent picture of Peter on the web?)

This is my favorite picture of Nick Rhodes:

http://www.hanksnet.com/callingplanetearth/nick6/images/nickwht88fash_jpg.jpg

He looks simply gorgeous there.

This is my favorite picture of John Taylor:

http://www.hanksnet.com/callingplanetearth/john4/images/jtjap1_jpg.jpg

This is my favorite pic of the two of them together:

http://www.hanksnet.com/callingplanetearth/misc/images/48d53964_jpg.jpg

*licks computer screen*

PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A COVER

I've got to stop or I'll be hitting UMF in a mo...

Spencer, I love you. If I wasn't an Anime robot, I'd have your children.

Anyway, there's really nothing wrong with "Is There Something I Should Know" (apparently aka "Please Please Tell Me Now"). It's just there's nothing great about it either. Except for the video, which features this bizarre angle shot of Simon singing his brains out with this extrodinarily angry face on, which I mean seems like it'd work with the title of the song but really it makes no sense about the lyrics when it comes down to it.

I changed my mind on "Notorious" but it's still not really that good. It's all about the lyrics to "The Reflex" people, trust me.

Oh, and Sean, that "fuck off" story is still the most amazing thing I've ever heard.

Kate, you mean this?

http://www.hanksnet.com/callingplanetearth/john3/images/jt34_jpg.jpg

(OK, I am kissing the screen right now, but that's besides the point...)

But that's still a damn good picture. Yum. And as for Barbarella, the only reason I watched that damn movie was because I wanted to know who this Duran Duran character was supposed to be, and every time I heard his name being spoken I just had to giggle like the little fangirl I am. The ex-fiance did have a point, though. Barbarella does seem to be a touch bit soft core porn-ish, what with all the overt sexuality and all.

*goes back to licking computer screen*

Premise: The boys are apparently leading a revolution in a small European town. Their cause is aided by handing out flyers, an old woman using an Apple IIe computer, and Andy & Roger flying a kite. For no obvious reason a guy in face paint starts acting out something on a stage, and that shows up a couple times. By the end people have lit their torches and fireworks while police on horseback do just about nothing. The whole band coems together and begins jumping at the end.

Based out of the movie "Arena". The video begins showing a post-apocalyptic setting of school desks, with the few students breathing fire. For awhile we see a video screen (like the one in "The Reflex") showing Simon, Andy & John performing in individual shots, with a robotic sculpted head nearby observing the action. When the second verse arrives, the video changes to color, creature-humans appear, and Simon is now strapped to a windmill that churns through a pool. the creatures move around the video set, flying, dancing, crawling, tossing firey ropes and riding elevators. A white funnel moves through the set, while Simon falls off the windmill and is nearly killed by a pirhana-like creature. A photographer walks through a nearly-empty set, then we see Nick in a cage with lots of computers. Andy, strapped up in the air, fights off other creatures with his guitar, and Simon pulls some into the pirhana lake. John is strapped to the top of an upright car, forced to watch images of himself on the video screen. Roger is in an airborne chair, fighting off still more creatures. Simon, now on dry land, nearly takes a mysterious hand before the video ends with the creatures dancing, video clips of old Duran videos, the "Wild Boys" video and other tv clips, and ends with Dr. Duran Duran himself (from the movie "Barbarella") laughing (there are clips from "Barbarella" interspersed throughout the video).

The video takes place at the Eiffel Tower, and integrates footage from a chase scene in the James Bond film of the same name. It starts with Roger being transported from the front of a truck to the rear cabin, where he enters a chair and launches a spy camera (an image of a minicam that flies across the screen). Simon is on one level of the tower with a Walkman, John is looking through a telescope, Andy is a blindman with an accordian, and Nick is conducting a fashion shoot. Simon's Walkman allows him to blow up a helicopter and blimp (scenes taken from the film). Nick uses his camera for spying, and John uses a gun disguised as a gun to shoot down one of the flying cameras. Andy uses the accordian to kill off Nick (something goes off in Nick's ear, then his camera explodes). At the end, a woman comes up to Simon, asks who he is, and he replies "Bon, Simon Le Bon". Her tug on his arm causes him to enter a code in the Walkman to blow up the Eiffel Tower -- which leads to a shot of a postcard of the tower blowing up.

The phrase 'a gun disguised as a gun' is such beauty.

Its the only album where I felt hurt and violated from having to heard.

Favorite DD album tracks: I know I've said elsewhere that Rio is great for it's non-singles, so search all of those.

Has anyone picked up the Singles 81-85 box, with replica sleeves of all the original artwork? It's a thing of immense beauty.

It's a shame that people are completely ignoring Thank You. For one, yes, the cover of "White Lines" is lovely. It's a great crowd-pleaser at concerts! Secondly, I think the cover of "Watching the Detectives" is at least as good as the original (i.e. the Elvis Costello version). Third, I love what the band did with "The Chauffeur" with their original, "Drive By". Fourth, I do quite like the cover of "Thank You" and "Crystal Ship", because with those songs you can tell how into classic rock Simon really was and still is, going at least as far back as his first interviews (where he mentions how much he loves Led Zeppelin). Finally, I do like the cover of "Lay Lady Lay". Sure, the rest may be a bit confounding, but it's certainly unexpected and that is, from my perspective, quite good.

Kate, you mentioned the Lovely Blue Planet of There before -- I'm addicted to that site! I love reading horribly bad fan fiction, and you can't get much cringingly worse than the slashfic. Sometimes, though, some of the regular fanfic is quite nice. You know the Nikkolys series? I like that. Have you written fanfic before? If so, what are some of the ones I might know?

It's fantastic! I might have to eat it!

That is the greatest album review in the history of mankind, what the fuck? I have literally sat here for 10 minutes laughing at this, and not just because I'm drunk, honestly.

On B-sides: the one B-side of theirs everyone should hear is Secret Oktober, found on Union Of The Snake and much better than anything on Seven And The Ragged Tiger.

*spins around, falls to floor*

God, if you're listening, I want to look like Simon LeBon for just one day, please, please, please...

Only real spunk in Duranduran lookslwise was Roger Taylor.

John Taylor was the first male heartthrob of every lesbian I know. Work that out for yourself.

In defense of Thank You, however, it should be noted that Elvis Costell and Lou Reed both love Duran's cover versions. I think it the artist likes your cover, then everyone else can fuck off.

