Post by Deleted on May 11, 2008 8:45:31 GMT -5
www.eagletribune.com/pulife/local_story_128212131.html?keyword=secondarystory
When Duran Duran reunited in 2003, it marked the first time all five original band members had played together since 1985. The reunion, however, didn't last as long as fans probably hoped.
Guitarist Andy Taylor dropped out of the lineup again in 2006. That meant the greatly hyped reunion produced only one world tour and the 2004 release, "Astronaut."
Sort of. Because what most people may not know is that Duran Duran nearly released a second album before Taylor split.
"We did make another record that was potentially — which I should say was provisionally — titled 'Reportage' with Andy," keyboardist Nick Rhodes said in a recent phone interview.
"There are about 12 or 14 tracks," he said. "It's a good record. But it's sitting there. It's cryogenically frozen for the moment. I hope it comes out one day."
Rhodes said plans for "Reportage" changed when they decided they needed a couple additional tracks and wanted to work with hip-hop super-producer Timbaland to record them. At the same time, things were going sour with Taylor and he would soon officially bow out of the band.
Rather than squeezing the additional, "very different sounding" tracks onto "Reportage," Rhodes said, he and the other remaining members (singer Simon LeBon, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor) decided to move on as a quartet. They recorded "Red Carpet Massacre," which includes three songs co-written and co-produced by Timbaland. Pop superstar Justin Timberlake also contributed to the album.
The "Red Carpet Massacre" tour brings the four-member Duran Duran to Boston University on May 28. Tickets are on sale now.
Given the contrasting styles between Duran Duran's glossy, electronic-infused pop sound and the hip-hop of Timbaland, it's no surprise that "Red Carpet Massacre" offers some fresh stylistic twists, especially with the trio of songs involving Timbaland.
The hip-hop beats that inhabit "Nite-Runner" and "Skin Divers," — along with some rap vocals on the latter track — immediately give these songs a funkier edge than what's associated with Duran Duran.
"The way that most of the songs were done is he (Timbaland) would come up with some beats and things with his machines, and then we'd all sort of jam together and see where it took us," Rhodes said.
The result, he said, is a comfortable merger of Timbaland beats with trademark Duran Duran sound.
The Timberlake collaborations had been in the works since 2003, when the pop star met Duran Duran at the MTV Video Music Awards. Once Timberlake heard that the band was in the studio with Timbaland, he wanted in.
"He said, 'Hey, I'm in New York. Can I join the session?'" Rhodes recalled. "So obviously we said, 'Yeah, why not? Let's see what happens.'"
According to Rhodes, Duran Duran had never collaborated with producers or other artists to such a degree since the band formed in 1980 and reached fever-pitch popularity in the early 1980s. It was then that a trio of albums — "Duran Duran" (1981), "Rio" (1982), and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" (1983) — became multiplatinum hits and pumped out a string of hit singles ("Hungry Like A Wolf," "Girls On Film," "The Reflex" and "The Wild Boys"). The accompanying videos set the band up as a group of jet-setting pop icons.
Duran Duran attracted huge audiences, largely comprised of young women. Their concerts were compared to the Beatles shows of the 1960s.
Today, the Duran Duran concert experience is quite different, though, Rhodes said.
"One (difference) is we can all hear ourselves play now, which back then, honestly that was a serious problem," he said. "We'd get on stage and the screaming was so loud that sometimes we couldn't even get the PA loud enough. It was insane."
What's also different is the quality of the performance itself.
"I think we're playing a lot better as a band," said Rhodes, who noted that they still put on a flashy, highly visual show with a song selection that changes from night to night.
"When you have the amount of experience over the years that we have had, you get better," he said. "You get better at your trade. I think you learn how to handle audiences properly and how to take them on a journey throughout the show and pace it right. We look at it almost like a cinematic experience, like a movie, and you really need to take them to places that you don't think you're going, put some surprises in there, but also have all those moments that everybody has come to the show to see."
If you go
What: Duran Duran
When: 8 p.m., May 28
Where: Agganis Arena at Boston University, 925 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
How: Tickets $75, $50, $35; call 617-353-4628 or visit www.agganisarena.com.
