DURAN DURAN  -  DURAN DURAN

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YEAR:  1993
LABEL:  Capitol Records

TRACK LISTING:  Too Much Information,  Ordinary World,  Love Voodoo,  Drowning Man,  Shotgun,  Come Undone,  Breath After Breath,  UMF,  Femme Fatale,  None of the Above,  Shelter,  To Whom It May Concern,  Sin of the City

IMPRESSIONS:  I thought I'd start the New Year here in the Dark Forest with a week (or so) of album which came out 20 years ago.  1993 was a pretty fun year musically for me; the Penguin Awards were strongly established after a tentative start in 1990-1991, the grunge thing (the REAL grunge thing) was in full swing and was in fact winding down by 1993 while many other established artists were releasing reinvigorated music.  Here's a fine example.  It's really hard to believe that Duran Duran's comeback album came out 20 years ago!  But there we have it.  Duran Duran was well and truly dead - a relic of the 80s which no one was interested in.  Cue the single "Ordinary World" which took everyone by surprise.  Duran Duran was back and stronger than ever, it seemed.  "Ordinary World" was quite a nice single and "Come Undone" topped it by being one of the greatest songs Double D ever released.  Ever.  Add to this a fine cover of a Lou Reed song and some super album tracks and we have the unofficially-titled "Wedding Album" -- "written around the globe, recorded in privacy, London" --  to treat your ears.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Too Much Information,  Ordinary World,  Come Undone,  UMF,  Femme Fatale,  None of the Above,  Shelter
FACT SHEET:  DURAN DURAN is Duran Duran's seventh album and the second eponymously-titled album; DURAN DURAN is usually referred to as "The Wedding Album" because of the cover art by Nick Egan featuring wedding photos of the parents of the 4 band members.  Incidentally, the band at this point consisted of Simon LeBon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass) and Warren Cuccurullo (guitars).  The album had been completed in early 1992 but Duran Duran's new management Left Bank pulled the release from the schedule due to perceived "lack of enthusiasm" by Capitol Records for Left Bank's efforts to revive the careers of perceived "old bands" like Duran Duran and Meat Loaf (both of whom would have spectacularly successful comebacks that year).  Milton Nascimento co-wrote and sang backing vocals on "Breath After Breath".  "Femme Fatale" is a cover of a Lou Reed song.     

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).