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Post by Sir rogerlejohn jr. on May 22, 2015 14:33:36 GMT -5
Bonus;
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2015 14:22:35 GMT -5
Well he wasn't being deceitful. At this time Roger was hinting at a rest which meant not only not doing any promotion for Arcadia he went on break before So Red The Rose was even completed. He did not write or perform on "Missing" "Rose Arcana" or "Lady Ice" Simon and Nick did not keep any secret that Roger wanted to rest and before you knew it he retired in a press statement for what seemed like forever until 2000. Andy on the other hand just saw $$$ and until he was signed for a solo album (which was a massive deal and a great commercial failure for him) he was keeping one foot in Duran and stringing them along until he got his check in the mail. I remember seeing an interview with Duran promoting Notorious on the Molly Meldrum show. Simon said "If someone asked me three years ago who was going to be the one that splits I would have probably guessed one of us three, probably John" Well that came next...I can only imagine if Duran did not split up in 1986 if they would have still been the biggest band in the world. My guess is they would be still selling out arenas and stadiums the way U2 are now and have been since The Unforgettable Fire. I think the critics would have eventually caved in and gotten over Duran's slick image and taken them seriously and finally given them acclaim they deserved. I can only imagine what the fourth fifth and sixth Taylor-Taylor-Taylor-Rhodes-Lebon albums would have sounded like. They would have sounded nothing like Notorious and Big Thing, I love those albums so at the end of the day, call me pleased! I must also say that Simon and Nick are to of the most persevering bastards I can think of. All Hail Rhodes and Lebon and Thanks Warren for kicking them in the arse, even if you don't like Warren, you've got to appreciate him for keeping Duran's pulse "Throb"-ing I love and miss Warren, more-so than Andy
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Post by mynick7 on May 24, 2015 23:07:16 GMT -5
Well duh. They never have broken up! Plain and simple!
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Post by intravenus on May 25, 2015 21:35:53 GMT -5
I can only imagine if Duran did not split up in 1986 if they would have still been the biggest band in the world. I couldn't let this thread die out without praising Skin Twinkie for a very thought-provoking post! I have doubts that they could have sustained more than one additional album with the original lineup intact... I think we're truly lucky that John's persistence led to the pinnacle of A View To A Kill, which could have very easily not happened, leaving The Wild Boys as their swansong instead. In hindsight, it's easy to see how splitting into Arcadia and The Power Station was guaranteed to permanently shake things up. Had Robert Palmer not abandoned ship, it's quite plausible that Power Station would have continued as John and Andy's main musical outlet. If there had been another classic lineup effort, my guess is that it would have sounded like a cross between Thunder and Notorious, especially with Nile producing. I think some of Andy's songs would definitely have been used had he offered them to the band. Life Goes On and Broken Window would top my list, so imagine hearing those songs but with Simon's vocals and completely different lyrics. Would make for an interesting mash up!
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Post by dejr26 on May 26, 2015 15:43:40 GMT -5
Regardless of whether they could've managed to stay as a 5 piece, I think success wise they were always going to struggle to match the heights previously reached. By 85-86, the musical landscape was shifting a bit and new bands were coming along to take their crown. You just can't stay on top forever. You're lucky if you keep peoples interest for 3-5 years until some people move on.
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Post by madoldlu on May 27, 2015 9:36:07 GMT -5
Great post, Skin Twinkie!
Strange thing about Roger. It seemed like he wanted back into the music biz before 2000, didn't he? From Wikipedia:
I wonder why they didn't ask him to rejoin from that point when he worked on Thank You? It's obvious Roger had had enough time off and was eager to work again. He could have been with them for Medazzaland and Pop Trash. And with John leaving, there was a "Taylor" spot open in the band!