Oh, and between Arcadia and Power Station, I vote Arcadia. It was Nick Rhodes in the "Election Day" video that propelled my 12-year-old-self to the chemist's for black hair dye for the very first time. But, erm, in terms of musical purity, Power Station wins. Bernard Edwards making JT play until his fingers bleed beats backing vocals from Sting and Grace Jones any day.

GIMME GIMME GIMMEEEEE!!!

NOTHING beats Grace Jones adding vocals to anything, surely?

Russ T... sorry. I think Bernard Edwards and his funkaliciousness throughout the Power Station LP (and his profound influence on JT) must top Grace Jones on "Election Day."

The reproductions look a little dodgy, but maybe that's just me since I work with graphic design all day? Besides, it's not like Assorted iMaGeS could have sent over their .pdfs, now, is it?

Assorted iMaGeS. The true believers know.

The two of them vs. the Designers Republic = utterly impossible to determine. Argh...

in practice i taped careless memories, save a prayer, the chauffeur, & a track called 'whispers' (which i cannot recall the sound of at the moment)

i also like ordinary world, view to a kill & skin trade and wish i had them too

dis-association of the sound from everything else about them is key - a purer/simpler/better way of listening, or a thinner/ fragmented/simpleton way.....
ilm may help me decide one day

That singles box is awesome.

Also on the b-side search: The full, five-minute version of Arcadia's "Rose Arcana". I sigh a million happy sighs when I listen to that lush arrangement. Yum.

This is a very happy day in Deannaville.

*quietly hopes no one recognizes this bit*

"Medazzaland" is my very favorite album. The title track thrills me to the bone as I'm madly obsessed with Nick Rhodes. "Big Bang Generation" is a rollicking good-time track. "Electric Barbarella" is a great song with a horrible video (IMO). "Out of My Mind"...well, it's a beautiful track to say the least...the righteous heir to the "Save a Prayer" throne if the universe was fair. "WDYTYA?"...well, I only *quote* from it in my sig! "Silva Halo"...I must be one of a few people who love this track. "Be My Icon" is a thrillingly cheeky track. "So Long Suicide" is the ultimate highlight for me...I think it's incredibly awesome. "Buried in the Sand" is sweetly tragic in its plaintiveness. "Undergoing Treatment" is simply brilliant, another exceptionally cheeky track. I *think* I named every track on the album but if not...well, I love them all!

(Oh yeah, and "WDYTYA?" = "Who Do You Think You Are?" Just FYI.)

Just wanted to post that up so that you can see, through something I wrote over three years ago, why Medazzaland remains my favorite album of theirs.

p.s.: Kate, if you're reading this, I know who you're talking about re: Alizarine!! Isn't she the woman who theorized that Nick came from the same lovely little planet David Bowie comes from? If that's the case, OMG, her website is totally hilarious! And I do remember Entertain Me! You guys had the BEST slashfic around. I miss that place, in fact.

*drops off to sleepland*

Planet Earth
Late Bar
Careless Memories
Girls On Film
My Own Way
Hungry Like The Wolf
Save A Prayer
Rio
Hold Back The Rain
The Chauffeur
Is There Something I Should Know?
Union Of The Snake
New Moon On Monday
The Reflex
Wild Boys
A View To A Kill
Notorious
Come Undone
Ordinary World

(79:30, chronological AFAIK)

Today, classic! Without any shadow of doubt!

This song alone makes Duran Duran in the 90's equal to their 80's classic period.

From Liberty (1990):
"First Impression"
"Liberty"
"My Antarctica"
"Serious"
"Venice Drowning"

From The Wedding Album (1993):
"Too Much Information"
"Ordinary World"
"Love Voodoo"
"Come Undone"
"Breath After Breath"
"None Of The Above"
"Sin Of The City"

From Thank You (1995):
"Drive By"
"Watching The Detectives"
"Perfect Day"

From Medazzaland (1997):
"Medazzaland"
"Big Bang Generation"
"Electric Barbarella"
"Out Of My Mind"
"Who Do You Think You Are?"
"Silva Halo"
"Be My Icon"
"Buried In The Sand"
"Michael (You've Got A Lot To Answer For)"
"Midnight Sun"
"So Long Suicide"
"Undergoing Treatment"

(Of course I would have to name every single one of the songs on that album -- that's my favorite album of all time!)

I would also name songs off Pop Trash, but that's going into a different decade altogether. Though I do adore it, not as much as Medazzaland and sometimes not as much as The Wedding Album, but I do certainly think it's an awesome album overall. :)

Ooh, I'll have to work on it tonight. Just getting to narrowing it down to that length... wow. I might actually want to do that myself. :) (The burning, that is.)

Does Night Version just mean extended version?

Well, "Night Version" is essentially a catch-all term that refers to certain extended versions of songs the band recorded back in the early '80s (i.e., pre-7&TRT), but in terms of Rio tracks that are labeled "Night Version", it's more often referring to tracks remixed by David Kershenbaum. For example, the "Night Version" of "Hungry Like the Wolf" is hardly any longer than the "regular" version of "HLTW", but it sounds a bit differently because of the David Kershenbaum touch. Any American who bought the Rio album on vinyl back when Rio started becoming popular Stateside, or cassette back when Rio was originally released in the U.S., would be most familiar with the "Night Version" of a sizeable chunk of the songs therein. The original vinyl release and the most recent cassette release of Rio would have the original mixes of all the songs, same as the regular worldwide CD version of said album and the regular UK vinyl/cassette versions.

Uh, have I confused you?

"Fallen Angel"/"Falling Angel"
(They're essentially the same song, though "Falling Angel", which is found on the Obsession and Corruption release, has a different, rougher intro than "Fallen Angel". This song, though, no matter what the version, is gorgeous and lovely.)

"Time For Temptation"
(Great, catchy song, though once again the version found on Obsession and Corruption is a bit rougher than the version found on the Japanese version of TWA.)

"Stop Dead"
(Now there's only one version of this song! Still, great and catchy and very danceable. Anytime you see anything in the Duranternet referring to the phrase "Yo Latin mama, check out your hombre," you can now know that it comes from this particular song.)

You know, I've had that "enhanced" special edition CD deal ever since they released it, practically, and it just sits there in my bedroom gathering dust, because the first time I listened to it I realized they had misled us into thinking it was going to be the version of the album with all those David Kershenbaum remixes, but instead it turned out to be just a cleaned-up version of the regular CD release. I had no idea there were additional things on that CD aside from the music and the three videos that they stuck on there. (Predictably for the clueless Crapitol they went for the more commercially available videos and included "Rio", "Hungry Like The Wolf", and "Save A Prayer", thus completely ignoring the video for the "disco-fied" "My Own Way" and the video for "Lonely In Your Nightmare".) Wow. So there's a discography on there. I'm going to actually have to fire up that baby on the computer sometime soonish.

