The discussion about Nick Rhodes and his playing ability come up from time to time, and they always end thus:
We know, and even Nick knows, that he is not technically the most gifted keyboard player the world has ever seen. But when it comes to ideas, and songwriting, and you know things that matter like the final result, then Nick is a very talented individual and an asset to Duran Duran.
Every person on this earth has strong points and weak points. Yes Nick tinkers a lot with most of Duran's music; sometimes this helps it, and sometimes this harms it. Yes he can occasionally go overboard and add TOO many layers and additional noises into a track. Yeah sometimes his keyboard sounds can be a fraction high in the mix and can mask some awesome guitar riffs/basslines.
But he has been the chief songwriter for Duran Duran for many years. He mightn't be gifted technically, but you can't argue with his vision, ideas, and songwriting.
To be honest there is NO member in Duran Duran that should be featured too often in music magazines if you want to get down to it. Roger's drumming is solid and dependable, but he has never played anything which made me think "Whoa, where do I even start with that one"? John, like Roger is a very solid bass player and completes an excellent rhythm section, and occasionally he can come up with the odd masterstroke, but overall he is only an average player on a technical level. And Simon's singing is an acquired taste; he has aged well and doesn't make many mistakes live, but he can sometimes still sound a little nasally/screechy and like the others isn't going to win too many awards when compared to his best-in-class contemporaries.
But you know what - put all these "solid, dependable, without being outstanding" musicians together in a recording studio, or on a stage, and they produce music that IS outstanding. The end result of Duran Duran is a LOT more than the sum of its individual parts.
And isn't that the most important thing? I would rather five decent musicians that always come up with amazing, breathtaking music, than five amazing, breathtaking musicians that always come up with decent music.