Duran Duran - song-by-song rate & discussion thread

Finest Hour

After their successful reunion gigs, and with the momentum & goodwill the Fab Five had then personally, I think this should have been the lead single from Astronaut. I think it is the strongest song which made the album (It is certainly the one I think has the most Duran DNA); but as per most if not all the tracks on the album it was let down by its overproduction. Hence, I can only give it:

4.5/5

Just listen to this remix & watch this rather fine video, which gets the hairs up off the back of my neck in the way the album version does not, and just think what could & should have been:

 

161 Chains


"Chains" is a song by Duran Duran, released on the album Astronaut by Epic Records on 11 October 2004.

Track 9 on the album is a melodic rocker which was apparently predominantly written by Andy & Simon.

 

"Chains".
I've always liked it, but I haven't really got a whole lot to say about it
except that I have a soft spot for Duran Duran's autumnal, melancholic, plaintive ballads.
4.0/5.

 

Chains 3/5. Not really a fan of this song. Always skip it. Too by the numbers for me. The equivalent of air clapping...

 

Chains 3.5/5
I can't help it but I hear the lyrics as "I put my hand into the flame, burning butt, I feel no pain".
Once you hear it like that you cannot unhear it anymore so apoligies if I ruined it for you...

 

Chains - 3.5/5: More atmospheric DD with a nice Beatles-esque bassline from John. As far as late period album cuts go, this is very solid.

 

Finest Hour- For me , maybe the weakest track on the album, but still not that bad. I like the verse more then the chorus.

 

Finest Hour

I really like this one...it would fit right in on Red Carpet Massacre, but it's better than anything on there as far as I remember.

4/5

 

Chains

Beyond the atmospheric guitars...it's just kinda...there...sounds like DD trying to channel Tears For Fears.

2/5

 

Chains- Great bass line and interaction with Roger. Solid song, one of the better mixes on the record.

 

I love that Remix! The intro could be shorter and the Guitar solo is too processed but otherwise excellent. Is it a fan remix?

 

You’ve just ruined that for me. That’s almost along the lines of Steel Panther’s “ Death to all but metal”

 

Chains - Love the Melody, guitar, vocals but the rhythm section during the verse isn’t right for me. The bass is too syncopated and I do not like the shimmer of Roger’s hi-hat when it closes. I can not pinpoint why exactly but doesn’t sound right to me. It’s still a lovely song and Andy and Simon regularly played an acoustic version when doing tv and radio shows. 4/5

 

Chains
This was one of the tracks they focused on for a while and seemed to play everywhere. I’ve always liked it and the best section of the album is the closing section of these darker more grounded songs. The production is a bit weird here and there but it never detracts from the song for me.
5/5

 

"Chains"
4/5

I like this track more than "Finest Hour." It wouldn't have sounded out of place on side 2 of Big Thing.

 

What a great performance, and listen how good Andy was on this show.

 

Astro-not-interesting begins with the Hokey Pokey aka "Sunrise," in which we are implored to put our hands up into the sky because we're just 13-year-old girls singing along with our idols as they cough up a Hokey Anthem. It's an absolutely terrible song that I analyzed in depth a few days ago - but there is that Jason Nevins remix that gives it a lot more muscle while the production gimmicks give it more hooks. 2/5

"Want You More!" follows, continuing the pandering (or should we say blandering?) to a would-be audience that isn't interested. It says or does nothing worthwhile and after a million listens I still have trouble recalling anything other than the horrid production, another example of Duran Duran sounding utterly dated straight out of the gate. More than just about any other Duran Duran rock track, this just feels stupid. I can't help but think Nick was listening to Britney Spears in preparation for this album... and yet some of you have ranked this as highly as "Hold Back the Rain," which I find bewildering. 1.5/5

After that, "What Happens Tomorrow" thankfully chills the f**k out, and while it is a rather middling choice for a single, at least it doesn't try so freaking hard to be anything other than what it is. I do hear the Oasis overtones here but they're nothing like they were on Medazzaland in 1997. This has some nice instrumental passages that were highlighted well in the pre-album hype. As with most of the album, it's overworked to the point that some of the life is sucked out of it, but there's still some pleasantness to it and for that it earns a whopping 3.5/5.