(p.s.: Please, hon, call me Dee.)

make a CD80 of latter day tracks and post it! Then I will burn it and listen as I drive around!

... and here it is, complete with run times of each of the songs listed:

"My Antarctica" (5:00)
"Serious" (4:20)
"Ordinary World" (5:39)
"Love Voodoo" (4:58)
"Sin Of The City" (7:14)
"Breath After Breath" (4:58)
"Fallen Angel" (4:35)
"Drive By" (5:34)
"Watching The Detectives" (4:48)
"Big Bang Generation" (4:40)
"Electric Barbarella" (5:16)
"Out Of My Mind" (4:16)
"Be My Icon" (5:10)
"So Long Suicide" (4:37)
"Undergoing Treatment" (3:05)
"Sinner And Saint" ("Electric Barbarella" b-side) (4:50)

Total run time: 79 minutes, exactly. I did a list up which included "Come Undone", but that would've pushed the compilation to 83 minutes and 38 seconds, which would've been impossible. I figured that since you had "Come Undone" in your other compilation, and that "Ordinary World" is such a personal song to me that I would really want you to have it in here too, that "Come Undone" could get cut.

Enjoy! (And I'm definitely going to enjoy making this one for myself. *grins*)

Yeah! That's why I like them.

WHERE THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU GUYS WHEN I WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL OR HIGH SCHOOL?!

I got SO much shit from my classmates throughout grade and high schools for being a Duran fan. I either got asked, "Ew, you like those old people?" or, "Who are they?" I didn't even know there were any other fans out there until 1997, when I went online for the first time and found out that there WERE other fans out there.

God, I would've been in fangirl heaven if you'd have also been there.

If you don't like Duran Duran's music, just say so, understood? I am not having any more elitist malarkey concerning the band. I've forced down more than enough shit like that by practically everyone in the mainstream music media. If you don't like their music personally, you have every right to, but saying that they "suck" is also essentially saying that my taste in music "sucks" because I adore this band.

Look, Duran's music has saved my sanity time and again. "Ordinary World" and "So Long Suicide" are songs that have especially personal connotations to me. I have been a fan of the band through some of the rockiest of roads. I champion them and defend them and I am NOT about to have some random person tell me that all of that means nothing because it does. It may not to you, but it definitely does to me.

but you saying they're great if i think they suck is essentially saying that my taste in music sucks! so how dare you sing their praises? seriously, come on... this is a "classic or dud" thread. expect a few posts on the dud side.

but you saying they're great if i think they suck is essentially saying that my taste in music sucks! so how dare you sing their praises? seriously, come on... this is a "classic or dud" thread. expect a few posts on the dud side.

What? You make no sense to me. All I'm doing is going on about how much of a fan I am and how much I know about the band. This is the message I get from the jack coles of the world (and there are TONS of them):

"Oh God, Duran Duran sucks ass and you are a fool for being a fan of their music because it is horribly wretched and how can you even consider yourself to have any good taste whatsoever when you're such a huge fan of such shit? You just like them because they're attractive, face it -- you don't take music seriously because you like them and they wouldn't have been nearly as successful had they not been as physically attractive as they were, because their music certainly wasn't going to do it for them."

I can't even count how many times I've gotten this message -- from every single mainstream music press person and "serious music" fan I've come across out there. So excuse me for being a bit touchy. I do recognize that one could not like that kind of music and say, "Well, for me personally, they're completely dud." But I am not standing for anything that gives off the message of, "You are the world's biggest fool for caring as much about this one band as you do because they are so utterly untalented." I've had enough shit like that from the Rolling Stones and the Qs of the world.

I look up information on this group, The Field Mice (because I honestly have no idea who they are), if you point me in the direction of someone who is taken seriously in the music world (music press, music recording, etc.) who also acts as an advocate for Duran Duran and obviously loves their music.

Until then, I remain unmoved.

I was born in late 1979, and look at how passionate a fan of Duran Duran I am. I've seen them six times in concert. Granted, it wasn't the "fab five" lineup I was seeing at the time, but I'm a huge fan of all the lineups the band has had, including the "unofficial Duran reunion-ette" otherwise known as The Devils. (Stephen Duffy and Nick Rhodes, together again for the first time since early 1979!)

However, with any luck, next year I will be seeing the "fab five" lineup, as they (hopefully) support that new album thing they've been talking about for over a year and a half already!

Wyclef Jean (who I've never listened to but he's a mainstream music guy), he listed Rio as his #1 favorite album ever, I'm pretty sure.

Did they ever.

Dr C have you seen sense yet?

So any word on the new album?

Praise Dee, for she understands. High five sistah.

My husband likes the Field Mice. The worst he's ever had to deal with is paying too much for an import album. Cry me a fucking river.

The day a Field Mice fan is cornered in a middle school cafeteria and publicly taunted by mean-spirited 12 year olds for liking the band is the day fortunate hazel wins the debate. There's a difference between liking a band that critics don't acknowledge or appreciate and loving a band to an overwhelming degree and having everyone -- critics, record store clerks, friends, lovers, enemies, random people on the street, radio and video program directors -- openly and publicly shitting on them for fifteen years just because they were popular and pretty.

Considering that being popular and pretty are two of the most important things in the world in most western cultures, this is only slightly ironic.

Datz rich.

it's DURANIME!

Experience Duran Duran live on the current tour. Do they sound just like the record? Almost. They're tighter than a [insert YOUR lewd comment here].

Due: October 4th [UK] October 5th [US] on Epic

As far as the Field Mice comparison goes, I'm not really sure it's fair. Bobby Wratten has been vindicated those last few years (even though I know they were ridiculed in the eighties) with Trembling Blue Stars, recognized for the wonderful songwriter he is, but no such thing has happened to Duran Duran. I mean, the whole New Romantics movement is still considered vomit-inducing by many (most) music journalists.

