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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Blame The Machines, May 5, 2019.

  1. omikron

    omikron Avid contributor to Paul McCartney's bank account

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    These are all good points you make. It is an accurate assessment of the group.

    Not trying to talk in circles but you are missing the second half of my point which is the whole reason I brought any of this up.

    Up until RCM and with PG, Duran Duran never let their dance music or pop or wherever we want to call it overtake their ability to inject powerful melodies into their songs.

    You are anyone else may disagree and I'm not here to take your views away from you but it stands as my view that PG is an album where DD has forsaken that key element in their music. I simply do not find any memorable or meaningful melodies in these songs. And along with half of RCM, this is a fail in my book.

    I like that the try to stay relevant and incorporate some level of modern music into their craft. Sometimes it's a major success (Notorious), sometimes it's ok (Big Thing, Wedding Album), sometimes it was a dud (Liberty) but at least they are trying and even Liberty has a couple great songs.

    I just personally think this time it was a fail with Paper Gods. The style or type of music simply somehow chokes out the band's ability to incorporate memorable melodies into the songs. And so this is really why I call it beat driven because that is what we are left with without good melodies.
     
  2. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    --
    I hear hip-hop with RCM, but with Paper Gods, it's more ethereal. Upon the first few listens, there were some tracks I loathed like the next on in the que - Last Night -- that is complete waste of time and a sell out. RTW does point out something to with "You Kill Me With Silence". It may start off with Casio-cheesiness, but it turns into something quite beautiful and reflective on old Duran-style. Been listening to this album, and the hip-hop focus doesn't hit me at all. The beats are electronic, as Roger was trying this new drum system he was hooked on, but I feel the melodies are some of the strongest they have done.

    It's wonderful that some people hear one perspective and some hear otherwise.

    A sign of a great band.
     
  3. Guapito

    Guapito Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It’s more EDM than Hip-Hop IMHO.
     
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  4. Chris Bernhardt

    Chris Bernhardt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Sorry- but I do like pressure drop better then pressure off .
     
  5. Chris Bernhardt

    Chris Bernhardt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Paper Gods ( the song) - to this listener, it is simply one of the best things they've done.
     
  6. debased

    debased Senior Member

    Location:
    Roanoke, Virginia
    I first read it in the Trouser Press Record Guide. This is how Duran Duran's entry begins: "Although conceived as a mix of the Sex Pistols and Chic..." It may or may not have been written as a joke but I thought it was pretty clever at the time and never forgot it. On at least one edition of Paper Gods you've got a track with Steve Jones and another one with Nile Rodgers. I'll just say, with a grin, this did not go unnoticed.
     
  7. americanscientist

    americanscientist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    205. Last Night In The City

    "Last Night in the City" is a song by Duran Duran, released from the album Paper Gods by Warner Bros. Records on YouTube on 28 August 2015.

    It is track number three on the album following "Paper Gods" and "You Kill Me With Silence" follows the song.




    This is the fifth track Duran Duran previewed from the band's 14 studio album Paper Godsafter the tracks "Paper Gods" (feat. Mr Hudson), "You Kill Me With Silence" and "What are the Chances?" from YouTube.

    "Last Night in the City" was released in Digital format to outlets when customers pre-ordered the digital format of Paper Gods; they released "Paper Gods" (feat. Mr Hudson) on the same day.

    Kiesza kicks off this anthemic dance track with a featured vocal, then Le Bon goes head to head with this powerhouse singer, he does so while singing at the top of his range.
     
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  8. DuranS

    DuranS Member

    Location:
    Russia
    I can't believe that this unpleasantness was directed by Nick Egan, who did such an amazing video of Ordinary World. Just, feel the difference...


    The song is so-so, and again featuring. 3/5
     
  9. DuranS

    DuranS Member

    Location:
    Russia
    I've got a feeling that they have no money to shoot something, but actually - they have. IDK, why they did this.
     
  10. Guapito

    Guapito Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Last Night In The City - does nothing for me. It’s EDM and not in a good way. Shouty Simon is not my bag either. Obviously written with the idea of capturing a younger audience but with a song like this it’s unlikely to happen. I’d be quite happy to never hear this again. 1/5
     
  11. Bluepicasso

    Bluepicasso Android Confused

    Location:
    Arlington, Va
    Last Night In The City 2/5. Irrelevant song, trying to appease the kids who wouldn't buy an album of theirs. The downside to this album along with Dancephobia. Sometimes, I would like to just say -- "Guys, get with it. This song just sucks. Don't tar your wibble-wobbly legacy."
     