When Duran Duran reunited in 2003, it marked the first time all five original band members had played together since 1985. The reunion, however, didn't last as long as fans probably hoped.
Guitarist Andy Taylor dropped out of the lineup again in 2006. That meant the greatly hyped reunion produced only one world tour and the 2004 release, "Astronaut."
Sort of. Because what most people may not know is that Duran Duran nearly released a second album before Taylor split.
"We did make another record that was potentially — which I should say was provisionally — titled 'Reportage' with Andy," keyboardist Nick Rhodes said in a recent phone interview.
"There are about 12 or 14 tracks," he said. "It's a good record. But it's sitting there. It's cryogenically frozen for the moment. I hope it comes out one day."
Rhodes said plans for "Reportage" changed when they decided they needed a couple additional tracks and wanted to work with hip-hop super-producer Timbaland to record them. At the same time, things were going sour with Taylor and he would soon officially bow out of the band.
Rather than squeezing the additional, "very different sounding" tracks onto "Reportage," Rhodes said, he and the other remaining members (singer Simon LeBon, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor) decided to move on as a quartet. They recorded "Red Carpet Massacre," which includes three songs co-written and co-produced by Timbaland. Pop superstar Justin Timberlake also contributed to the album.
The "Red Carpet Massacre" tour brings the four-member Duran Duran to Boston University on May 28. Tickets are on sale now.
Given the contrasting styles between Duran Duran's glossy, electronic-infused pop sound and the hip-hop of Timbaland, it's no surprise that "Red Carpet Massacre" offers some fresh stylistic twists, especially with the trio of songs involving Timbaland.
The hip-hop beats that inhabit "Nite-Runner" and "Skin Divers," — along with some rap vocals on the latter track — immediately give these songs a funkier edge than what's associated with Duran Duran.
"The way that most of the songs were done is he (Timbaland) would come up with some beats and things with his machines, and then we'd all sort of jam together and see where it took us," Rhodes said.
The result, he said, is a comfortable merger of Timbaland beats with trademark Duran Duran sound.
The Timberlake collaborations had been in the works since 2003, when the pop star met Duran Duran at the MTV Video Music Awards. Once Timberlake heard that the band was in the studio with Timbaland, he wanted in.
"He said, 'Hey, I'm in New York. Can I join the session?'" Rhodes recalled. "So obviously we said, 'Yeah, why not? Let's see what happens.'"
According to Rhodes, Duran Duran had never collaborated with producers or other artists to such a degree since the band formed in 1980 and reached fever-pitch popularity in the early 1980s. It was then that a trio of albums — "Duran Duran" (1981), "Rio" (1982), and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" (1983) — became multiplatinum hits and pumped out a string of hit singles ("Hungry Like A Wolf," "Girls On Film," "The Reflex" and "The Wild Boys"). The accompanying videos set the band up as a group of jet-setting pop icons.
Duran Duran attracted huge audiences, largely comprised of young women. Their concerts were compared to the Beatles shows of the 1960s.
Today, the Duran Duran concert experience is quite different, though, Rhodes said.
"One (difference) is we can all hear ourselves play now, which back then, honestly that was a serious problem," he said. "We'd get on stage and the screaming was so loud that sometimes we couldn't even get the PA loud enough. It was insane."
What's also different is the quality of the performance itself.
"I think we're playing a lot better as a band," said Rhodes, who noted that they still put on a flashy, highly visual show with a song selection that changes from night to night.
"When you have the amount of experience over the years that we have had, you get better," he said. "You get better at your trade. I think you learn how to handle audiences properly and how to take them on a journey throughout the show and pace it right. We look at it almost like a cinematic experience, like a movie, and you really need to take them to places that you don't think you're going, put some surprises in there, but also have all those moments that everybody has come to the show to see."
If you go
What: Duran Duran
When: 8 p.m., May 28
Where: Agganis Arena at Boston University, 925 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
How: Tickets $75, $50, $35; call 617-353-4628 or visit www.agganisarena.com.