Duran Duran - Greatest
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Free Music Notes for Greatest
Free Music Review: Essential and important collection of the Fab Five
Hit: 5 Stars
Among the vanguard of the Second British Invasion of the 80's was a group dubbed the Fab Five. These pretty boys got their name from Milo O'Shea's character in the Jane Fonda cult classic Barbarella. I refer of course to Duran Duran, who during their peak years comprised of Simon LeBon (vocals), Andy Taylor (guitar), John Taylor (bass), Roger Taylor (drums), and Nick Rhodes (piano), he of the heavy makeup. But the reason why Duran Duran stood over contemporaries like the Human League or Spandau Ballet was their MTV coverage and stylish videos and that certain edge they had in their mostly danceable pop tunes.
Their first UK hits were "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film." The first had a lively and upbeat synth backbeat much like Spandau Ballet or Berlin and is a standout. The second, with rapid-fire camera snap effects, was the group's first UK Top Ten hit, and made notable by its racy Godley-and-Crème directed video. Its chorus, where the title is sung twice in a row, the second at a lower pitch to make an accompanying and memorable couplet. But they hit pay dirt when the superbly upbeat "Is There Something I Should Know" topped the UK charts-it later hit #4 in the US. "Please please tell me now..." Oh yes!
Rio, which featured silk-screen girl album artwork from Nagel, had the title track, with a cascade of keyboards and drums, before settling into a more leisurely chorus-"my name is Rio and she dances on the sand..." But love that sax solo in the middle of it all! Also from that album, the #3 "Hungry Like The Wolf" with a guitar riff that would later become hardened in the Power Station, featured catchy hooks in the chorus, great guitar from Andy Taylor, and a running pizzicato-like synth.
Despite their hit power, they only had two US #1s. The first was "The Reflex"-remember, "whyyyyyyyyy don't you use it? Tryyyyyy not to bruise it"? Definitely one of their best songs with Roger Taylor's power drumming. The other was the title hit to Roger Moore's last James Bond outing, A View To A Kill, alternately upbeat and moody song with an airy synth, whose video had shots of DD mixed with film scenes to make it look like they were also in the movie.
Songs like "Hungry Like The Wolf", with Andy Taylor's guitar riffs, and the tribal thumping drums and grinding guitar of their #2 hit "Wild Boys" seemed a prelude to the Power Station, the Robert Palmer-led side project which Andy and John Taylor joined during Duran Duran's hiatus. When Andy and Roger Taylor left, DD did the Genesis thing-"and then there were three." Simon, John, and Nick released Notorious, whose funk-laced title track reached #2. It was slightly different from their earlier oeuvre, but when the mid-paced "Skin Trade," with its horn arrangements accompanying the usual synths, only charted at #39, it was clear DD was losing its audience. A pity, as it's not that bad a song.
Their last big hits came from their 1993 Wedding Album, which yielded a brace of more maturer and mellower singles, the reflective "Ordinary World" with a nice guitar solo from ex-Missing Person's guitarist and new member Warren Cuccurullo and majestic synths and vocals, and the moody "Come Undone" with high-pitched female vocalist singing the refrain.
The songs are not in chronological order, not too big a complaint. It supersedes their previous compilation Decade, which didn't include the two Wedding Album singles and "Serious" from their ignored 1990 Liberty album. The grinding near-techno of "Electric Barbarella" from the John Taylor-less Medazzaland, seemed to show the band ironically coming full circle-remember where they got their name from? Despite coming this late in the game, a great single by all means. The fact that the original members got back together for Astronaut indicates that despite their brief splash from 1981 to 1984, they were one of the most important forces in the 80's music and fashion scene. Take a bow, guys.
Free Music Review: Classic new wave music...what everyone today is imitating
Hit: 5 Stars
For those that only recall "Hungry Like the Wolf" and all the countless songs Duran Duran had on the radio, one can easily forget how different, unique and innovative a band like Duran really was in the early 1980s. Duran Duran were no doubt the first "new romantic" or "new wave" outfit that bands today like The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, The Bravery, Interpol and the like are influenced by/imitating with a great degree of success. (Who said the '80s were never cool? The joke is on them now!) And now, the original lineup of the band is back and still making great music (the 2004 Astronaut album).
This collection of hits showcases both elements of Duran Duran: the early dark, brooding and eerie "new romantic" sound they mastered on their first and second albums, as well as the masterful pop music found on their third album and all of their singles. The relevance of the Duran sound has been vindicated by the current rush of today's top acts to say Duran Duran was an influence. The songs on GREATEST sound as fresh today as they were then on the first days of MTV.
