Liberty is an abominably bad album and “Violence of Summer” is one of the most inauthentic recordings ever made. The song, the band, and the production all work together to render the ten years of success they’d already had completely meaningless and it draws from none of their preexisting strengths. The title track was going to be the third single in Europe, but in America we would have gotten "First Impression." The video had already been storyboarded and was about to begin filming when they canceled it.
i don't like violence of summer either, but it did well enough, and have remixes made, and club play. the whole liberty album is terrible, so i don't think anything would have saved it. i didn't like ordinary world either, but it came at a time when that sound was popular, so that song did really well. i liked come undone, and too much information much better. but come undone, wasn't really that different, but more club friendly. in the US drowning man was a single too, and that was very upbeat too. later -1
We always love talking about Liberty, don't we? It's like how we also love talking about Never Let Me Down in Bowie forums, like... how did this happen? But there is something good there, right? But why is it so bad? I still find Liberty to be an interesting document. A missed opportunity, in my view, when they should have had it in them to make a great album esp. with Warren being integrated fully. But they had their problems pulling it all together. I think there are some great dance tunes on the Wedding album, and some good mixes were made. I do love the three singles, too. There are just a few tracks I think should have been trimmed. It's too long and a couple things are just throw-away tracks. But I really like most of it. I don't see the need for the Velvet Underground cover, though, on that one. But as for covers, I'd rather not talk about the album after... speaking of missed opportunities.
It's the same chord progression. Come Undone was the result of Warren trying to develop an acoustic version of First Impression.
What exactly is an "inauthentic recording"? I love "The Violence Of Summer", it's a fantastic single and one of my favourites. Besides: You don't really go to a band like Duran Duran for "authenticity", do you? I also don't think that "Liberty" is "abominably bad" but maybe that's just me. The actual reason I came here today - and saw the posts I just quoted above- is that I wanted to ask if anybody has been to the Ibiza event. I'd love to hear how it was, was it crowded, what kind of people where there etc... The setlist was heavy on "Future Past" (5) and "Rio" (4).
What happened to "don't quote me," Neonbeam? Obviously you know this era was a massive failure for Duran Duran. Simon admits they lost their focus. John can't remember recording any of it. It was not a hit in any English speaking country. (It was a hit only in Italy.) It's inauthentic in that (a) it's posing; it's taking on sounds and voices that are outside of the wheelhouse of Duran Duran, including some kind of "street" accent on Simon's part that isn't believable; (b) it was a big departure from the sounds that the band had presented before, and not in line with the trajectory established by Notorious and Big Thing, which makes it feel like a desperate move to become something other than what they were; (c) the instruments and sounds are either synthetic sounds trying to sound real but failing, or real instruments produced to sound as flimsy and plastic as possible; (d) it was produced by Chris Kimsey, a man best known for producing The Rolling Stones during the 80s, obviously hired because the band wanted to present themselves as a rock band again, which is not evident via points (a) through (c) above. Therefore, inauthentic. I've known plenty of people who enjoy listening to it, and nobody is disallowing you your enjoyment of the song or appreciation of the album, but you have to recognize that just because you like it, doesn't ultimately make it better historically. It's one of the great bad albums of its time. That alone, for some of us, is a reason to appreciate it. I've often thought about this and I'm curious if you only came to this album *after* their success in the 90s. Because I will agree that I think The Wedding Album is a much better record that is built on a lot of the same ingredients, and I think if I'd experienced that era first, going back to Liberty wouldn't be so shocking or unrewarding. But in 1990, coming to it from years of fandom, its inauthenticity shocked a lot of people and shed a considerable amount of the remaining audience they once had. That loss of audience is not opinion... it's truth.
I only first heard of Liberty when I saw it in a store when I went to buy the Wedding Album. I was an avid fan as a kid. I bought Big Thing on release, saw them live in 89. But I never even heard of Liberty. I thought it was a bootleg too when I saw it. So I passed it by. I only heard My Antarctica as a b side. It was actually a few years later that I learned Liberty was in fact a real album...and years after that until I finally bought a copy to listen to in like 2011 or something. So a 20 year wait
Thank you for the explanation, it cleared things up. Obviously some albums sound different in retrospect and I have to admit that I remember the ads/ reviews and "The Violence Of Summer" but I hadn't heard the full album until much later. I did hear "Big Thing" and "Notorious" at the time of release and even though I liked them it was a struggle. These are two albums that have aged very favourably. So who knows what I would have thought of "Liberty" at the time. Somehow the direction they were headed back then wasn't exactly clear. That the press didn't necessarily heap praise on albums like "Big Thing" made it not immediately easy to love them. "Rio" seemed a long time ago. Not of that matters now. And it's great that we're still discussing this band decades later. Duran have quite a nice community on SH.
