Duran Duran - Liberty
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Free Music Notes for Liberty
Free Music Review: Duran Duran's Transition into the 1990s.
Hit: 3 Stars
Ever since drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor left the band in 1986, Duran Duran has struggled to maintain its identity, relevance, and its pool of fans. After barely scraping gold with 1988's "Big Thing," the remaining Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and John Taylor (with newly joined members guitarist Warren Cuccurillo and drummer Sterling Campbell) released its first commercial bomb, 1990's "Liberty." It was Duran Duran's first album to not only fail to go even gold, but it also didn't produce a single Top Ten hit. Critics roasted "Liberty," and I wasn't initially a big fan of it, either. But I decided to revisit this record and found it to be slightly better than I thought. Mind you, it won't make anyone trade in their copy of "Rio," but it does have some pretty interesting moments. Tossing their new wave roots out the window, the band opts for a balance between warm and mellow pop tunes and a few dashes of rock, with some awkward attempts at dance. "Violence of Summer" and "Serious," the two singles here, have actually aged pretty well over the years, while the laid back title track (featuring some of Nick Rhodes' best work on the keyboard) is classic Duran Duran. But you run into some really goofy tracks like "Hothead," and songs like "All Along the Water" are fake attempts at disco that fall pretty flat. So, no, "Liberty" isn't Duran Duran at its best, but it's gotten a lot less credit than it deserves. Diehard fans looking to experiment into the band's non-platinum years should give it the go-ahead.
Free Music Review: Not Quite Liberating, but...
Hit: 3 Stars
Sometimes, when musical acts have been around for a while, they go through a period of uncertainty. Sometimes, unfortunately, albums are recorded during these periods. David Bowie's "Never Let Me Down" and Depeche Mode's "Songs of Faith and Devotion," which are both decidedly mixed bags as albums, immediately come to mind. Alas, so does Duran Duran's "Liberty." In this particular case, you get should-have-been classics (Violence of Summer & My Antarctica), right-on popsters (Liberty & Serious), surprisingly strong rockers (All Along the Water & First Impression), curiosities (Venice Drowning & Downtown), album filler (Can You Deal With It), and horrible, awful mistakes (Read My Lips & Hothead). What does this mean to the listener? If he or she is a Duran Duran fan, the good songs will be well worth buying the entire CD. Heck, even if you cared less about Duran during the early 90's when this album came out, but you're in to them now, you'll like the good songs. However, if you've never been sure about Duran Duran, stay far, far away from Liberty. Instead, pick up their still great self-titled debut, their amazing self-titled comeback album of 1993, the sadly neglected but excellent Medazzaland, the classic Rio, or better yet 2000's Pop Trash for an idea of just how great a band Duran Duran actually can be.Free Music Review: Tough call
Hit: 3 Stars
This is perhaps the most enigmatic Duran Duran CD recorded. People either love it or hate it or like me, even after 9 years, still aren't sure. "Violence of Summer" is a catchy, but ridiculously weak track. "Liberty" has that Notorious flavor to it, but the song should be a minute shorter. "Hothead"'s funky guitar riffs and foot-tapping beat makes this one of the most underrated tracks on the CD. "Serious" may be one of Duran Duran's best tracks ever recorded, with all five musicians doing a spectacular job on this basic pop track. "All Along The Water", though a dance track, gets pretty tiring, as does fellow thumper, "Can You Deal With It", the pristine "My Antartica" and the wanna-be jammer, "Read My Lips". "First Impression" and "Venice Drowning" struck me as hidden treasures on this CD. "Downtown", whose intoxicated melody and annoying background vocals makes this one of the worst Duran songs I have ever heard. Liberty is not a bad CD, but you really have to spend a lot of time with it to appreciate it.Free Music Review: Underrated gem
Hit: 3 Stars
Okay...so Duran Duran were falling out of favor around 1990. Sure, it would be another three years before they made a staggering comeback with "The Wedding Album," but "Liberty" is a solid, and sadly overlooked, gem.True, the CD lacks focus, and it's obvious the band wasn't sure where to go stylistically at the time (this CD also introduced a couple of new band members), but there are some excellent tracks here...."Violence of Summer" is odd but catchy as hell, and "Serious" is a straightforward pop ballad...one of the best songs the Duranies have ever done.
The album as a whole, as previously mentioned, goes all over the place stylistically, and suffers a bit from Chris Kimsey's bloated production. But "Liberty" is far better than "Seven and the Ragged Tiger," a horrible mess that remains one of their most popular albums. "Liberty" has a bad rep from critics and three people may have actually bought the thing, but it truly is worth the time and money.
Free Music Review: Too over-produced
Hit: 3 Stars
This album is not that bad, however, it is quite overproduced. Also, the wrong songs were released as singles. The first single should have been "All Along the Water", then "Read My Lips", then "Violence of Summer" and finally "Hothead". "All Along the Water" could have been a huge dance track if it had been released. The album as a whole is a bit too much to swallow on the first listen. It really does grow on you the more you listen to it. 1990 was also an unusual time for music. Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, Milli Vanilli and New Kids on the Block were the hottest things at the time. Comercially, the album was doomed from the get go.