I've gotten a chance to listen to some of the demo tracks that have been floating about online and I think the songs are quite solid. The lyrics aren't as obtuse, mainly because Simon's writer's block has meant that more of the lyric-writing responsibilities have been passed on down to the rest of the band, mostly Nick if the trend from Pop Trash has continued. Even though the demos were mostly produced by Nile Rodgers and the actual album itself is going to be produced by a few other producers, including Jason Nevins (apparently -- he's the one who did the remix of "Sunrise" for the Queer Eye soundtrack), I think they're not going to sound tremendously different. Maybe a bit more polished and hi-fi and maybe tracks such as "Pretty Ones" will be transformed into actual full-length ones, but still, not that much of a change.

I'm glad you included the new label in that news update. Duran signed with Epic a few months back, apparently agreeing to release two or three albums with the label. I have no idea what happened between them and Hollywood Records, which released Pop Trash in 2000, but I do know that even during the Thank You and Medazzaland era, Capitol were doing more publicity for the band than Hollywood ever did.

Also, heads up -- first single for the band is going to be "Sunrise", with a video directed by the Polish Brothers [never heard of them before in my life].

The video, directed by the Polish Brothers, was shot in four countries - US (California desert/John), Ibiza (on the beach, out in the countryside and at 10,000 capacity club - Manumission/Andy), Spain (up in the Pyrennes/Simon) and in London (Roger and Nick).

Sounds... weird. *shrug* Oh well. Better than the Flash video nightmare that was "Someone Else Not Me". (Yes, it was a video made purely from Flash. Made a pretty screen saver, but not a video.)

As for the title of the album -- trust me, it will probably factor in heavily with the theme of the album. Medazzaland, i.e. my favorite album of theirs, was an album filled with songs about the perplexing modern world, how the dizzying effects of so much change and chaos could affect someone in the same manner as would an injection of a hallucinatory sedative would. Pop Trash dealt with the trashy and disposable, from fame to the search for true love, in songs that were bookmarked by the not-so-trashy, i.e. one song about showing love toward someone else by setting them free, and another song about living life as if each day were the last day one were on Earth. Maybe Astronaut will have as much meaning.

Thus says the ever-eternal, "shit, I can't help being this way" optimistic fangirl.

</xpost>

Oh? No way. So would you advise me to look forward to this video, then?

And the rest of the music journalists out there only seem to have a surface "love" for the artists of the genre, a "love" that never really seems to surface when it really counts, e.g. when it comes time to stating their own personal list of "greatest albums" or "greatest frontmen" (come on, Simon was just as energetic in concert in 2001 as he was in 1984, and he could sing better, too) or "best bassists" (John laid some mean bass lines) or "greatest artists from the '80s" (if you're going to pigeonhole them to only ten years of their twenty-six-and-going years of existence, at least tell me you thought they were GOOD during those years), or hell, even "favorite albums" or "singles" or whatever.

I remain unconvinced that a single music journalist out there Really Loves DD.

http://www.durandurantimeline.com/years/prehistory.html

http://www.cookingvinyl.com/the_lilac_time/index.php

The Prefects were basically the first punk band in Birmingham(Subway Sect as well?) and the tangents article mentions John Taylor's love of the Nightingales. Steven "Tin Tin" Duffy formed Duran Duran, then left the band and joined up with ex-members of the Prefects for several bands, ending with Lilac Time featuring his brother Nick Duffy. The Prefects featured Eamon Duffy, another borther or Nick? I have to get this straight. They all used to play at the punk club Barbarellas, the Prefects even wrote a song about it. What is it with Birmingham and that movie?

(Okay, so that was just an excuse for me to recite some MORE Duran trivia that's permanently stuck in my head. *whew* I feel better now.)

uh, there's music journalists ON THIS VERY THREAD professing their love of DD. and the 80s are hot shit all over again now - there's tons of club kids who eat retro New Ro fetish for breakfast. Liking Duran Duran is no longer a contrary position in any way shape or form....

Hm, how many people take "club kids" seriously? You know, Duran Duran were ORIGINALLY a band that catered to "club kids" -- remember, they were once sorta the house band for the Rum Runner and were originally managed by that club's owners, and they were still a more adult "club" band up until the first single from Rio, "My Own Way" was released -- but did that help their case ca. 1982, when critics were lining up just to shit all over aformentioned album? Nope.

As for the whole "music journalists on this thread loving DD" thing -- well, yeah, I did completely forget about Ned there. Okay, so that's one person. Not even Ned can be Everywhere Man.

(Actually, that rant was partly inspired by my recent perusal of Spin magazine, which I was convinced would do a halfway decent job with all mentions of DD in its pages, but I HATED that issue because (a.) it proves to me that the only band members anyone at Spin seems to remember are Simon and John [thought process at the time of seeing a picture caption in the reviews section: You should do your fucking research, you fuckers -- the guy doing the sax solo in that raft in the "Rio" video was fucking ANDY HAMILTON! You know, the guy who actually played the fucking sax on that track?? NOT fucking John, you stupid asses!], (b.) they think the band were always a teen idol band, when the band didn't even begin being covered in the teen magazines until about late 1982 [see: the comic strip rendering of the SLB story in the back of the issue], and (c.) Charles Aaron, in mentioning Rio in the list of the "best New Wave albums ever!", wasn't even BRAVE enough to actually SAY ANYTHING NICE about that album! He just said the usual bullshit about the band being a bunch of stylish pretty boys. Hello? What's so fucking new about that kind of "journalism"? Please, at least mention how great A FEW of the songs are on that album! Please fast forward the fucking album and see how damn good "The Chauffeur" and "Last Chance on the Stairway" are! Please acknowledge how awe-inspiring "Hungry Like the Wolf" is, even after listening to it 10,000 or so times! Please talk about how lovely "Lonely in Your Nightmare" is! DON'T FUCKING GO INTO HOW "TEEN IDOL"-Y THE BAND WERE! THAT'S JUST TIRED OLD BULLSHIT!

*whew* Okay. I feel slightly better.)

(p.s.: Where's the love for Medazzaland around here? That is the most underrated Duran album and the biggest artistic accomplishment the band has ever made. They will NEVER top that album. NEVER.)

Then again, when Medazzaland is your third best album, what does that say about the quality of your material? Blah. Great singles, though.

True, that would be time-consuming. ;-)

A Dollar/Duran Duran collaboration would have been either horrifying or brilliant.

