Post by coolbarn on Mar 6, 2016 1:25:50 GMT -5
To kind of play Devil's Advocate here... while I get the gist of this argument and don't necessarily disagree with it, the "jumping on trends" aspect of things is one that is debatable. The band has always had a umber of influences in the rock and pop spectrum since they were younger and are generally known to be lovers of all sorts of music. The Sex Pistols meets Chic description that we've heard thousands of times over the years shows those roots a bit, and even the Arcadia/Power Station break was partially a result of one side of the band wanting to do something a bit rockier.
Hi Trev,
Well if it is open to debate mate, I certainly want to be on the affirmative team
It's all well and good having influences. Every band does; you don't start wanting to play music in the first place unless you love it and have been motivated to learn it and create it.
But there is a definite difference between being inspired by something, and jumping on trends.
When Duran mentioned they wanted to sound like Chic meets the Sex Pistols, how long did that last for? One album? Two? Do you think Rio meets the bill? Because I don't think Seven & The Ragged Tiger does, that's for sure. Duran even admitted they started to write Union Of The Snake after Roger started playing the drum beat to Let's Dance by David Bowie.
Ah yes, Let's Dance. The album that put one of their heroes (no pun intended) back into the spotlight, selling over 10 million copies and being Bowie's best selling album of all time. Funny that they were trying to emulate that particular sound back when writing Seven! Why not be inspired by Bowie's debut album, or The Man Who Sold The World, or Station To Station? THOSE were the albums that would have inspired the Duran boys whilst growing up, so why would Duran copy Let's Dance rather than Aladdin Sane or Young Americans? It certainly wasn't just a coincidence that Duran Duran drew influence from a current mega-selling album when writing Seven & The Ragged Tiger.
House music becomes popular - Duran write Big Thing and release two singles that are the most current sounding songs they have ever done.
At the end of the 80s the harder rock hair bands like Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Motley Crue etc were having their 15 minutes of fame, and so Duran write Liberty and give Warren free reign with harder-edged guitar riffs and solos, a luxury Andy wasn't often afforded.
Come mid-90s and electronica is popular, and Duran write Medazzaland containing their very own Oasis rip-off Who Do You Think You Are. Then with Pop Trash they try and emulate bands like Korn with the ending of Mars Meets Venus and Playing With Uranium.
Then we come to the reunion. Do Duran "go back to their roots" and write an album of Chic meeting the Sex Pistols? No they don't, because neither Chic nor the Sex Pistols were selling records in 2001. Instead Duran copy Maroon 5 and write a safe, decent, but underwhelming comeback album. It was Duran Duran's last real chance at chart success and they blew it. And they stopped working with Nile Rodgers (who had given up a spot on American Idol to work with them) because he wasn't the flavour of the month and opted to work with hipper producers instead in order to get a hit. Hip producers who didn't come close to getting the best out of Duran Duran.
Next up - RCM. Nothing needs to be said there in regards to Duran chasing a hit.
AYNIN was a breath of fresh air, and Paper Gods is a return to chasing trends with the lads studying mix-tapes and opting to use synth-bass because everybody else is. And surprise surprise, what do you know - Nile Rodgers has a massive hit with Get Lucky and all of a sudden the band want to work with him again after unceremoniously dumping him from the Astronaut sessions.
If the band wants hits, that's cool. That is their decision to make. I will continue to buy their albums, attend their concerts, and post in this forum about them (cue major disappointment). I will always love them. I just want them to be healthy, happy and successful and to keep making music and touring for years to come yet. But let's not pretend they are not chasing hits with the decisions they have made over the years and continue to make. And making current music with current producers has been their modus operandi, with varying degress of success.
Since Duran originally split up in 1986 they have recorded 10 original studio albums not including Thank You. And the only ones of those where I honestly believe that Duran Duran did not obviously follow trends of the time were Notorious, parts of The Wedding Album, and All You Need Is Now, coincidentally three of their vastly superior albums during this time.
Their other albums have ranged from very good to awful, but there was always that element of following current trends be it in the music being recorded or the producers being used.
And that's why Duran Duran's albums don't sound the same. As the musical landscape changes, so does Duran Duran. They always try to sound current, and this sometimes works (Big Thing) but often times doesn't (RCM, Medazzaland, Liberty, Pop Trash).
Some fans love that. But to me there is something special about hearing John, Roger, and Nick all melding perfectly with a good guitarist whilst Simon sings amazing melodies containing interesting and mature lyrics. Albums where ALL the instruments get a chance to shine every song is what I personally hope for from Duran Duran.
When I don't get that, when one of the instruments shine whilst the others take a bit of a back-seat all in the name of being popular, I end up more than a little disappointed.