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  12. OhioDuran

    OhioDuran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati OH
    LOL. I guess it took this long until I discovered I'm an "anti-intellectual" in my upper 40s.

    For *THIS* upper 40s whatever-I-am: the chorus ohs come at an intriguing pacing that gives me the joy that any music does when it connects: both familiar and unfamiliar/interesting enough to want to be heard again. Sorry it misses the mark for you; the burden of your intellectuality must be crushing!! ;)
     
  13. Chris Bernhardt

    Chris Bernhardt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Last Night InThe City- I like the verses more then the chorus . The track seems better in context with the album.
     
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  14. OhioDuran

    OhioDuran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati OH
    It's unfortunate, but a lot of this boils down to science. A ton of studies have pointed to this.

    link:
    Why Do You Stop Liking New Music as You Get Older?

    How it usually manifests (at least in my experience with family and friends) is people may still see acts that either just play the past or make music solely sounding like their history, and music consumption gradually declines as the years pass. It's not a slander or anything: it's just the way the brain works. It becomes more difficult for things to gel and create the pleasure required to consistently seek out new in music.

    Kanye is a great example. By any regard, a true musical genius. You would be hard pressed to find a contemporary critic that disagrees. A jacka$$ of a person, sure. But that doesn't mean that any 50 year old off the street is apt to be a fan. It truly sounds "like noise" to them; much in the way The Beatles are noise to our grandparents.

    Duran generally pushes through; John in particular has an insatiable appetite for music, loves current stuff and doesn't want his band to be pigeonholed and stagnate as a legacy act. There have been many interviews with him where he questions the role of bass guitar in today's pop music landscape, and what that means for him. He has responded a lot by using more synth bass and forging forward in new musical directions.

    Even things like Pressure Off, it's likely that a curmudgeon* that doesn't gel well with current music may not care for it. Nor an average 16 year old pop music consumer of 2015. Nor a fan of modern indie/alternative things like Janelle Monae. But it was created from a place of pure joy with solid footing in the best of past pop sensibilities with flourishes of things that are exciting in the 2010s. And obviously it didn't create any huge stir with the public.


    Some great reviews for Paper Gods mirror my opinions:

    PopMatters
    Paper Gods is a sonic marvel, beautifully produced by an ace team of collaborators. The sounds pop out of the speakers from every direction -- it’s an exciting feast for the ears, with always something new, unexpected and alive. Listen to it in the car on full blast, but then try it on headphones to experience all the careful attention to detail and nifty sounds that emerge with repeated listens. Almost every track could be a single, and there was plenty of strong material left over judging by the excellent bonus tracks hiding on the album’s deluxe edition. Hearing Duran Duran sounding as good as they ever have with an exhilarating collection of expertly crafted pop is a pure joy.

    For those fans who only know Duran Duran’s mega ‘80s hits, do yourself a favor and check out Paper Gods immediately. And while you’re at it, seek out some of the lesser-known gems in their catalog like Medazzaland and Pop Trash. Most definitely take the time to absorb their superb 2010 release All You Need Is Now. The ‘80s hits are great and it was an amazing era for them and many other artists, but it’s time for Duran Duran to be recognized for what they are: one of the most consistently innovative and electrifying pop/rock bands of the last 35 years. Nostalgia is all well and good, but Duran Duran is every bit as vital in 2015 as they were in 1983, and whether it’s reflected on the pop charts or not is wholly irrelevant.

    Rolling Stone
    More than 30 years after they were first dismissed as vapid New Wave man-dolls, Duran Duranare still kicking, and sounding surprisingly vibrant. It's a weird mix that feels cohesive, from the mirror-ball flash of "Pressure Off" to the EDM blowout "Last Night in the City," featuring young house singer Kiesza. Paper Gods has a grand-old-bitch quality: On the title track, Simon Le Bon plays the bored lizard king complaining about shallow fashion zombies. But what makes this music fun is its youthful sense of invention. Our Eighties-mad era would've been happy with a Rio redux, but these guys aren't ready to settle for that.

    And this piece from Time Magazine is also a fun read:

    Think of all the bands you know from the ’80s. Now whittle that list down to bands that are still around and performing with most of their original lineup. Trim that list down to the acts that are still recording new music, and then cut that list down to groups that are making new music that’s also good—records that feel fresh and modern but not gimmicky. What are you left with? Even one of the decade’s most iconic bands, Duran Duran, isn’t totally sure.

