Album Retrospective 1

Duran Duran (1981) Side A

This isn't the first Duran Duran album I bought, but it's their debut. I hope. It gets confusing because they released this album twice. Anyway, it's what I'm starting with.

Girls on Film:

So the album begins with the flashing of cameras. As a debut, that's pretty iconic. This album sets the brand pretty well. Models. We're talking about models. We mostly dated and married models. Oh and this video had nipples in it. Very scandalous. Actually, maybe it was more about porn than modeling? Love the drums.

Planet Earth:

This is one of my favorite transitions. We leave the song about models and go into this Simon Writing Odd Things song. Again, we're setting so much of what really makes this band THIS BAND. John's bouncing bassline. Nick's keyboards. Nick could do astounding things with keyboards. We would often have the echo of guitar, followed by keyboards, creating a kind of swishy back and forth. Steady drums. God bless Roger Taylor and those drums. The video had them on this weird little platform. All the puffy romantic shirts. Floppy hair in people's eyes. Oh yes. And Roger's beautiful throat. Glorious. I think the bassline holds the song together. There is a nice echo effect on Simon's voice too, which really connects back to what the keyboards and guitar are doing.

Anyone Out There:

On this one we have bass and guitar doing that back and forth echoing to each other. The keyboards are holding things together. They're very space-y. In a lot of albums from the early 80s, you find a lot of songs that have hits of nuclear war and social isolation. Like maybe you're the last person left. Scary how fitting this still is. One of the impressions I had during that time is that a lot of people felt like the world could end at any moment so you might as well drink the champagne. Yes, the keyboards are so steady here. Oh also, I love Simon's vocals on this. He really conveys a sense of loneliness. Great bass to close the song out.

To the Shore
That same kind of circling spiraling keyboarding to start the song out. Simon sings in his lower register on this one.  There is also an overlay of whispers. He goes back to the higher register later, but I always like his lower one. It always feels more serious. This song feels mournful. I don't think the rhyme scheme is as strong. It was left off of the later reprint of the album and I understand why. Having said that, it's one of those songs that makes you feel really drunk.

Careless Memories:
My god. I love this song. Angry Simon is angry at his lover. Ahh. He's so bitchy. So soon, just after your gone, my senses sharpen. Damn. This video is TECHNICALLY awful. Everything is too dramatic, to the point of being silly, but I still love it. The keyboards are holding things down again, but they have the drums and bass with them. The guitar is rocky. I bet Andy liked this one more. The keyboards also respond to Simon's singing, moving from said to angry. Ahh, it's just so deeply, beautifully angry. "Where are you now? Because I don't want to meet you." Hee. This song is also really fun live. He puts a lot of drama into the whole thing. Ohhh. And in the video, she's cheating on him with John. I mean, not that I would blame her.

END OF SIDE ONE.

Side two will happen tomorrow because it is a whole other animal.