Ok, so for my first real blog entry, I wanted to review my brand spankin' new copy of Duran Duran's "All You Need is Now". Only problem is...it still hasn't arrived. :( Ugh! But I'm going to go ahead with a partial review because most of the physical album is the same as the digital release album from December, which I have. Then I can review the "extras" when my actual CD gets here. So, without further ado...my take on the new album:
AYNIN - The title track was released as a free download on iTunes just shortly before the digital release of the rest of the album. Now I'll be totally honest: I've been a Duran Duran fan since I was seven or eight years old and that was a long time ago, trust me. LOL I've never quit liking them; I just haven't followed them as closely as a lot of fans have. But shortly before the single was released, I caught wind that they had a new album coming out and between that and starting to follow John Taylor and Simon Le Bon on Twitter, my love of the band was totally renewed back to the level of those early days. I downloaded AYNIN the day it came out and immediately started listening to it on repeat. At first I wasn't totally sure about it. It was so good to hear them doing new stuff again, especially since I had missed out on some of their more recent stuff. But, I wasn't totally sold at first. After a couple of replays though, it quickly grew on me and the thing I was most unsure about in the beginning (Nick's sharp, catchy, synth groove) had become my favorite thing about the song. I love the meaning behind the lyrics...that we need to live in the moment. I think my favorite line is, "We told everybody all you need is now." It sums up the vibe of the song as well as making me think back to their earlier songs. In particular, it makes me think of a personal favorite of theirs from before, "Save a Prayer", since it carried the live in the moment message as well. Anyway, I really enjoy the energy of this song as well. It makes me want to get up and move every time I hear it. Shortly after the single came out, they released the video. I won't go into it too much at this point except to say I really do love it and it definitely helped increase my love of this song even more. It's certainly one of my favorites on this album and I think has the potential to become a Duran Duran classic.
Blame the Machines - Again, another song with great energy. I love the female part of this song, done beautifully by British newscaster Nina Hossain. There are more sharp synth riffs from Nick and strong vocals from Simon, both of which stand out for me. I also love the "woah" in the background as it keeps the song moving quickly.
Being Followed - Another energetic track. I love how they hold true to their reputation as the band to party to. However, their slow songs are just as good as the more energetic ones, but we'll get into that later. I love Simon whistling on this track as well as the police siren sounds, which gives it that little something extra to me. There is some great drumming from Roger and kicking guitar from Dom as well.
Leave a Light On - Time to slow it down a little. This track brings to mind, for me at least, "Ordinary World" and "What Happens Tomorrow" and even to some degree, "Save a Prayer". Simon's vocals and lyrics are once again very strong. This song gives me an overall warm and fuzzy feeling, almost kind of dream-like; just like I get with the three previously mentioned favorites.
Safe (In the Heat of the Moment)- John's bass...what can I say but, “I love it!” Not that I don't always love John's grooves, because I do, but I particularly love it when you can hear him clear and strong. Sometimes the bass, at least for me, gets muddied and buried to some degree in the background. So I'm always glad for songs like this where his talent is clearly on display. There is more great drumming by Roger as well as rocking guitar from Dom. The addition of Ana Matronic on this song was brilliant and gives it quite a funky twist. I also love how they muted Simon's vocals at one point. It almost sounds like he's in a cave, giving it a very cool sound.
Girl Panic! - Another high energy song with lots of clear, strong bass from John as well as tight drumming from Roger and lovely guitar from Dom. This song very quickly became one of my favorites on the album. I've heard it's going to be the next single and I believe I remember hearing that there was a video to be released for it at some point as well. I can't wait to see what visuals they came up with to go along with this song.
The Man Who Stole a Leopard - The first thing I notice, of course, is Nick's sharp synth bits, which perfectly set the tone for the story we are about to listen to. I'm immediately reminded of "The Chauffeur"; however the addition of Kelis and British news presenter Nina Hossain turns this into something totally different. I find this one quite intriguing.
Runway Runaway - Another one brilliantly driven by Roger's drums, Dom's guitar, and John's bass. The guitar sticks out the most to me in this one and I have to admit, I'm really pro-Dom at this point. I know that's kind of a hot topic within the fandom, but he just appeals to me much more than either Andy or Warren ever did. Not that they aren't amazing guitar players in their own right, because they certainly are, but for me personally, I just like the whole package of Dom much better than I did either of them.
Before the Rain - This one makes me think of "Come Undone" in a way. Also the title itself brings to mind their earlier song "Hold Back the Rain". I wonder if this connection is intentional or merely a coincidence? I love the layering of Simon's vocals in a slightly muted way as well as more lovely synth work from Nick. I was listening to this through my daughter's iDog speaker and I'm not sure why but it's off somehow and had the muted, almost echo layer of Simon's vocal coming through above everything else. I have to admit though, I kind of liked it, as it gave it a haunted, spooky quality.
All in all, I loved the CD. Sure, there were some songs I liked more than others, but there wasn't a single one that I didn't enjoy. This is truly an album that I can listen to from one end to the other and that's quite a rarity for me. I'm a bit ADD when it comes to music. I LOVE music very much, but I tend to love a lot of different music, so back in the days of tapes, CDs, and radio only, I fast forwarded through songs just to get to the ones I wanted and flipped radio channels continuously; just ask my annoyed husband. Ha! iPods were a stroke of genius for a person like me because I could put my favorite songs on a playlist and hit shuffle and be happy with whatever came on. But there are the few rare CDs (not counting greatest hits compilations) that I will listen to continuously and enjoy every moment of it. This is certainly one of those CDs. Do I think it will stand the test of time and become a Duran Duran classic? Yep, I truly do.
Huge kudos to Mark Ronson for producing this and relighting the fire under one of the best pop bands ever! Also huge kudos go to Simon, John, Nick, Roger, and Dom for bringing their A-game. Everyone just seems to be at their best on this album and it all gels together perfectly!
So that's it for this part of the review. I'll finish it up once my physical CD finally gets here. Ugh! This is the last time I pre-order something from Best Buy!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Hello *waves*
Just a quick post to say hello and introduce myself. I've been contemplating starting a blog and with an ever growing list of concerts I'm going to/hoping to go to in the future, I figured this was the time. There's so much going on with the music I like right now. It's an exciting time. So I think this blog will mostly be for music/concerts/record reviews/etc, but there may be the odd this and that thrown in as well. Hope you'll join me for the ride. I'll start working on my first real post tomorrow.
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