As with the first two tracks on the album, "Astronaut" offers lyrics that rate as some of Simon's all-time worst (presuming he wrote them all) and as a result this song—which I recall at the time often being defended as one of the best tracks on the record—does far less me for me than it could have with a little bit more imagination. I find it interesting that both this song and the album that shares its name have very little to them that takes the listener into the stratosphere; even if you love this album, you have to admit it stays squarely on the ground. 2.5/5

You want it, you got it... Time for "Bedroom Toys." How can the band have lacked so much self-awareness that they created a track like this with the intent of it being funky or sexy or even funny and yet missed all of that? And yet... oddly enough, this is easily the most interesting track on the album with the least amount of commercial concession. Simon at least sounds alive. I guess it's not hard to make a train wreck fun to watch, and as such there's the negative enjoyment of listening to this and wondering about curled chicken. I'd give it a healthy score if not for the "you want it you got it" girls, who ruin it. 1/5

Seriously, what were they aiming for in terms of the lyrical content of this record? They used to be able to say nothing artfully, and now it all just sounds so boring and "Nice." The next track is truly *the* track that gets most singled out for tapping into their Rio sound or sounding like their old selves again, and while I actually disagree that it even manages that, there is something likable about the song. But I don't think it's single material. I find the chorus pedestrian and the vocal filter totally unnecessary, but there's at least a little effortless swagger here that makes it. 3.5/5

Now a brief message to remind you all that by 2004 this band had been working for 25 years. They'd hit the highest heights and the lowest lows. And if there were ever any evidence to demonstrate that there was no compelling reason for them to continue to exist, "Taste the Summer" would be it. The song is pointless and embarrassing hot garbage fluff, and way beneath the bar of what a band at this level should be capable of. At the very least, if they must continue using outside producers to give them ideas, then this exemplifies how Don Gilmore was not the right one. Not for me, anyway. 0.5/5

Next up... the album takes a turn.

 

Chains



On the album it sounds like a solid but bland soft rock record that could be a cover of a 90s Rod Stewart album track. It's charms only reveal itself on this acoustic/unplugged performance by Simon & Andy.

But as I have to rate the album track. 3.0/5

 

162 One of Those Days


"One of Those Days" is a song by Duran Duran, released on the album Astronaut by Epic Records on 11 October 2004.

This atmospheric melodic rock ballad was co-produced & engineered by Dallas Austin.

 

One of the Days. 2.5. Snore fest for me. It’s like all the blood has been drained from the song by corporate vampires...

 

One of those Days - 3.5/5: not a fan of the opening as it is just unrestrained Nick nonsense.

But then the production gets cleaner and we have another solid mid tempo gem. Revisiting the album makes me think that Dallas Austin “got” the band more than Don Gilmore, even if he lets Nick off the leash a little too much.

Great melodies from Simon and some mercifully prominent guitar on this one as well.

 

Taste The Summer: 1/5 Totally stupid. Do-do-do-do-dopipeedo? Really? This would be the worst song to date on this thread from Duran Duran. I assigned 1/5 to Know It All but this is to a degree worse. And again. I'm saving my zeros for future albums.

Finest Hour: 1.5/5 This is a sad an unfulfilling take on the song. This lyrical content deserves more. The “take it back” section of the song drags this one down. @Blame The Machines I would give the demo version you posted probably a 3. That's how horrid this final version is.

Chains: 2.5/5 Interesting melody but still boring and not helping this album any. Having said that, the odd chord sequence during the chorus makes your ears perk up a bit.

One Of Those Days: 3/5 This one sounds like something Beck would write. This is a good deep side 2 kind of track. It's pretty much too little too late though to save this album.

 

Nice

I love the melodies, the performances, the verses, Simon's performance, but just the chorus lyrics are a bit... underwhelming. Nice is a weird word. It reminds me of that scene in Truth or Dare when Kevin Costner describes Madonna's show as "neat" and she is offended.

"Nice" just seems too trite to convey what the sentiment of the song is, but I guess I can't think of a better word.

4/5

 

Taste the Summer

Yikes. Almost the same here. Instrumentally, I love this track. But wow those lyrics. Almost embarrassing to listen to.

3.5/5

 

Chains

One of my favorites on the album. That bassline!

And it's really a beautiful return to stellar lyrics.

An hour since the sundown
The ghosts are creeping in
Are gathering around me
Like starlings in the wind

Dark shapes gather round
​

Voices like my brother's
Are whispering to me
But I don't know these others
Who want to set me free

Come home - you're out of time
​

But the life cannot let go

It's a chain cuts across my soul

Anchoring in this world
​

I put my hand into the flame -

Burning but I feel no pain​

Don't speak, don't speak my name

Hold on to this life of chains
​

Just stunning.

5/5