He’s never sounded more towering than on the ecstasy of “Anniversary” or the ghostly mood of “Wing.”īut if that mood change sours lifelong missing the shores of “Rio,” the upbeat bounce of classic Duran is peppered throughout the album. Bassist John Taylor remains the band’s secret weapon, giving deep funk backing to lead single “Invisible,” “Tonight United” and “Hammerhead.” But the strongest presence on the record is still frontman Simon Le Bon, whose youthful yelp has aged nicely into the same haunting allure of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry (helped by the exceptional mixing on the album). “Give It All Up,” “Beautiful Lies” and the title track feature some of the most atmospheric synth lines Nick Rhodes ever afforded to the band. In fact, the band takes the upbeat glow from their Rio-era and refocuses it into something darker, even bordering on gothic. Despite the number of cooks in the kitchen, there’s a uniform sound layered on the album’s 12 tracks. There are plenty more collaborators on Future Past, including retro producer (and Duran superfan) Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Adele), father of disco Giorgio Morder (Donna Summer, Sparks) and DJ Erol Alkan (The Killers). Even when they’ve dipped back into the sound of their 80s heyday, Duran Duran still find a way to try something new 40 years after their debut.įuture Past is the band’s 15th album and is the most daring thing they’ve done since 2007’s Red Carpet Massacre, their muddled collaboration with Timbaland. Though the hysteria from “Hungry Like the Wolf” faded, the Fab Five kept going by expanding their synth pop sound into funk, adult contemporary, industrial rock and even R&B into the 90s and 2000s. One act that rolled with the punches of the changing times rather well is Duran Duran, the pretty-boy pop idols who thrived in the luxurious fantasy of the 80s. The pop culture stars of that glorious decade were so omnipresent in that boom of media that it was probably for all of them to figure out what to do next. For all its brightness and colors and over-the-top imagery, the 1980s were a hard decade to age out of.
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