A L B U M S

Duran Duran (1981) 1981 marked a defining year in music as Duran Duran hit the scene with their New Romantic style beats and playboy looks. Exotic videos in Sri Lanka and Tel Aviv pushed their music to television screens all over the world. This album consisted of highly produced, synthesized sounds that although are unmistakably 80s, are original and smooth enough to still be played in the late 90s.

Rio (1982) With the continuing success of the first album, the second album, Rio, blew away the world with what would be their most popular album of the 80s. More exotic videos placed the name of Duran Duran on the lips of every MTV VJ and their face on every girls' wall that had access to a radio or television. Duran Duran was the flagship of glam rock that invaded America's airwaves for years to come.

Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) This was their most anticipated album, and expectations were high. The album was written in Montserrat and Sydney culminating in a sound that seemed to border on chaos, yet was unmistakably slick and produced. A solid album with many singles and a world tour to end all tours, the album's energy was strong and proved that Duran Duran was going to be around for a while.

Arena (1984) Duran Duran's Arena world tour was one of the most successful tours ever. Enormous venues, crazed fans blocking traffic around Duran's hotels, and Princess Diana's admiration for Duran Duran resulted in Duran Duran surpassing the highest of musical peaks.

Power Station (1985) Andy Taylor and John Taylor decided to break away from Duran Duran briefly to explore a heavier, more American style of rock music. They met up with Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer and created the Power Station which yielded popular singles and a short tour.

Arcadia (1985) With John and Andy busy, Simon le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor teamed up for form another Duran Duran spin-off, Arcadia. Arcadia demonstrated a much more atmospheric and romantic soundscape than Power Station. Simon called this the most pretentious album ever, but was still very proud of it. Sting, Carlos Alomar (David Bowie's guitarist), Grace Jones, and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour lent their talent to the album. Don't look for Roger in any of the videos, for although he helped with the album, he participated in little promotion, and decided he had had enough of the music business.

Notorious (1986) When the spin-off groups came to a close, Duran Duran was back in action...but was structurally much different. Although Roger played the drums on many of the tracks, he decided not to be considered part of the band. He left shortly thereafter. Andy did not return, he instead followed a solo career and released Thunder. Notorious showed a mature, sophisticated Duran Duran sound, facilitated by funkster Nile Rogers and the Borneo Horns. In my book, this is by far the best album as of 1997.

Big Thing (1988) Duran Duran began to grow in their diversity, especially after experimenting with the successful Notorious album. They took the path of electronics and some techno to formulate Big Thing, a new sound but with the familiar Duran foundation. It faired well, but was not elicit the thunderous typical Duran response we were used to. Duran began to experiment further with electronics and (inevitably) merit. As we know, most fans are young and love the catchy music, thus when Duran evolved into a more mature style, the shallow fans were lost.

Decade (1989) Not a surprise to anyone, a best of Duran Duran CD was released and was an instant hit. This recording is a culmination of ten years of music exhibiting years of classic hits from Girls on Film to All She Wants Is.

Liberty (1990) Duran Duran officially named two new musicians for Liberty. Warren Cuccurrullo (lead guitar) and Sterling Campbell (drums) formed the new five piece band. Warren had been playing with Duran Duran since 1986 and can be seen in some earlier videos (Skin Trade, Three to Get Ready). Liberty followed suit with a Power Station feel to it, heavy and more American. This album marked the darkest time for Duran Duran. Low sales permeated every nation, but strong fans found much worth on the album (My Antartica and Serious). Sterling was to play only on this album. By the way, the girls in the wigs were original ideas.

The Wedding Album (1993) After the commerically disappointing Liberty, Duran Duran headed back into the studio (Warren's living room) and created a timeless piece of art. The Wedding Album launched Duran Duran back into the limelight with a full scale world tour (acoustic in some areas) and a major MTV Unplugged special. The Durannies never left, they were just quiet for a little while. The album holds the best song they've ever recorded, Ordinary World, a song that massive opera star Luciano Pavarotti sang with Simon for a benefit. During the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, bleachers were moved in to accommodate the underestimated crowd. Fans simply went nuts every time Duran was mentioned during the show. Pandemonium.

Thank You (1995) Duran Duran's fans were always interested in where Duran Duran got their inspiration from. In response, and to say thank you to their loyal fans, they released a cover album entitled Thank You. They covered songs (with their own style) like Thank You (Led Zeppelin), 911 is a Joke (Public Enemy), and Crystal Ship (The Doors). Lou Reed was quoted as saying that Duran's version of his Perfect Day was exactly how he wanted it to turn out, but couldn't do so. My personal favorite is Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan).

Medazzaland (1997) This was to be the last album that originator John Taylor was to play on. He decided to go solo and follow his own path. On the surface, this was asad turn of events for Duran Duran and their hardcore fans, but faith was to be had in the remaining Simon, Nick, and Warren. Medazzaland, a mispronunciation of a pain killer, furthers the Big Thing style sound more convincingly, and also incorporates a worldy/international sound.

GREATEST (1998) Similar to Decade, GREATEST compiles the best of Duran Duran into one collection. 19 songs span over virtually 20 years of musical evolution. It also includes a fan favorite, Serious, from the Liberty album. Unfortunately, in order to accommodate 19 songs, most songs are short or edited versions. There is also a video collection of GREATEST that includes the artistic Wild Boys, the unedited Chauffeur video and the infamous Girls on Film video.

Pop Trash Movie (June 13th, 2000)Brilliant! Duran Duran continues to push the technology envelope but doesn't allow it to drive itself. With slick 70s style jams and moody atmosphere, Pop Trash delves into the lives of megalomaniacs (not a wholly unfamiliar motif for Simon). Duran Duran have more right than most current artists to discuss the issues brought up on Pop Trash. Simon croons on the tribulations of being ultra-famous (Hallucinating Elvis, Pop Trash Movie) and then philosophizes on the value of being thoughtful and introspective (Last Day on Earth). The first single has been released (Someone Else Not Me) and was recorded in French (by far the best version) and Spanish in addition to English. I love this album and I've only been listening to it for 2 hours. Mars Meets Venus is without question the best song on the CD!

Go to www.hollywoodrecords.com to find samples and full length songs of Pop Trash in mp3.

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