At least now I know who Animotion was trying to look like.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to slap myself silly for completely glossing over the love people have already expressed for Medazzaland on this thread. I guess I was in the midst of a blinding streak of loneliness because I've made misconceptions about ILM and thought I couldn't possibly engender hyper discussion about things such as how exciting it will be to get the SECOND singles box because, even though it doesn't do what the first one does and recreates the singles exactly, it does succeed in bringing forth all manner of obscure remixes and even more obscure b-sides, such as the two spoken-word tracks from the Big Thing era, "God (London)" and "This is the Way a Road Gets Made". One of them (I actually forget which one) is a track that features Simon uttering the infamous "fuck the Queen" quote. (Those of you who hadn't heard this already -- I kid you not.) Oh, and if the version of "Throb" they're including in this singles box is the rare instrumental version (yes, there are two versions of a b-side -- THE MADNESS!), I will have to eat this box set.

Heh. Thank you for that. I guess I have to make SOME use of this otherwise useless information, hm? (FYI, this is why I'm completely clueless about all sorts of other artists I should know more about -- I've devoted way too much cerebral disc space to the most minute data about ONE single musical artist. Obv.)

(Ned, I cannot thank you enough for the Rio review in AMG. That's the best review of a Duran recording I have ever seen in my entire life and I am eternally grateful to you for that.)

Some day I will buy a dollar copy of the first Duran Duran album!

Ooh Tim, you're going to want to get the remastered version of the DD debut album, hon. Because that is the ACTUAL debut album itself, with "To the Shore" and everything, instead of the 1983 re-release of the debut album Capitol ended up using in place of the actual debut, when it was transferring the entire Duran album catalog onto CD back in the late 1980s. This was referenced above in a post that complained about how the 1983 song "Is There Something I Should Know?" was stuck in the middle of an album full of 1981 songs. "To the Shore" is joyfully dark and affecting, which means it fits in well with the rest of the debut, unlike "ITSISK?"'s Seven & the Ragged Tiger-like synthpoppiness.

This remaster should set you back a bit more than just a dollar, but it will be well worth it.

i wonder if anything on 'Astronaut' will sound like Planet Funk's 'The Switch' or 'Stuck In The UK'

I have no idea what either of the second two songs you mentioned sound like, but I do know that if you wanted a possible preview of what Astronaut MIGHT sound like, you would pick up a copy of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack, which features the Jason Nevins remix of "Sunrise", i.e. the first single proposed for this new album. It's very Positive Thinking dancey, which is awesome, sure, but also sits a bit uncomfortably with me, since the band were having success being awesomely bitter and cynical with Medazzaland and Pop Trash.

Aw. Well, thank ya!

http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2004/08/astronaut.html

I saw that album cover first a couple of days ago and thought it looked pretty good. It's certainly a huge step up from the Medazzaland and Pop Trash (and Greatest, too!) album covers. It's not the most brilliant cover around (in fact, it sorta reminds me of the 7&TRT cover) but it's rather pretty. And the whole artwork theme is exactly that of the artwork presented for the promotional gear during the 25th anniversary tour late last year (and v. early this year).

s1ocki, I guess I'm sorta looking for more love of the band's ENTIRE career, not just the pre-1986 "Fab Five" era. For example, I happen to think that the most amazing artwork connected with the band's releases happened ca. The Wedding Album and I am a HUGE fan of the band's music from 1997 - 2000. And I think the most romantic Duran song out there is the Big Thing-era "Land". And besides, all this love doesn't seem to be making its way to any of the periodicals I scour on at least a semi-regular basis. Every time I read a Duran article or a Duran tidbit in some magazine or newspaper, invariably they will talk about the band's '80s teen idol status, shriek about how "cute" the band were back in the '80s, go on like '80s teenyboppers (thus ignoring the fact that Warren injected a hell of a lot of innovative energy into the band and influenced the band in other ways -- Nick is a vegetarian because of Warren's influence, for instance), or go on about some stupid, inane lowlight of the band's history (e.g. that stupid Q magazine special article that just seemed to focus on Simon's mishap with Drum back in 1985).

So I guess my answer to that is to just go on here and vent about it. And wonder, secretly to myself, why no one says a word about how stupid any of it is, why no one will acknowledge that hardly anyone will write anything serious about this band. I mean, come on -- the last time Duran were teen idols was NINETEEN years ago. Some college students weren't even born when the last teenybopper publication stopped doing any Duran articles. I think it's time to acknowledge they've paid their dues already and for the World Outside to give them the same break they've been giving U2 for nearly forever and a day.

Like it or not, those first two albums remain the most consistent set of songs they've managed to put together (The Wedding Album has too many tangents). I'd love for them to prove the critics wrong and reestablished their credibility, but I'm not holding my breath.

Seconded.

Fifthed - and while Duran's later-80s output gets slammed, I thought "Skin Trade", "All She Wants Is", and especially "I Don't Want Your Love" were all fantastic. Ditto the two big Arcadia singles, "Election Day" and "Goodbye Is Forever".

Duran Duran never wanted that, though.

(I also suppose this is a continuation of a thread I started around here several months back, hitting similar topics to the ones I brought up most recently. Many apologies for carrying over that discussion to this one, though maybe in the end this way is cleaner and more organized centrality.)

Undergoing Treatment
We are undergoing treatment
Watching others in the news
Studying our worst reviews
They say we’ll get over it
Disappear like dinosaurs
To the sound of small applause
Resign to the mid-price section

If you see me walking in the garden
Don’t ever ask me for an autograph
If you ever catch me in the arcade
Don’t even stop me for a photograph

We are undergoing treatment
'Til our ethic fits the scene
Laid out in Q Magazine
They crave our conformity
Mediocre to the bone
Terrified testosterone
But why do we still face the music?

If you see me walking in the garden
Don’t ever ask me...

Now and then you get the strangest notion
There’s something missing
But it keeps you guessing
Wild ambition can you really blame us?
Can you entertain us?
Can you give a little more?

If you see me walking in the garden
Don’t ever ask me for an autograph
If you ever catch me in the arcade
Don’t even stop me for a photograph

We are undergoing treatment
But will the doctors ever cure
These delusions of grandeur

Good night. (Yes, "good night".)

One:  Tantrum the Cat, how I'm lovin' you at this moment. Okay, so you're naming singles, but you're naming singles from BIG THING, which often gets passed up by people talking about Duran. It really is their most underappreciated album, IMHO. I mean, I can see how people who hate Liberty can hate it, esp since it took me about a year and a half to really get to like that album, but for me Big Thing has always been enjoyable.