And I remember that Meldrum Tapes interview! I really loved that interview because it was pretty in-depth and thorough. Most of the interviews I had seen prior were just little snipets that they would show on MTV or Night Flight.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 12:57:25 GMT -5
Regardless of whether they could've managed to stay as a 5 piece, I think success wise they were always going to struggle to match the heights previously reached. By 85-86, the musical landscape was shifting a bit and new bands were coming along to take their crown. You just can't stay on top forever. You're lucky if you keep peoples interest for 3-5 years until some people move on. I agree, I should have been more specific. I didn't mean to say "biggest band in the world" I should have stated would they carry the same continuous success as a band like U2? I'm guessing probably. I realize music was changing. A lot of other 80's bands had very gradual success, by the late 80's U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure, R.E.M etc were filling arenas and stadiums and Duran were having a very hard time sadly. I will always be proud of Duran for having the success with the wedding album post Nirvana. Grunge killed an awful lot of bands at least here in the US. Another "what if" is what if Duran didn't follow up the Wedding Album with Thank You? U2 have released a few critically and commercially panned albums, funny thing though I think their album "Pop" is amazing, no-one else does and all because they did a Village People spoof on the video for the albums first single. I thought it was fantastic. At the end of the day I just hope Duran keeps enjoying what they are doing so we can continue to enjoy it with them!
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Post by dejr26 on May 27, 2015 15:35:44 GMT -5
Considering Medazzaland was the follow up to the stop gap covers album, I'm not sure they had the material to maintain their new burst of success from the a wedding Album. Medazzaland has its moments but it was never going to have mass appeal. Maybe the problem was that at that point it was only Nick and Warren coming up with the musical ideas that it left them to their own devices to become a bit self indulgent. As they gave mentioned recently I think, they need a strong outside influence to help them focus on the good ideas and give them an independent view on the material. Maybe that was missing a bit from Big Thing through to All You Need Is Now.
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Post by mynick7 on May 28, 2015 12:06:56 GMT -5
First of all, I don't even understand why this statement/video became a thread because if you've followed Duran history, they never broke up. That's just being uninformed if you think otherwise.
Now. I am GLAD Duran hasn't had the "continuous success as a band like U2." U2 had that one burst of experimentation with "Pop" and that was that. I respect them only for that because it was different...as was the video, like you mentioned, Skin Twinkie. Otherwise, U2 is so freakin' boring. I finally listened to half of their new album (won't go into that again) while I drove my friend, the U2 fan, to the airport to catch her flight to Phoenix to see them for 2 nights there. U2's sound hasn't changed since the 80s and it's soooo boring. I'm sorry but I just can't handle hearing the same guitar on different songs. You can tell it's a U2 song without hearing Bono (wont' go there again, either). Where is the creativity there? They sold out and are totally commercial now. They are all over the news and sh*t and that is freakin' overkill. Every time you turn around, there's something about U2. And I am SO VERY GLAD Duran isn't that way. I'd probably get sick of them myself!
Duran had their five years-ish of being hugely successful. I loved it. Since 1985, they've been more or less doing their own thing and I have loved every album because they DON'T sound the same. They took every album and went a different direction. That takes balls...and that's something U2 doesn't have. I love that Duran plays intimate shows as well as arenas. I have respect for them working with a variety of artists and taking in new members to fill in over the years. Something else U2 would never do. Musically, Duran is heads and shoulders over U2.
I just don't get speculating over "what ifs." Nothing can change the past. Maybe it was the strength and determination of Nick that carried the band over the years through thick and thin...even though many dislike things he has done and still do today. The love for what he started with John hasn't faltered. Warren helped, JT left for obvious reasons (and for which I am grateful he did...to become the man he is today) and returned, Simon hung around even though I believe he had doubts as well, and Roger left, did a smattering of work here and there (but again, I'm glad he did because he seems stronger today then he did in the 80s) and finally came out of retirement, and Dom did a spectacular job filling in and is still doing so today.
But speculating about "what ifs" over albums and such is a pointless factor, in my opinion. They progressed, experimented and released different sounding albums along the way and have brought in new fans each time because of that. I don't get the description of an album being an imaginary follow-up to *insert past album name here*. If the new album has gone back to some influence from...say..."Notorious," then it's just that; getting influence from funk. All of the guys have grown musically since their prior albums, and obviously they were still learning during recording. Their growth and knowledge has changed and I believe that it will show on the album. To me, I've noticed their growth on every album.