    “We often talk as a band, ‘Who are our contemporaries who are doing anything in the same spectrum as we are?'” says keyboardist Nick Rhodes, whose eyeliner and swooping blond bangs adhere most faithfully to the style of the band’s hey-day. “We actually look at modern artists more than we look at music. People like Ed Ruscha or Richard Prince, people who have had long careers that are still inventing new things for themselves and doing beautiful work.”

    The New Romantic stars aren’t so new these days—they’re all over 50—but on their fourteenth studio album, Paper Gods, out Friday, the adventurous spirit and willingness to evolve that defined the band’s career is as palpable as ever. Blending flashy synth-pop, funk influences and touches of modern EDM, the band recorded the album over the span of two years without the involvement of a record label, signing a new deal only a few months before its release. Several times throughout its creation, the band threw out their material and started from scratch in search of songs that met their standards. “You can’t really stay around for this long and still be crap,” says singer Simon Le Bon, seated in the living room of an elegant Upper East Side apartment he compares to a setting in Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch. “Making another record is not necessarily the easy route to take. It has a lot to do with not being intimidated by past success and not looking down.”

    Paper Gods, out Friday, splits the difference between its two predecessors. While Ronson and longtime Duran Duran collaborator Nile Rodgers help the band play to their strengths, new voices like British producer Mr. Hudson, best known for his work with Kanye West and Jay Z, push the band out of its comfort zone. “We had to dig and dig until we found something that sounded like the Duran Duran we think of as the experimental, cutting edge band,” says Le Bon. Adds Rhodes, “We’re the first to say the new one’s the best thing we’ve done in a long time, because you have to, but there’s something a little deeper inside that tells you when you’ve made something that has transcended the previous few things. I’d stick my neck out as far to say with this one we have, for a lot of different reasons.”

    Rhodes credits Paper Gods‘ collaborators in particular. At this point in the band’s 37-year history, other writers and performers come to Duran Duran, not the other way around. It was Lorde’s idea, for example, to have Le Bon duet with Charli XCX on the The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 soundtrack she curated last fall. Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, one of a slew of guests that includes Janelle Monáe and Kiesza, was the first to reach out about contributing to what become Paper Gods. But the band says the album didn’t really take shape until Mr. Hudson suggested they, too, get in the studio together.

    “We’re a tough room—we’ve known each other for three and a half decades,” Rhodes says. “You walk in and we think, ‘Alright, what are you going to do? Impress us!’ And he actually did.” On the first day, Hudson and the band came up with "You Kill Me With Silence," which opens with a menacing trap beat that will catch longtime listeners off guard. Two more tracks quickly followed, including the title track, which might be the slickest pop song to ever take on sweatshop labor. Hudson went on to co-produce more than half the record.

    “It’s like trying out some new sex act,” says bassist John Taylor, looking like the most grizzled rock star of the bunch, of the sounds Hudson encouraged them to try out. “[At first] we’re like, ‘Oooh, I don’t know.” But the band has grown to welcome the input of outside parties. “I hate the power games and the arguments that we have within the group without a producer,” Le Bon says. “I don’t want to have to champion parts in songs, I just want to get on the creative side. I want somebody else to be making those kinds of decisions.”

    The sultry spoken-word cameo from Lindsay Lohan on “Danceophobia,” another Mr. Hudson co-production, was also of the actress’ own initiative. “Lindsay’s an old pal,” Le Bon says with a smirk that suggests he knows how unlikely that sounds. The two met around 2004 as guests on Live with Regis and Kelly, where Lohan told Le Bon that she had dressed up as him at her birthday party the week before, and they’ve kept in touch over the years. Lohan texted Le Bon about contributing guest vocals when she learned Duran Duran was recording in London during her West End stint in Speed-the-Plow. “She was thinking more of a singing part, but this is something only she could do,” Le Bon says. “She’s got this really naughty sound to her voice. The actual monologue is full of innuendo, but she pitches it just right, really straight-faced. She really comes and gives it a thrill.”