GREATEST also highlights the output of Duran in the 1990s, including the two (Top 10) 1993 hits "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone", which are just as classic as "A View to a Kill" and "Planet Earth". The late 1990s Top 40 hit "Electric Barbarella" is also showcased, and is worthy of inclusion here. Even "Serious", a single off of the disastrous early '90s album Liberty fits right in.
Some often forget Duran Duran was indeed a talented and instrumentally gifted outfit. The rhythm section of Roger Taylor (drums) and John Taylor (bass) are at long last getting their dues for the true talent they possess. Andy Taylor is an underrated guitarist who shines with both his delicate, atmospheric tones as well as the urgent and rocking sounds displayed on many of their hits. Nick Rhodes is frequently imitated for his influential synth work, which provided so much atmosphere to Duran's output. Finally, Simon LeBon is perhaps the most brash and over the top front man since Mick Jagger, and that fit perfectly into the Duran style as Duran became the kings of MTV.
What's missing? This should have been a double CD set. Classic album tracks like "New Religion", "The Chauffeur", "Careless Memories", "Lonely in Your Nightmare", "The Seventh Stranger", "Anyone Out There", "Friends of Mine", "Hold Back the Rain" and "Nightboat" are all missing. Even latter day singles like "Perfect Day" (featuring a then one-off return by Roger Taylor on drums for this 1995 track), "Do You Believe in Shame" and "Out of My Mind" deserve recognition. And if the collection was ever updated, "Sunrise" and "What Happens Tomorrow", from their 2004 comeback album Astronaut, both deserve inclusion here as they both received radio airplay.
Many of the songs on the GREATEST album remain highlights in a live Duran Duran concert setting in 2005. You like The Killers? You like the rush of "new wave" influenced music currently underway? This is a great place to start to see where it all began.
Highly recommended.
Also recommended by Duran Duran for modern day "new wave" fans: albums like "Duran Duran" (their debut album), "Rio", "Astronaut", "The Singles 81-85" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger".
Free Music Review: One of the most underrated bands ever
Hit: 5 Stars
"Duran Duran" I feel is one of the most underrated bands in history. These guys have cut two number one hits and numerous top twenty classics. Though they rely more on synthesizers and image more than many other bands, the music is still catchy and packs a punch to it. They have recently made a comeback of sorts with "Astronaunt", which itself is a pretty solid album. "Greatest" packs together all their hits from the 80's up to the mid 90's.
The CD is not ordered chronologically, but you can still tell the evolution of the band from listening to the CD. Songs like "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Girls On Film", and "Planet Earth" were helped in popularity thanks to their very creative videos that were played back in the day non-stop on MTV. More than that though, they are strong songs that'll make you dance. "A View To a Kill" was the James Bond theme from the movie with the same name starring Roger Moore in 1985. It is a very cool song and it hit number one. The other number one, "The Reflex", is also included, though personally I find the song to get annoying and I don't like it as much as the other cuts on the CD. Other cuts from the early 80's that you probably will recognize and enjoy include "New Moon on Monday", "Wild Boys", and "Is There Something I Should Know".
"Notorious" signals a transition in Duran Duran. Two of the members left the band, creating a trio. Still a strong song (sampled by the late Notorious B.I.G. in a song), it does have a different sound to it than the earlier cuts. Some of the stronger cuts in this period (the late 80's) besides "Notorious" include "I Don't Want Your Love", "Union of the Snake", and "Skin Trade".
The 90's were relatively a quiet period for Duran Duran, but two songs did hit the top 40 and make some noise on radio stations. "Ordinary World" sounds much more mature and mellow compared to the glam, synth driven songs of the 80's. Though it is different, I like the song a lot. It's a pretty reflective song and a good one to listen to if you are in a thinking mood. "Electric Barbellia", a song named after a famous villiness, is the other song from the 90's. The song is a dance hit, but sounds much more modern since there are not many synthesizers used and has a more calmer sound than their dance hits from the 80's.
If you are a casual fan of Duran Duran and don't want to spend money on all the albums, interested in seeing what Duran Duran is about, or just looking for music to add to your 80's collection, "Greatest" is a great (no pun indeeded) album to pick up. If you have gotten into Duran Duran recently with their reunion comeback (the original five together for the first time since 1985!) and want to see what their past work is like, pick up "Greatest" to hear one of the video pioneers: musicans with synth soaked beats and lots of glam to entice their image. Ah, to be young again.