I've followed the band since 1983 and remember my reaction after purchasing each album. As a more mature adult now, I find my feelings for some albums have changed and for others have not. I still love the 80s run from debut to Big Thing (the latter two being less easy to digest immediately but ultimately more rewarding over time). I distinctly remember going out and buying Liberty at the time of release. I had read one review which cast it in a more favorable light than Big Thing, strangely enough. But as I listened to it, my immediate impression was that seemed a more upbeat and enthusiastic listen than Big Thing. It had bounce, confidence and more immediacy. I put this down to the injection the two new members put in. Their was a more 'Atalntic' sound, for sure, and some tracks sounded a bit 'forced', but I still find Liberty an interesting and rewarding listen today with a consistent flow and production. I still much prefer Liberty to the Wedding Album which, aside from the singles, sounds like a clash of the style wars, with the band trying every sound and early 90s beat that was going at the time. I think they were 'reaching' to appeal more broadly following the loss of confidence due to the failure of Liberty in commercial terms, As a result, I feel that album is their least focused and least cohesive, but I'm probably in the minority there. In any event, neither album beats their 1981-1988 run. Each to their own and all...
In the US, Capitol tried to resurrect Liberty by including “My Antarctica” and “Lasting First Impression” on various singles formats during The Wedding Album era. The band featured a beautiful version of “Serious” on MTV Unplugged. Simon even joked it was from an album nobody had even heard.
Count me in your minority, I totally agree with you on this about preferring Liberty to the Wedding Album, and I think your take on that album is spot on. It’s all over the place, and not in the best way. The singles are great, the rest, well, let’s just say I’ve never reached for it with the insatiable feeling like I really need to hear UMF or All of the Above.
LMAO! Oops. Good catch, Curveboy! I think my error illustrates perfectly my perspective on the song. That’s cool you dig it so much…always fun to learn of others who hear songs so differently. I’ll give it a fresh listen at some point…it’s been a long while!
We do love them! My take on The Wedding Album is that it has less John contribution and more Warren contribution. On Liberty, Warren's parts were limited so when he does play it's like "Here's the part with the squealing, annoying guitar sound!"; whereas on The Wedding Album, Warren is less restrained and the band is allowed to reach a more integrated sound. Again, Liberty is very much about being a rock band again, but they didn't actually know what that meant, other than each member taking a turn playing a part. Whereas on The Wedding Album they go further. "Ordinary World" could not have happened with the guitar economy on Liberty. "Come Undone" doesn't even have John playing on it. Etc. "Too Much Information" has a blend of guitar and keyboard that defined their classic sound, but didn't really happen at all on Liberty except maybe for "Serious," which is why that one is recognized. I still feel people who navigate from Greatest to Liberty on the basis of that song are generally not going to get what they're going after. The Wedding Album remains underrated and the hodgepodge of 90's styles on the record, once seen as its weakness, is part of its strength. It's an interesting assortment to be sure, pushing the boundaries of what Duran Duran is, but that's why it was self-titled, right? Redefining the band who were capable of almost anything they wanted to do. That album has been much more of a blueprint for everything that's come after than Rio or Seven have been.
I like them and think the real "problem" with "Duran Duran" is it's length. 62 Minutes. And it still needed a cover version? There isn't really any inherent dramaturgy, it's more or less a succession of songs that showed that stylistically the band wasn't necessarily stuck in wedded to the 80's. One of my favourites is "The Sin Of The City".
I have read many comments over the years on this forum and others that people love the singles but not the album itself. I do agree it has cd bloat and there is a terrific 10 song LP from within the era.
Agreed TWA is an excellent nine to ten tracker. Liberty is also a great album in my opinion. Bar Venice Drowning, which has always been tosh.
I'll take a shot at single LP: 1. Too Much Information 2. Ordinary World 3. Love Voodoo 4. Breath After Breath 1. Come Undone 2. None of the Above 3. Shelter 4. Falling Angel