    As larger-than-life as Lohan’s costume suggests the band is, they aren’t immune to recent changes in the music industry. Budgets that once felt infinite are no longer. Rhodes points out that their 2011 video for “Girl Panic!” wouldn’t have been possible without brand partnerships that helped foot the bill. They follow today’s debates about music-streaming services and, though their music is currently available on Spotify, say they support Taylor Swift’s stance on the company and Apple Music. “I love her,” Rhodes gushes. “I personally very much agree with Taylor Swift’s point of view that people should be paid what’s fair.” (When I break the news to all four members that Swift has a song called “New Romantics” on her 1989 album, they seem genuinely surprised and immensely flattered.) They’re also aware that, as current as they aim to be, reaching a mainstream audience beyond their core fanbase is the biggest challenge of Paper Gods. “If it does that,” Le Bon says, “it will be a success.”

     
  15. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    So are human beings, right?!:evil:
     
  16. Dbrouwer

    Dbrouwer Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Last Night In The City

    Desperate, simple song. Instrumental sounds better than main version with shouty vocals. A point for some cool synths.
    2/5

     
  17. americanscientist

    americanscientist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Last Night In The City: clear pandering to a more youthful audience. I always wondered if they wanted Gaga for this one as it sounds tailor made for a contribution by her.

    They take a lot of grief for chart chasing with Timbaland and Timberlake but large parts of RCM still have that Duran DNA in them. This just sounds like Katy Perry.

    Both this and Danceophobia should have been relegated to bonus tracks or shelved altogether.

    It is quite popular at my gym due to its energy and big electronic sounds.

    2/5
     
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  18. RTW

    RTW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I'm very confident that the writer didn't make that up; I believe it was a John Taylor-ism at some point, I'm just not sure where.
     
  19. RevolutionDoctor

    RevolutionDoctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gent, Belgium
    Due to lack of time I haven't been able to keep up with the thread.
    I'll come back later but I really feel I should post my personal remix for Pressure Off here. I'm really proud of it. It's not a radical remix, but rather an extended remix that stays true to the original.
    I even made a video for it that shows where Duran was at in 2015 :

     
  20. Sea Within a Sea

    Sea Within a Sea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    "Last Night in the City"

    It's not the album's worst song, but it's definitely the album's worst song that doesn't have Lindsay Lohan on it.

    1/5
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2019
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  21. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Every time I hear this I think... come on, that’s Guy Garvey isn’t it? Is Mr. Hudson an alias? Was he embarrassed to sing with Duran Duran? But I guess he’s a real guy (no pun intended).
     
  22. RTW

    RTW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    "Last Night in the City" - Well, I stated earlier in the thread that this was one of my favorite tracks from the new record and in context it was probably a bit overstated; that said, I'm shocked that all anyone on this thread can say about it is that it is pandering to youth and irrelevant. Again, what fascinates me about this track is that if you look beyond the surface level you find a fairly typical Duran Duran track, it's just wearing a different outfit. I'm not sure that it has to be pandering to have sounds that have cultural resonance today, and I'm also not sure why a 35 year old band can't try something in this regard without agism showing up. (Seriously, the vibe I'm seeing is like, "Guys, know your place.")

    Do I think it's the greatest song? No, but I think what trips people up the most is the presence of Kiesza, who is jarringly shrill and inevitably autotuned. But I'd say if you're really struggling with this track, strip off that opening chorus so you don't have to hear her first, then listen to the structure of it. Also, I think it gains something on repeat listening; the complexity opens up after the shock of the "new" sounds wears off.

    Last Night in the City, 3.5/5
     
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  23. RTW

    RTW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Not on this forum, you aren't! :righton:
     
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  24. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
  25. RevolutionDoctor

    RevolutionDoctor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gent, Belgium
    That's one of the main problems of the song. It's opening and it's sequencing. It's the second song on the album after the relatively subdued title track. The way LNITC greets you is simply an assault on the ears in that context which makes you grab the volume knob to try and reduce the pain. And the assault isn't even provided by a member of the band. The theme of the song is not really thought provoking or deep by any means.
    We're all busy being human ? What the hell is that supposed to mean ? That's just lyrical laziness with the arrogance of trying to sound philosophical.

    And what "time" do they acutally mean when they sing "This is our time" ?
    Simon Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) and Kiesza (born January 16, 1989). Can you imagine singing "this is our time" with someone who is the age of your father ? That's just laughable.

    Then there's the "live" rendition of the song : I've never heard a live version that wasn't an embarrassment. That's not singing. That's shouting over a backing track and losing your breath.
    LNITC : 1/5
    the instrumental is 3/5 for me.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2019

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