Two:  fortunate hazel, you make an excellent point there re: "classic rock appeal". I suppose Serious Music People are always going to be looking backwards towards the '70s and the Big Arena Rock Bands as the standard bearers for what makes music good, and I can see how that would leave artists such as the Duran boys completely out in the cold, because as diverse as their musical output has been throughout their 25 years of existence, they have never done anything approaching Arena Rock, nor would they ever. I can see how U2, being Big Arena Rockers, would elicit accolades by the caseload from those individuals who still worship at the altar of the late '60s Beatles, yeah.

Three:  Atnevon, PLEASE tell me that you're one of those people who wished Duran released nothing but sequels to Rio. PLEASE tell me that. Because that's the only way I can process your comments and have them make sense to me. Medazzaland and Pop Trash were both genius to me, so much more preferrable to the band's first two albums, because the lyrical content reflected a band that was more cynical, more bitter, more sarcastic and less idealistic than the band who recorded songs about "aphids swarming in the drifing haze", and because the music was just so much more mature and complex. I can close my eyes and explore a universe completely different than the one I know whenever I listen to "Pop Trash Movie" or "Silva Halo". I can't really do that with "Friends of Mine" or "Lonely in Your Nightmare", no matter how much I love those older songs.

I guess my situation would be different from yours, though -- I've listened to the '81 debut and Rio so many times that all the songs on those two albums have completely lost the magic they used to work on me. I haven't listened to Rio in four or five months and I can STILL mentally play back every single track on that album. I haven't listened enough to the band's post-Notorious albums for that to happen to me. And, as hokey and completely insane as this may sound, the band's music from 1987 onward has helped me out THE MOST. I listened to The Wedding Album to help me get over my fears and apprehensions about entering high school and Medazzaland helped soothe my frayed nerves while I was in the process of graduating from high school and entering college. Later on, Pop Trash and Big Thing provided much-needed entertainment for me when I was in the midst of the most difficult period I've ever gone through in my life. I guess I'm showing my biases here, but maybe this will at least help you to understand why it is that I feel the way I feel on this issue.

Four:  cinniblount, I know how ILM is about U2. I know how much more love the ILM community shows toward Duran than they show toward U2. I really don't have any complaints about the general ILM attitude toward the band. However, in the Serious Music world outside ILM, the situations and attitudes are COMPLETELY reversed. Everywhere. With everyone. Including those publications I personally had held out hope for re: seeing them change their attitudes about the band, e.g. Spin magazine.

I guess I might have ulterior or quite personal reasons for wanting to see some really serious publication devote time to actually taking Duran Duran seriously as a band rather than just dwell on the few years they were "teen idols". See, I wasn't there for the ride back then. I never got the chance to see my favorite musical artist be popular with people in my age bracket. Even with the "comeback" back in 1993, I had to look long and hard for anything written about the band, only to be extremely disappointed about what I read. (I will take time to bring up the two lousy stars and the shallow "review" Rolling Stone gave The Wedding Album back in 1993 -- yeah, thanks a fucking lot.) It has always been my dream to be able to pop into a bookstore, pick up some publication that features my favorite musical artist, read it, and feel like my fanhood was being justified on a serious level (and then purchase it, obv), because I have long since given up hope that my fanhood would be justified on a "popularity" level. And while some of you might enjoy reading what I have to say about this band, it doesn't make up for the fact that I spent so many years of my fanhood feeling like I should be ashamed of myself for loving this band, that I was wasting my time and energies and money devoting myself to this band instead of going off and being a Pearl Jam fan like I was supposed to be. For YEARS I have been waiting for a change in that sort of attitude, only to find it's not coming.

I guess I'll just have to adopt the attitude fortunate hazel has proposed. In the meantime... I'm hoping that the reason that I've never found anyone here on ILM to connect with on a shared Duran fanhood level is because I've come across too strongly with my own fanhood, because that way there would be a solution to that problem, i.e. to not come across as strongly in that arena. It would be really good to have that sort of connection over here, with someone actually willing to discuss the band's music (instead of which member's the cutest or what fanhood-based memories they have of the band ca. 1984, both of which are discussion topics I cannot relate to).

(Okay, I'll leave this thread now.)

Anyway, there's news of a book that might be coming out. While I'm happy at the thought of Duran actually getting something new published about them -- the last time I think they ever had a book released about them was back ca. 1985 -- I feel slightly dismayed about it because I feel like I'll read the finished product and think that I could've done a better job with it. Because it's going to be written by a music journalist, see, and the last time I remember a music journalist writing a Duran book was when Toby Goldstein released a Duran book in the early '80s that was essentially lightweight and mistake-ridden reading. And every time I compare Goldstein's book to the book written and released at the same time by a then-fan named Cynthia C. Kent, I recognize just how much better Kent's book is, in terms of quality and accuracy.

But -- I don't know what's going to happen to this proposed new book. Right now it's at the proposal stage and so it might not even really get off the ground. But I feel like, even though I'm not a writer, I let an opportunity slip by. Which is insanity, I'm sure.

(And I'm never going to find a fellow fan around here to connect with intellectually, right?)

This is not a request, BTW, to recommend me more Duran Duran.

BTW, the "annoying background vocal" in "Come Undone" was sung by none other than Lamya. Yes, THE Lamya. Reason # 523,981 why 2003's pop music scene afforded me chances to laugh.

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.

Damn! Impressive.

I've been listening to a lot of Duran Duran (81-82) and David Sylvian (83-85) lately so I thought this would be perfect reading right now but I didn't like it very much.

love it.

Thanks to Geir (and unregistered) I'm listening to Rio again.

This album is a fucking miracle, right?

completely and utterly

check the 'Classic Albums' Rio doc if you haven't seen it. one of the better episodes for sure IMO.

Ordinary world is classic

Come Undone is better though

I love this band. I won't dismiss any of their albums - Liberty might arguably be their weakest & the production doesn't do it any favours, but it still has some really great songs on it.

To me, they released their best work to date with their 13th album All You Need Is Now.
I'm very fond of Big Thing too.

I'm pretty sure I've posted about this before but:

Circa 1981, my best friend's older sister (let's call her Stephanie) had a Journey poster on her bedroom door. In it, Steve Perry is singing a note that appears to emanate from his lower intestine. His eyes are tightly closed; sweat is pouring down his face. His hair looks a bit like Joan Baez's; his jeans scrupulously follow the contours of his testicles.

By 1983, Steve was gone from Stephanie's door. It now held the icy-cool stares of Duran Duran, in Members Only-style jackets against a backdrop of lavender and aqua. Their lipstick perfectly matches the color of their immaculately pleated pants.

All I need to know about the difference between the 70s and 80s I learned from Stephanie's door.