I liked "Thank You" and the spin they put on the songs...which is a lot of cases were better than the originals. I loved "Medazzaland" and EB was a great video. Another reason I like this album was because of Nick's finger (Go back to the Mazda(?)/Fashion Rocks video interviews if you don't know what I'm talking about). Another historical moment for Duran and media and music history.
Arcadia and Power Station were needed for keeping Duran Duran alive. Both were basically one-hit wonders. Power Station wouldn't (and didn't) survive a successful second album. While I did enjoy seeing them for the 2nd album and treasure the autographs I got, they weren't capable of going further. People were drawn to them because of JT and AT (and Palmer). Palmer's fan base grew, I'm sure, but Duran's? No. Duran's fans supported and carried them. If Arcadia had toured, it would've been the Duran fan base that showed up.
Maybe I've said a bunch of gibberish here, but there are so many topics within this short thread to try and cover. Mainly, Duran never broke up. Duran have grown up physically and musically...and are real. They aren't trying to be someone and something they aren't. They let their creativity flow and let that guide them...unlike so many groups/artists that have remained the same old sound. Maybe having Rodgers/Ronson/Hudson helping will be a huge plus on the new album, but in the end, Duran is always at the helm...where they will always remain.
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Post by madoldlu on May 28, 2015 13:26:20 GMT -5
Wow! That's a lot of anger, mynick7! I don't think anyone here was entertaining the notion that Duran ever broke up. Nothing wrong with a little speculating. After all, Duran want nothing more than to be like U2--well respected, selling lots of records and selling out arenas! I don't feel U2 are overexposed. Sure, you hear about them, but I hear far more about Taylor Swift or Kanye or Beyonce. I personally don't feel U2 sound the same. Hell, I wish they did still sound like Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree! My interest faltered with Achtung Baby, which I felt was a big deviation from their "sound", and they haven't seemed to get it back no matter how many times they claim they are getting back to their roots. And it's more than just how the guitar sounds or how Bono's voice is. It's the actual melodies and feelings their music can evoke. Sure, there's a song here and there that recaptures that early magic, but at least for me, they mostly miss. That's how I personally feel about Duran. I understand and respect their desire to change their sound with every album, but when they do that, they seem to lose something, at least for me (I'm talking post 1985). Their sound changed for the first 3-4 albums and Arcadia, but there was still something in the writing, in the melodies, in the song structures, that was inherently "them" and it was magic. It wasn't a specific noise Nick made, or a specific guitar lick from Andy, or a flourish from Roger. Actually, you can look at John's playing as a good example of how great playing can cross genres and musical styles. The styles always changed, but John's playing was always complex and compelling. Maybe it's the nature of the instrument since you can't really make a bass sound that much different like you can keyboards or even guitars (forgive me if I'm showing my ignorance with basses!). That's one reason I love AYNIN so much. It recaptures the magic of the first few albums, but still manages to sound new. I hope that they finally figured out how they can achieve that--create new music in different styles, but still retain the magic that makes them special. As far as saying "X" album is the imaginary follow up to "Y" album, it's just a very simplified short hand way of putting it and it's closer to what you say: that they are inspired by whichever album and are just using it as a starting point. Like they used the early albums as a starting point for AYNIN, but just said it was the imaginary follow up to Rio. TMWSAL has the beginning part of To the Shore, but they made the song evolve into something much different. Girl Panic has similar drums to the Girls on Film Night Version, but still managed to create a new song out of that. Runway Runaway probably started off from the Rio riff. Etc. That phrasing is just fancy marketing talk that provides tidy headlines and soundbites. Annoyingly cutesy? Sure, but it gets them attention. I'm glad you posted! I love reading different POVs and I admire your passion for the band! Isn't it good that they can still get that much of a rise from us fans after all these years?
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