Post by medazzaboy1997 on May 15, 2015 13:40:33 GMT -5
May 15, 2015 10:52:43 GMT -5 @mediteranean said:
Because, whether you like it or not, Zappa's material is on a completely different level of musicianship compared to most of Duran's material.So yes Warren was very good technically. But the beauty of music is that it is totally subjective. You could get Warren to play the hardest piece of music known to man, something that would have made Frank Zappa shake his head in disbelief, but would it be any more pleasurable to listen to than the guitar riffs from Day Tripper by the Beatles or Short Skirt Long Jacket by Cake for example?
I don't think so. Music isn't maths. You can't empirically prove to me that Warren Cuccurullo on guitar was any more enjoyable to listen to than Andy Taylor, Dom Brown, Mark Ronson, or the 10 year old next door neighbour's kid (actually the kid is pretty hopeless, you probably can prove Warren is better, but you know what I'm saying).
Warren was a great musician yes. But I would argue that there is more to a band than the sum of its parts. How do the band members play together as a team, how do they gel as a unit?
Look at the members of Duran Duran individually. John Taylor is a solid, dependable bass player who occasionally comes up with a breathtaking bassline, but technically he is NOT the best bass player in the world regardless of what any online popularity poll says. Roger Taylor is simlarly solid on the drums, but has never played a beat that would make an experienced drummer shake their head in disbelief. The shortcomings of Nick Rhodes' technical prowess are well documented, although often overstated. And Simon Lebon is a decent singer whose voice is an acquired taste, although occasionally nasally or whiny.
On paper they shouldn't be much of a band, right?
Wrong. Put those guys together and you can get musical nirvana. What musicianship doesn't take into account is the ability to make somebody feel happy and love listening to the actual music. So what that Nick Rhodes is only an average piano player at best? He is a brilliant songwriter who knows how to construct and polish a song to get the best out of it. Who cares that John and Roger Taylor are only solid musicians; as a rhythm unit they have come up with some of the greatest grooves in history. Does it matter that Simon Lebon will never win any singing awards - he is generally in key, sticks within his range but will push himself when required, but more importantly he writes brilliant vocal melodies and generally sounds pretty damn good!
As has been mentioned before Duran Duran as a band is much greater than the sum of its parts. I am looking forward to DD14 a lot more than if I heard a supergroup consisting of Neil Peart on drums, Flea on bass, Keith Emerson on keyboards, Warren Cuccurullo on guitar, and Aretha Franklin on vocals were going into the studio tomorrow to record a new album they wrote. Sure that would be an interesting mix, but would they be able to write an album together as great as Duran Duran can?
Warren was and is a very good guitarist. The only official Duran Duran member who could be described as a virtuoso. But in my opinion Duran Duran produced more bad songs and albums with him in the band than they did when Andy Taylor and Dom Brown were involved in the writing of Duran Duran music.
I always liked Warren Cuccurullo. I always admired his passion for Duran Duran and how he kept the band going through the hard times. We probably wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't. I loved his contribution to some amazing songs, particularly Ordinary World and Come Undone which were his ultimate contribution to Duran Duran. Regardless of his personal life and whacko ways, as a musician WC deserves a lot of praise and thanks from Duran Duran fans.
But a better musician does not always equal a better fit for the band. After Dom's contribution to AYNIN where he got writing credit, I feel that album is better than any record that Warren played on. So it doesn't worry me that Duran Duran doesn't have any virtuoso musicians playing with them; they are just a virtuoso group of men that make amazing music.