I immediately started saving up to buy a Roland Juno 6.

Side 2 of Big Thing is fantastic, and the b-sides were pretty good too.

https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog/2018/06/20/taylor-made-cocktails/

Well...

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/duran-durans-simon-le-bon-denies-sexual-misconduct-allegation-698560/

It's obviously a sensitive subject, and one person's word against another, but just from that article it doesn't seem to ring true.

glad we got that sorted

Can someone please explain?.

link doesn't work but you can always post a question here it's ilm after all

Sorry. The reason for this strange behavior.

Great write-ups Alfred.

I wish the rest of their albums were as good as Rio - the leap from the debut to that is incredible, but fucking hell did they hit a wall fast creatively.

Great write-ups Alfred.

― Gavin, Leeds

Thanks!

My list would be very similar. I'd put Notorious behind Seven Ragged & The Tiger. I guess I'd probably throw in All You Need Is Now in seventh place as the best of their later albums (not there is much competition).

I listened to Big Thing recently and it was slightly better than I remembered. It still has some issues though.

Notorious is a great album, I still remember listening to it in my room on Christmas Day 1986 and my dad stopping in the doorway, listening for a sec, and approvingly saying "This is Duran Duran? I thought they were terrible". It was Winter Marches On playing. So from then on I was like "ah, this is their album that adults like" and now, as an adult, I do still quite like it! The first three albums I love in the uncritical way you love stuff from your childhood, but they're also somewhat inaccessible now for that reason. But I can listen to Notorious whenever and dig it.

still don't get why "Hold Me" wasn't the follow-up to "Notorious."

Can someone please explain?

Please please tell you now

yeah, Hold Me makes way more sense as a single than Skin Trade! I would have released Meet El Presidente -> Hold Me -> American Science as singles.

I remember reading an interview with Nick a while back where he was talking about Skin Trade. The band and the label thought it was the huge hit on the album. When the title track slightly under-performed, they weren't worried because they knew they had Skin Trade as the secret weapon. They were shocked when it did so badly. Not sure why they thought Meet El Presidente would turn things around when it came to picking a third single.

They even named the tour after a "Skin Trade" lyric: Strange Behavior.

Wait, what? Underperformed in the UK, maybe. In the United States, it was a massive #2 hit.

xpost

Nah, "Skin Trade" only reached #39 US.

I bought the 45 back in '87, so I did my part!

But it's funny you say Y-100 in Miami broke "Ordinary World." I lived in South Florida at the time and remember it was Power 96 that played that song to death.

Josefa, I meant "Notorious" in case it wasn't clear.

I remember "Ordinary World" on Y-100, which was inching toward all-A/C in late '92 and early '93, but you might be right.

Wow, after all these years, I didn't know your history! A shout-out!

Oh sorry, re Notorious.

Yeah, ancient history at this point, but I cherish the memories and still try to make it down there once in a while

[South Florida content here:] Power 96 of course was the freestyle station back in those days, but occasionally they would latch on to some power ballad they considered meaningful and play it in high rotation. "Winds of Change" by the Scorpions was another one.

Ah no way, Alfred. "So Red The Rose" is excellent even if bloated.

yeah it's second behind Rio based on what I've heard

tt keeps telling me that SATRT is quite good but I'm really scared to hear it. really I'm scared to hear anything that isn't Rio - it's hard to hear a band capable of all-time brilliance cranking out shit

side two of SATRG is perfect, the non-single tracks on side one are kinda weak

"Strange CO-inci-DENCE each time you. look. my way."

Never been entirely sure what's so bad about 7&TRT, tbh, but the "uncritical way you love stuff from your childhood" complicates things for me too. (Everything up to Notorious really.) I'm totally digging "Of Crime & Passion" this instant. Can't face "The Reflex" though, admittedly.

Related: is there an obvious reason why "A Matter of Feeling" is seemingly Spotify's favourite Notorious track by a wide margin?

Because it's a goddamned amazing song, "Nag! Nag! Nag!". (Medazzaland's still my favorite album of all time, just to be predictable.) (Hello again!)

of all time

I was watching a press conference of Duran Duran circa '84 where American journalists were comparing the band to The Beatles because of the hysteria of the crowds, and the band essentially saying "The Beatles were 20 years ago, it was a moment in history that won't happen again, we're here to make our own history and we have next to nothing in common with them" ... Fantastic. A lot of respect for the band for saying that. Just goes to show that even back then, when music was as exciting as ever, the likes of Jann Wenner were trying to yank rock back into what they liked as teenagers instead of letting it blossom. I only wish every band had the balls to call out The Beatles for being old news.

Having said that, Andy Taylor suddenly wanting to be some sort of RAWK GAWD circa '85 was pretty depressing. Check out the footage of Power Station vs. footage of Duran Duran at Live Aid, and it's clear which band he's more into being in.

Watched that documentary from last year on BBC4 last week, it was clearly one the band had editorial control over and was consequentially like some kind of terrible EPK

Watched that documentary from last year on BBC4 last week, it was clearly one the band had editorial control over and was consequentially like some kind of terrible EPK

Whatever, the fan base (for whom the documentary was made) adored it unanimously, and it's fairly difficult to achieve unanimity amongst us Duranies. Though I would really highly recommend the other BBC special that debuted at the same time, "A Night In"; "Something You Should Know" was great, but I already knew everything they discussed in the documentary and found myself constantly fact-checking and seeking out anything at all I might not have heard about before. Sometimes it can be difficult being a walking information bank for one specific musical artist, LOL. "A Night In" did teach me a few things and was a lot more casual and conversational and I truly enjoyed watching that, so watch that one if you can!

Anyway, Turrican completely and utterly OTM on EVERYTHING. And Arcadia was the far better side project.

Also, for any random Googlers who are on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/ddtorockhall

the fan base (for whom the documentary was made)

This seems like an abrogation of duty on the part of the commissioner, then.

Arcadia was the far better side project.

Oh, I completely agree with this! Power Station don't really hold much of an interest for me, but I play that Arcadia album a lot. Given that two thirds of Arcadia were also two thirds of the main members of Duran Duran on Notorious, part of me finds it really difficult to see it as just a mere side project. I would have been more than happy with it being the follow-up to Seven and the Ragged Tiger if circumstances had been different and they'd managed to get John to lay some bass down on it.

This seems like an abrogation of duty on the part of the commissioner, then.

