Customer Reviews

Duran Duran

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Duran Duran's self-titled debut was released in the UK in 1981 and was a smash hit. The album did not catch on in the US. It took the release of the band's second album Rio and the inventive videos that were staples on MTV to propel this album into the US top ten two years later in 1983. As an added attraction the re-release featured a new song, the number four hit, "Is There Something I Should Know?". This remastered version is the original English version minus that track. The first five tracks, which comprised the album's first side, are songs that in the traditional DD vein. The first two tracks, "Girls On Film" and "Planet Earth" are the most familiar and still sound great twenty-three years later. "Careless Memories" was a minor hit in America and "Anyone Out There" and "To The Shore" embodies the pop sensibilities that made the group a success. The final four songs are a complete 180-degree turn from the first five. They are atmospheric, moody and brooding numbers that find the band turning inward and introspective. The band has always sited Roxy Music as big influences and they are never more so then on these four tracks. "Night Boat" is a foreboding track and the album's final number, the instrumental "Tel Aviv" is quite haunting.

Younger audiences may say otherwise, but my highlight at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards was when the original members of Duran Duran reunited and accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award. Their victory sent a strong message to everyone in the music industry after many years of disdain from critics, and the group finally got the props they deserved. Why not? Though they had a teenage following, Duran Duran are anything but a faceless boyband. Not only do they write their own material, but they also play their own instruments. And unlike, say, the Backstreet Boys, Duran Duran are a self-made band and not the by-product of a potbellied, money-hungry svengali. After forming in 1978, the boys from Birmingham released its debut album in 1981. While it was a reasonable success in the UK, it didn't catch fire in the US until 1983, when it went Top Ten and platinum. It was one of my most-played releases in 1983, and 20 years and a college degree later, I still give it the occasional spin. The album's 9 songs are stylishly-crafted exercises in synth-heavy/new wave pop that perfectly capture the essence of the New Romantic movement. The album's most popular single, "Girls on Film," still holds up well as a commentary on life as a supermodel, while the debut single "Planet Earth" is a cool slice of disco bliss. But another track of note is "Anyone Out There," an album cut that stands out as a convincing breakup jam ("I never found out/ what made you leave. . .). On this, the remastered version, the previously deleted track "To the Shore" appears, and to be honest, it took a while for it to grow on me. But after a few repeated listens, this moody and dark track finally won me over. To be sure, Duran Duran weren't the greatest band of the 1980s, but, as this debut album proves, they epitomized the essence of cool unlike many of their peers. If, by chance, that last statement is difficult for you to digest, then get over it. To quote a line from one of Duran Duran's peers, George Michael, listen without prejudice.

John Taylor: "[Around] 1978, the whole punk thing started to lose its color."

Nick Rhodes: "We grew up in the 70's with glam rock; I suppose that's where our influences are, our stylistic influences, and so we wanted to move more back towards that."

John Taylor: "But at the same time there was this new wave of bands, like Japan, and Simple Minds that were kind of embracing that glam thing, but there was a little bit of funk coming into it, and that just seemed like, `Yeah, this is where we belong.' "

Nick Rhodes: "We found Simon [Le Bon] in 1979 and then we knew we had the full line up."

John Taylor: "We had a piece of music that had a start, a finish, a middle...it had, actually, a verse section and a chorus section and we said [to Simon], `Hey, you got any words for this?' "

Simon Le Bon: "...and I had some words that I tweaked a little bit and found that I could fit them and we had a melody that worked, and within 30 minutes we had pretty much 70% of the song called Sound Of Thunder. When you find something that works that easily and that quickly, you know you're onto a good thing."

John Taylor: "I knew we were doing something new because Andy kinda got the feel for this disco, four-on-the-floor kind of dance beat, and we wanted to somehow throw that into the equation of what was happening."

Nick Rhodes: "We were termed `New Romantics,' or `Futurists'. Actually, I preferred `Futurists' because it sounds a bit more like an art movement."