Free Music Review: Godlike
Hit: 5 Stars
'Greatest' is exactly the right title for this album - Duran Duran were never about the merely 'good', they were always larger-than-life, and equally loved and hated for it. At the height of their success they were much-reviled in the UK - being almost the exact opposite of the Smiths - but their flashy, trashy pop music is irrestiable nowadays, and, on the evidence here, their later music manages to be mature without being boring. The album is in roughly chronological order, and is cleverly-chosen to match the sequence that fans might have found their music - it starts with their massively-popular singles, moves backwards, and then goes onwards from there.'Planet Earth' and 'Girls on Film' are catchy pop, marred only by thin production that highlights Le Bon's lack of vocal technique (he shouts, and that's it). Popular in the UK, they meant nothing in the US until 'Rio' and the two albums immediately afterwards, and from this period comes the bulk of the album. 'The reflex', 'Is there something I should know?', 'Hungry like the wolf' and so forther are classic pop - lyrically meaningless ('they say you're easy, but you're about as easy as a nuclear war' is one of the classic bad pop lyrics), but loud and catchy. And although they were never in danger of being hailed as the new Beatles, they were not manufactured, and they wrote and performed their own music. There is no modern equivalent.
After that they went 'hard', with the laughable 'Wild boys'. Famed for an extremely expensive video, it's as boring as it was at the time, and was something of a nadir. The overblown 'Arena' album died a death, and Duran Duran first went funk, with 'Notorious', and then pop-house, with 'I don't want your love' and 'All she wants is'. Despite my memories of them at the time, they're actually quite good.
In the nineties the group seemed to fade away. 'Ordinary World', a gorgeously-produced Nilsson-esque ballad about humility was something of a shock, whilst the similar 'Come Undone' actually has some proper singing on it. These two songs, plus 'Serious' and 'Save a prayer' reveal a talent for ballads that was never really appreciated at the time. The obligatory modern single, 'Electric Barbarella', is odd - there's a great schreechy guitar solo and it's catchy, although it sounds strangely old-fashioned, like Landscape but with better production.
All in all, it's a fantastic momento of one of the most characterful groups of the eighties, and a reminder that they were excellent in their own way. It's okay to like them nowadays.
Free Music Review: Greatest, Nuff Said.
Hit: 5 Stars
Say what you like about Duran Duran but they were among the best and most influentual bands of the 80's. They started as a new romantic band in the late 70's dressing with fancy clothes and using makeup, hit the chart in 1981 at the same time as a certain channel called MTV which gave the unlimited airplay and was a big help that they reached such a big audience. Duran Duran's video's was very exlusive and well made so it was obvious they got attention. However, they were a very gifted synth band that made lots of great pop songs, with smart lyrics.Simon LeBon Nick Rhoades and the Taylors from Duran Duran self titled debut album gave them the hit singles "Planet Earth". "Girls on Film" witn a very special video and "Is There Something I Should Know?" All were strong meliodic catchy trademark Duran Duran singles. The second album "Rio" was released shortly after, the title song become a big hit in 1982. It's a classic by now. It starts with heavy percussion, and a unique guitar sound and synths. LeBon's charismatic lyrics are strong and very memorable. 2 other songs from the "Rio" album become big hits too, the midtempo "Save a Prayer" that sound a bit like a videogame when it starts with it's synth sound. "Hungry Like the Wolf" is a true classic, a pop song with remarkable lyrics and sound. "Seven and The Ragged Tiger" Came in 1983 and it also had 3 hits "New Moon on Monday" which is a typical Duran song "Union of the Snake" a very charismatic pop song too, but "The Reflex" however was the biggest hit, and one of their biggest aswell. A catchy pop song that stands out. On "Arena" only one new single came out "Wild Boys" a song with synths and percussion, and catchy sound. On the upcoming album "Notorious" the title become a hit, there were other singles on the album but didn't work out. Duran Duran also made the title track for a Bond Film. " A View to a kill" a midtempo song with catchy sound and good lyrics. After that it was quite silent, some members tried solo project and eventually left. "Liberty" from 1990 has no songs on this album but it wasn't a big success. 3 years later they unpredicted got a big hit with "Ordinary World" a power ballad. The rest of the songs on this album are quite forgettable, like "Come Undone" and "Electric Barbarella" for axample. But this is the best of Duran Duran, and the album is more or less complete. If you liked the New Romantics area with bands like Spandau Ballet, ABC and Duran Duran you'll defenitely enjoy this album. It includes many pop classics.