Pardon me, I meant "for whom the documentary was PRIMARILY made". If the casual viewer wanted a quick primer about the band, they couldn't have asked for a better one. Besides, it sure as hell beats yet another fucking program about The Beatles or whatever else usually gets that kind of programming treatment.

Oh, I completely agree with this! Power Station don't really hold much of an interest for me, but I play that Arcadia album a lot. Given that two thirds of Arcadia were also two thirds of the main members of Duran Duran on Notorious, part of me finds it really difficult to see it as just a mere side project. I would have been more than happy with it being the follow-up to Seven and the Ragged Tiger if circumstances had been different and they'd managed to get John to lay some bass down on it.

John DID end up getting involved with the "Goodbye is Forever" video, so it might as well have been the closest thing to DD from the Notorious era onward, you're correct. Besides, only one of those side projects managed to snag David Gilmour and it sure wasn't the one fearing Andy "Lawsuit Lover" Taylor on lead guitar.

You mean the video for "The Flame."

Pardon me, I meant "for whom the documentary was PRIMARILY made"

foh

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976x549_b/p03c1nsp.jpg

Ha, I loved the fucking Power Station. They played it on rock radio! Chic! Robert Palmer! I was not much into the DD thing, but the campier they got the more I liked them.

It tickles me that when Robert Palmer bowed out of Power Station, they got Michael Des Barres in! Yeah, the same Michael Des Barres who was one of the founders of Rock Against Drugs was also in the same band as three hardcore drug fiends.

Wow, who would have expected such a passionate defensive of a documentary which wouldn't have shocked me had the words 'Pear Tree Productions' appeared at the end

But good to know the fan club liked it

lol

those fucking Beatles!

I agree, The Beatles have had their fair share of terminally boring documentaries.

I couldn't possibly comment on the Duran Duran one because I haven't seen it.

The Anthology series would have been considerably livened up by a section on Nick Rhodes' polaroids

Wat? Pamela Des Barres was in Duran Duran?

Anthology and The Compleat Beatles are the only good ones!

(xpost)

I believei n shame!.

wow, never realized American Science wasn't a single... that was an oversight.

such awful manners!

I would've rather seen "American Science" be a single than "Skin Trade", because as much as I enjoy "Skin Trade" I find "American Science" a far superior song. But the #1 gem of Notorious is absolutely "Hold Me", which is way too good to be a single. In fact, I feel DD excels with their album tracks and b-sides, not their singles (though I will forever defend the great ones such as "The Reflex", "Ordinary World", and "Union of the Snake").

Notorious isn't my favourite album of theirs, but I think the production on it has held up very well and it sounds to me that Nile spent a lot of time working with Simon on the vocals for that record.

"American Science" sounds like a Power Station leftover: the use of horns is what I hate about mid eighties use of horns.

I never thought the Reflex was as good as New Moon on Monday.

Definitely not

"American Science" sounds like a Power Station leftover: the use of horns is what I hate about mid eighties use of horns.

Nah, it's too poppy to have fit with the Power Station ethos, in spite of the brief Andy Taylor rock guitar riff in the song. Also, re: your remark about the "mid eighties use of horns", you're crazy.

I never thought the Reflex was as good as New Moon on Monday.

Could it be simply that you've never listened to NMOM as much as you've listened to "The Reflex"? Also, while the Nile Rodgers dance remix of "The Reflex" is a little on the cheesy side, the original album mix is pure gold. It's definitely better than NMOM, though not as good as "Union of the Snake", the best single from 7&TRT. BTW, I have very fond associations with that album because my late dad actually sat down with me when I was about 13 - 14 and listened to the album to experience his little girl's favorite musical artist, and had nothing but complimentary things to say about the second half of the album.

you're crazy

well, sure. What do you mean? I dislike the use of horns as a garish sound effect -- they work quite well, on the other hand, on "Notorious."

I dig the horns throughout the album: title track, "American Science", "Skin Trade". Lot more tasteful than many of their contemporaries, though I kind of dig tacky horns in the right mood too. The production of Notorious comes off less dated than any of their other 80s albums nowadays, I find

this is a "dated"-free zone, son.

Don't get me wrong, Rio still slays Notorious, even if Rio sounds more of its time. Maybe that's a better phrase to use, I didn't mean "dated" to sound too pejorative

I've been biting my tongue on this since late 2018, it's surreal + exciting to be able to share with you that I've produced the next @duranduran album, which features the ace @grahamcoxon on guitar.

Here is a taster of what we've been up to:
'INVISIBLE' https://t.co/1R89ke287e pic.twitter.com/fPCaqKF4Ov

— erol alkan (@erolalkan) May 19, 2021

Surprised how much I'm enjoying the new album. I can't remember the last album they did where I didn't really want to skip a single song. The song with Chai keeps getting stuck in my head.

Yeah it's quite good, like they balanced out their addiction to guests with creating a pretty solid front to back listen.

Haven't listened to the new album yet but have enjoyed all the singles they released from it beforehand

I'm loving Future Past. The previous one (Paper Gods) has it's moments but I find it often very in-your-face(-not-in-a-good-way) poppy & like an older band way too desperately trying to sound contemporary. I'm relieved the new one doesn't have that at all. It's very consistent in its high quality. Simon sounds amazing!
Graham Coxon is featured on 9 of the 15 tracks (deluxe edition) and shares songwriting credit. Can they please make him a fulltime member of the band, at least for as long as Blur isn't doing anything?

Can't totally agree with kitchen person's comment though, as 2010's All You Need Is Now might actually be my favourite Duran Duran album.

DON’T SAVE A PRAYER FOR ME NOW
SAVE IT TILL THE MORNING AFTERRRRRRRR

They've gone goth on us

https://duranduran.com/2023/71443/

Ghost Town, Paint It Black, Spellbound, Psycho Killer... Those who forget the lessons of Thank You are doomed to repeat them

Joking of course. I'll certainly listen to it if the preview singles don't put me off.

The spectre of Thank You looms large - one of the worst albums I've ever purchased. Cool to see Andy and Warren contributing again, certainly makes me more intrigued to check it out

I don't hate Thank You. It's partly silly in a way I can still enjoy and I also think there's some good stuff on there. It makes me happy to hear that Andy and Warren both feature on the new one.

they sounded pretty great from outside the Grandstand at the fair last night, now wishing I'd gotten a ticket

Alas, this would have been the perfect context for a cover of Japan's "Ghosts".

chic opened for them in Sacramento, it sounded pretty sweet. Simon still sounds great.