Simon Le Bon: "And I think we let ourselves become part of that scene, and be thought of as part of that because it helped us. There was a lot of interest in it. And we realized that if we could get into it that it would all spiral and it would help us take off. If you look at the music that the groups were making at that time, it wasn't that similar, really. But, there was a common feeling, a feeling of being part of something new, and this being our time, [that this was] the chance for us to go straight out there and have hits and to grab people by the throat and go, `We're here; we have arrived!' "

The now infamous five's debut album remains one of my favourites. It was released at the just the right time for me - 13 years-old and desperate for quality music with an image to boot. Too young for punk but just about framed for New Wave - Duran took all those seventies influences and packaged them perfectly for an audience just about to come of age. The fact this album co-incided with "New Romanticism" is largely irrelevant. Visage, Classix and even Spandau summed up the contrived nature of some of the NR acts. The first DD album is edgy enough to stand apart from the rest. And this is the important point. Tracks such as "Friends of Mine", "Sound of Thunder" and "Planet Earth" have stood the test of time. Proof was there for all to see during the band's recent UK tour. Many of this album's songs featured during the set with "Friends" elevated to the opening number. This would not have been possible without the excellent work of producer Colin Thurston. Colin was also responsible for the production of "Rio". Undoubtedly the band's best two works. Don't believe me? Listen, if you can, to the dirge that is "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" for which CT had been replaced.
Anyway, back to the band's eponymous first album. My favourite track remains the basket case single - Careless Memories. Punk, funk and rock and roll. It reached number 37 - Britain, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Buy this album. It's of its time but it's not dated in the same way its contemporaries did.

When it comes to early 80's music, (Synth-pop, Electro-rock, Alternative and New Wave) you can't go past Duran Duran's first self-titled album...what a gem. Back in 1981 when I was a young lad, and still finding my own musical ears so-to-speak, I heard on the radio a song called `Planet Earth'. I thought it was brilliant, I couldn't hear enough of it. For me `Planet Earth' was my song for 1981, it was a great sound (and still is after all these years).

The album only has 9 songs, as opposed to nowadays where CD's can be between 17-24 songs (depending on their length). Listening to the album really takes me back to those years in the early 1980's (as opposed to now), it has that feel and flavour untouched by today's standards of music-and rightly so.

The whole album can be said to be a time capsule of the then `Romantic Movement' in music (Duran Duran were generally considered part of this new music genre, with other like-style bands such as Spandau Ballet, Japan, ABC and the Human League which come to mind). The album reached number 3 in the UK Top 20, and its music is freshly innocent, with great synthesizer sounds and drum beats with a touch of ambience (listen to Tel Aviv) to break the difference.

My favourite songs and no surprise here are: `Sound of Thunder', `Planet Earth' their first single that climbed the UK charts Top 20 at number 12, `Careless Memories', their second single which only managed to stay at number 37, (I don't know why? Depending on your mood, it is a dark song) and that notorious song `Girls on Film', their third single which was the one that caused a real sensation, (what an understatement) the song went to number 5 in the UK charts, before that infamous video of the song was even filmed. Featuring in the video were various topless women doing their thing in different situations in a boxing-type kind of arena, you need to see the video to understand what I mean (enough said).

From this album onwards Duran Duran have matured in mind and music their second album `Rio' I feel is a transitional phase for their future musical endeavours and influences-and that shows. The group have proven they are versatile with the changing tides and time, and that's why they are still around today.

Duran Duran were one of the most commercially successful of the New Wave bands of the day, if you are a fan or want to be, this first album is a must to start you off on a journey that can take you around the `Planet Earth' and back again for another spin. If there is `Anyone Out There' head `To the Shore' and catch the `Night Boat' to `Tel Aviv', grab that camera and get those `Girls on Film' for some `Careless Memories' and then head on to meet me and some `Friends of Mine' at the café Le Bon to discuss life, love, leisure, hearing in the clouds the `Sound of Thunder' in the distant sky above over a cappuccino.

