RIO - Duran Duran

YEAR: 1982

LABEL: EMI/Capitol

TRACK LISTING: Rio, My Own Way, Lonely In Your Nightmare, Hungry Like the Wolf, Hold Back the Rain, New Religion, Last Chance on the Stairway, Save A Prayer, The Chauffer

IMPRESSIONS: Continuing 80s week with another quintessential "pool record" (see entry for Lene Lovich's NO MAN'S LAND for explanation). I was actually a fan of Duran Duran from their first album and loved "Planet Earth" and "Is There Something I Should Know?" so this follow-up sophomore effort was nothing new to me. What WAS new was the incredible success which blew up with this album and the "Hungry Like the Wolf" video. It's also intriguing to me how they went completely off the rails after this album and I liked practically nothing they would release until their 1990s "comeback" with "The Wedding Album" (actually the self-titled "DURAN DURAN" album which produced "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone"). Here, however, we have one of the peaks of the New Romantic era and I could float around in the pool daydreaming I was on the yacht in the "Rio" video.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Rio, Lonely In Your Nightmare, Hungry Like the Wolf, New Religion, Last Chance on the Stairway, Save A Prayer, The Chauffer

FACT SHEET: RIO is Duran Duran's second album. The album went double platinum. The iconic 80's cover illustration is by Patrick Nagel. In the album credits, "Renate" is listed as technician; I can only assumed this is Renate Blauel (the future Mrs. Elton John).