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38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
If you're on the fence ..., November 20, 2007
I can understand why this album is so divisive. Rather than make grand pronouncements or add to the din, I will attempt to break down, as objectively as possible, what you'll get here.
This is not a return to the classic Duran sound. Think about the old hits we all love so much, and there's a lot of guitar on there. Not so much here. This one is very beat driven.
If you like classic new wave (like Missing Persons), there are a lot of synth sounds here that I think you'll enjoy.
The modern beats -- there's no denying they're here, and in abundance. To my ear, though, when paired with the new wavy synths it sounds retro instead of like a grab for current chart cred.
Simon's voice is mixed loud and clear, which goes a long way to making this still sound like Duran. He's got a really unique voice and it sounds great here.
I'd go so far as the compare this to an update or sequel to Big Thing, though that may not be completely accurate. Just say this, you can draw a straighter line from Big Thing to this album than you could from Rio.
I loaded in three stars because I don't want to shove an opinion down your throats -- but I really like this. Even more than Astronaut (and I really like Astronaut). Somehow, as strange as it seems on paper, I think it works.
But I totally get why it's not for everyone.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2'5 - The 80's Heroes Meets The Superproducers of the 00's, November 24, 2007
Duran Duran has been around since the early 80's and was one of the most popular and trend setting band of that decade and part of the "New Romantic Movemnet" with the likes of Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet and Talk Talk and with countless of great pop songs like "Girls On Film", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "A View To a Kill" an "Wild Boys". It was one of my favorite bands of the 80's, no matter what critics said about them they made undeniably good pop music and controlled the charts from 1981-86 and even made a side project called Arcadia while Andy Taylor who left the band after Seven and the Ragged Tiger formed the supergroup Power Station with Robert Palmer, John Taylor and Tony Thompson. Simply put, Duran Duran and it's members had a huge influnce of music in the 80's. But in the late 80's/early 90's things changed considerably and the sound that Duran Duran called their own was no longer popular and they made several hit & miss projects like the terrible "Big Thing" & "Liberty" before trying something new with "The Wedding Album" from 1993 with new hits like "Ordinary World" and a new rock/ballad sound that certainly was something unexpected. After some rather bad albums they made a new comeback in 2004 with Astronaut that was their best album in a decade, once again with a new sound more suitable for it's time. "Astronaut" was the first studio album since 1983 where all of the 5 orifinal members were present after Andy Taylor decided to back a return. 2 years later a new album called "Reportage" was supposed to be released, but it never saw daylight when the record executives found it too political. So, Andy left again and they called Timbaland, the most in-demand producer at the moment to record a dance album instead.
So, what can we expect from their new album "Red Carpet Massacre", well in reality it's Timbaland's protégé Danja who produces most of the album and it shows cause his sound is more varied then Timbaland's. Justin Timberlake also produce one of the songs and appears on two. But all of the songs were produced by the collective with no outsiders involved. Either way, this is a modern dance album with amazing sound and effects and in all honestly I prefer this over Ballads or Rock ("Ordinary World" being an exception). But for those of you that thought this would sound like Nelly Furtado or Justin Timberlake's recent album will be dissapointed, alot of it sounds like Rock/Pop meets modern production tecnique, more simular to Katharine McPhee's album Katharine McPhee that Danja had a big hand in. Nothing is bad here but there is nothing too good either, so don't expect any new hits. It's one of those albums where I find myself listening more to the sound then the lyrics or hooks. Timbaland's songs "Nite Runner", and "Skin Divers" are more club oriented and his third one "Zoomed In" sounds like the rock songs he made for his last album. Best songs are however, the title track, the retroish "Last Man Standing" and the Timberlake priducerd ballad "Falling Down". I also enjoyed the instrumental "Tricked Down" with an amazing sound. There's some growers but I don't think this is quite the comeback most fans had hoped for.
Overall, Is a decent album atleast by sound and for the first time in ages it tries to create a suitable contemporary sound to their early dance-pop days that still feels fresh and entertaining today. It works in parts, cause dance/pop is better then Adult Contemporary Ballads/Rock for Duran Duran but it still doesn't always feel right. The sound is often better then the songs and it lack obvious hit singles. Timbaland's rap in "Skin Divers" just feel corny and out of place. Maybe the expectations were too big or we just wanted something else. Timbaland and co makes a great job but I don't think their help is always right for Duran Duran. It feels like they're just trying to hard to sound fresh and hip again. Red Carpet Massacre got it's moments but it could have been much better.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Andy Taylor = good Duran Music, December 7, 2007
Ok, I'm writing this review for more for my own catharsis than anything. After years of never saying anything bad about Duran, I feel that I now have to write this down, with the arrival of Red Carpet Massacre.
First..a brief history of Duran releases...Duran Duran, Rio, Seven.., Wild Boys single (forget Arena), and Astronaut...GREAT albums with the perfect balance of synth, bass, and GUITARS that made Duran famous and spawned a new generation of young "new-wavers" who have pulled out the synths once again...all these featured Andy Taylor, who added the "oomph" to their sound, both in the studio and on the live stage.
Later albums saw Andy go, and that's when Nick took over with way too much synth stuff and turned the guitars down on Warren Cucurullo and anyone else who filled the spot...I personally love Big Thing and the Wedding Album, but guitars were nowhere near as prominent on these....I won't even get into the Thank You album of odd cover selections, and Medazzaland might as well be called "the Nick got some sweet new Mac synth software" album...I like it, but the balance is wayyy to electronic..And anyone who saw the stage shows during these periods could plainly see that the guitars had been pushed back....Warren was cool, but didn't have the stylistic impact that Andy had/has...
Then came the comeback album, Astronaut....and it was GOOD. The elements were back in their place, and the music was again balanced so that it had the right energy, not to mention good songs, and Duran sounded like a rock band again. The live dvd/cd of Live From London shows the return of that energy...it's just great.
So here we are with RCM, which was the straw that Andy left over...and I can't say I blame him...I can't say what his exact reason was, but I imagine it could've been, "We just had a great comeback album, a super-successful tour, we've got the next album done....and we're calling in the In-Sync guy for WHAT????" Nick's Answer: To make a record with no real drumming, guitar-playing, awkward sounding raps (skin-divers?ugg) music that everyone's doing these days...on my Mac" And those are the songs on RCM...they're not terrible, but they are missing something....and that something is GUITARS...As I listen to this album, I can even imagine where a couple good guitar chords could really punch up these songs.
So my review is ...RCM is okay, but after Astronaut, I looked forward to more. My suggestions..call up Andy, get him to come back because he needs to be there to balance Nick (and mess with him a bit, I think). I've heard John Taylor say in interviews recently that door may be open..so do it already. Next, recognize that Duran has SET TRENDS, and stop trying to follow them...be the God-Fathers of new wave that you're famous for being, and don't worry if teen-ages don't dig you...they'll come around (or not) and there's enough people over 25 who WILL.
And last...the band keeps saying they had an album done with Andy before they started the Timbaland/Justin thing....so dig it out...finish it up and get it out before 4 years from now...I'll be waiting.
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