Trust me you won't be disappointed, give it a listen and let your ears be the judge.

Special thanks to Wikipedia for additional information for compiling this review.

When I heard this album in 1982 it changed my life. Seriously. Here were a bunch of kids who decided they were going to be rich and famous. And with this batch of tunes they succeeded fabulously. That was a revelation to me as I started my teen years. I immediately bleached my hair and put up w/a ton of "pansy" comments.
With the benefit of 20 yrs hindsight, the debut is fairly keyboard heavy, but they sound very warm and tasteful and the basslines are still fantastic. The band sounds like a complete unit start to finish on this one. The textures and arrangements are great. The version I cut my teeth on had the long version of Planet Earth to start side one and no "To the shore". That track, while definitely not essential, is a good indication of what they were trying to accomplish as a band. "Wash away the rusty disease of your brown town days in our silver seas" might well be Duran Duran's enduring mission statement.

I swear the album never sounded this good before. And - now we in the US get the full, real, official album with "To The Shore." Amazing!

I bought this album back in 1982 and through the years have purchased it a few times in a few different formats and I'm amazed how this Duran album never seems to sound dated. It is raw and unique which I think still makes it appealing today. My 18 year old son heard it for the first time and was suprised to find out this was his "old mans" music. This is an album that will remain alternative or new wave for old and new fans for years to come.

At the time in 1981, this was quite revolutionary. Take one part of the smooth, Flesh and Blood-era Roxy Music, one part electronic glam via Tin Drum-era Japan, dance beats courtesy of Chic, and add a large dose of pop sense and fashion via, maybe say, David Bowie and you have the first Duran Duran album. The sound was new and when you listen to this, you can sense that feeling of new-ness. The band knew this was an original sound born of former ideas with an eye on the Top 40.

It's all here... Dance pop ("Planet Earth"), rock-influenced pop ("Careless Memories," "Is Anyone Out There"), moody experiementalism ("Night Boat," "Tele Viv") all wrapped in suggestive pseudo-intellect (check "To The Shore").

It's pop but it's pop-art reguardless how shallow and popular they became. This album is very good. It sounds good, the writing is sharp, the playing is spot on and the melodies sublime. You can not like it, but you can't really criticize the craft and the work that went into creating it.

If you are the least bit curious, buy it and transport yourself to the days of large, spray-molded hair, puffy shirts and cherry lipstick. Great stuff!

Along with the improved sound, this updated version of "Duran Duran" also features the previously missing (but not earth-shattering) "To the Shore," which fits right in with the rest of these songs. "To the Shore" is a mellow, synth-laden tune with a swooshing percussion sound and subtle but competant guitar work.

Despite their image, Duran Duran were very much a thinking person's band. They also had a dark side to their lyrics and sound, which comes across on this album. What's impressive about this debut is Duran Duran's direct approach and non-naivety within the songs, as if the band knew exactly what it wanted from the start. Unfortunately, that also translates to a record that lacks excitement in parts. Nonetheless, though Duran Duran would expand their sound in a big way on future releases, there's a focused innocence to this record that's endearing.

All these songs are tightly constructed and tuneful. "Girls on Film" has a cryptic, indifferent vibe, but it's catchy as all get-out. In fact, the first several songs on this CD are radio-ready with an earnest vibe, but they might have benefitted from a bit more of a rock-oriented spunk. To its credit, much of this album features a mystical synth sound, a direction the band would perfect on the classic Rio album just one year later.

Musically, the guys in Duran Duran seemed wise and mature beyond their years when they put this out, and were perhaps even prematurely bored with what they were doing. Though "Night Boat" and "Tel Aviv" are more than a bit drab, the band wrote premier dance tunes -- mixed with sing-along pop -- in "Sound of Thunder" and "Friends of Mine," both of which indicated a special harbinger of things to come.