Notorious

Duran Duran | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1993)
• Original Release Date: 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00000DQSV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,162 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Bonus CD of live tracks and remixes with DVD of a live concert and videos in a special lift top box. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And Then There Were Three., July 14, 2002

By 

The Groove (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Notorious (Audio CD)

1986 was the year England's Fab Five was reduced to a trio. Drummer Roger Taylor bowed out due to nervous exhaustion, and guitarist Andy Taylor walked out in a huff for a solo career. The remaining members (Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and John Taylor)were left in a funk and were unsure what musical direction to take. They decided to hook up with the ever-trusty Nile Rodgers, and the result is "Notorious," the band's most rhythm-oriented disc to date. The title track is near-flawless; never before has the group released a groove this tight and sedcutive. Simon LeBon gives us a never-before-heard falsetto in the single "Skin Trade," which features some guitar work that's unmistakably Nile. Moreover, things get moody in the angelic "Winter Marches On," and we're brought to the disc's closer, the stomping rokcer "Proposition." Did I fail to mention the group's forgotten and underrated single "Meet El Presidente?" "Notorious" is a solid album from start to finish and represents a step towards musical maturity for the band. Following the abrupt departure of two members, you have to give these guys credit for bouncing back with an impressive disc that doesn't disappoint.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Romantic Comes of Age, January 19, 2000

By 

starhunter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Notorious (Audio CD)

I've been a Duranie since age 12, when Rio was released, and still hold steadfast to the new wave roots of my childhood.

Notorious, by far the band's best effort, is a collection of Duran's maturing, introspective poetry squarely founded on the colorful, highly-charged sound of their past hit albums. "Winter Marches On" recalls the somber romance of Rio's "The Chauffeur" while "So Mislead" and "American Science" reflect the group's fusion experimentation, probably directed by producer Nile Rodgers and Average White Band drummer Steve Ferone. Andy Taylor did lay down the guitar tracks, then left Duran for a solo pursuit. John Taylor's bass sound grows up on Notorious, maturing into well-constructed groves, especially on "American Science" and "Skin Trade".

Nick Rhodes, whose signature synthesizer sound brought distinction to the band's new wave hits in the early Eighties, appropriately broadens his musical pallete to add new ambiance to each song, especially on "Matter of Feeling" and the title track.

Duran's strength has always been to create a new world of sound and poetry with each album, while courageously hanging on to their new-romantic identity, despite the attacks of industry critics.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It took a while to like back in the day., March 3, 2003

By 

Ryan Brenner (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Notorious (Audio CD)

When Notorious came out, I didn't know what to think. It was a such big departure from the New Romantic/New Wave/Bubblegum Pop I was such a big fan of in 1984/'85. The boys had gone and split up. Powerstation and Arcadia were formed and then Duran Duran in stunted form regrouped, and I expected at the very least that Notorious would follow in the really HUGE shoes of Arcadia's 'So Red The Rose', but with the exception of a couple of tracks ('Hold Me' and 'Winter Marches On'), it did not.

Notorious is a strange album. I used to think it was inconsistent when it was first released. Upon further listening and recent revisiting, I've found that it has what the best Duran Duran albums contain: Cohesiveness. I don't recommend it as a starting place for would be Duranies, but it's more solid than Seven and the Ragged Tiger even if I can't say that this is a must have, based on the relative weakness of its singles. It's a transitional album that is neither as good as the first two Duran Duran albums or the subsequent release, Big Thing, and yet I'm inclined to give it five stars. Maybe because I can't give it ****1/2.

Highlights of the album are the non-singles: 'American Science', 'A Matter of Feeling', 'Hold Me', 'So Misled', 'Winter Marches On', and 'Proposition'. These songs seem to cover somewhat familiar ground soundwise, so the comfort level was never an issue with me. Together these songs could form their own wonderful EP.

The rest of the tracks could be released as a 12" dance club standards EP. That's not to insult them, though. Quite the contrary, actually, as the remixes of Notorious, Skin Trade, Vertigo (Do The Demolition) and 'Meet El Presidente' outclass and outshine their album counterparts. The best of them albumwise is 'Vertigo (Do the Demolition)'. It's quite catchy, and from the assortment of more dance oriented tunes on Notorious, Vertigo probably most closely resembles singles of earlier Duran times, somewhat in the ilk of Wild Boys.

So, Notorious is a solid transitional album, but if you're looking to get into Duran Duran and the Duran Duran sound, start at the beginning so you can more fully recognize and understand what they were trying to accomplish here.