Headline, June21, 2013

'''DURAN DURAN : 

RED CARPET MASSACRE''​'

We've moved on from the laughing-stock days, surely? Remember those,  -when initial enjoyment succumbed to pangs of doubt, hardened inexorably into contempt, and then softened into something like pity? Pity because, yes, they were still at it and, no, they hadn't stopped banging on about models, catwalks, flashbulbs and strange chivalrous quests to win the heart.

And yet,..........and yet, somewhere along the line, the perceptions changed. A new generation of acts such as The Killers, Goldfrapp, Gwen Stefani and Scissor Sisters used interviews to lavish praise on Duran's back catalogue. Chic's disco titan, Nile Rodgers, a committed fan, went into the studio with the band. We learned to overlook Thank You, the shameful covers album, still haunts the few who heard it.

We saw beyond the heavy make-up and air of self importance and remembered a group of lads who had served their art-pop apprenticeships at college and specialist clubs  -deadly serious about the music they were trying to make. 

It was noted that, when founding members John and Nick put together a radio broadcast some years ago, -of the music they loved and influenced them the most, they compiled an electro and glam masterclass including the likes of Bowie, Ultravox, Yellow Magic Orchestra and The Human League   -and, endearingly, snuck in just the one Duran song.

And, hey presto, the Birmingham boys were cool. Back then they zoomed in 2004 with an OK album, Astronaut, Gigs sold out in hours. Sure Le Bons still couldn't dance. No, the lyrics weren't making a whole lot of sense, but when they had ever? The hits had originally dried up because the hooks had grew stale, the choruses limp. They lost their fan because they mislaid their mojo. With time on their hands, Duran fans began to doubt their fervour, and to blanche  at what they had once swooned over. Astronaut changed that.

Old Duran would have used this moment to commit commercial Hara-kiri.  

Connoisseurs of the wilderness years will cherish the Band's dogged pursuit of defeat from the jaws of victory. Or the almost heroic mistake of following up their huge comeback record. The Wedding album and its hit single, ''Ordinary World'', with Thank You.

New Duran are made of shrewder stuff. Their new album, Red Carpet Massacre, sees them teaming up with ubiquitous and cooper-bottomed uber hit-makers Timbaland and Timberlake. Tracks such as ''Nite Runner'' and ''Falling Down''  stick like a limper to the formula the band followed back when everything they touched turned to Gold and Platinum discs.

The former recalls the ice-cold electro funk of ''Notorious'', the latter the prefect pop of ''Ordinary World''. The Title track, meanwhile, updates their classic first big hit, ''Girls on Film'', even if the lyrics  -''Red Carpet Massacre'', Le Bon screeches, ''Don't wanna hassle yer'', are no match for ''Girls'';  with its enduringly strange and sinister ''The crowd all love pulling dolly by the hair''.

That the new song begins with the same cheesy synth sound that underpinned ''Save A Prayer'',  serves to reinforce the album's key message: we're back in business, we know what you want and we are here to give it to you. Mind you that's two good albums on the trot  So, never bet against them.

Respectful dedication !WOW! : The World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless. 

The Unlimited Edition.

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless