Search - Duran Duran :: Greatest [Deluxe Edition] (CD & DVD)

There's a REASON why they call this "Greatest"

Fed Up | 04/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"England's Fab five have rounded up all their hits (with a bonus DVD!) on this spectacular greatest hits album. What's not to like? They're the greatest group of the 80's, 90's, and 00's!!"

The Wild Boys Are Calling Again!

Anthony Nasti | Staten Island, New York United States | 06/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over 20 years after first hitting the music scene, Duran Duran's music has been immortalized once more by a combo cd/dvd that has all their big hits and most popular music videos.



British New Wavers Duran Duran (Simon Lebon on lead vocals, Andy Taylor on guitar, John Taylor on bass, Roger Taylor on drums (it should be noted that these three people are unrelated)and Nick Rhodes on keyboards) first burst onto the scene in the early 1980s' and quickly became one of the decade's most successful artists. In tersm of fan bases, they were the Beatles of the 1980s', driving dozens of teenage female "Duran-ies" into a frenzy.



The group first made it big in their native Britain when their first two singles, "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film" (which had a memorably controversial video), became massive hits, and their album went to number three and they became teen sex symbols in the U.K. Success in America wasn't too far off, however, as proven by their next album, "Rio". Its first two singles, "Hungry Like The Wolf" and the title track, became massive hits in America, thanks to excessive airplay and heavy rotation on MTV, who played the videos for the songs (undeniably two of the best videos ever) like crazy. When their next single, "Is There Something I Should Know", hit the top five in America and hit number one in the U.K., Duran Duran fever was officially in full swing.



Their next album, "Seven And The Ragged Tiger", cemented their success, spawning the top ten hits "Union Of The Snake", "New Moon On Monday" and the classic "The Reflex". The latter was their first number one in America and my favorite song of theirs. The group's fan base began to approach Beatlemania. The critics officially made them their new whipping post, but the rest of the world adored them. At the end of 1984, the band released "Arena", a live album. The album featured a new single, "Wild Boys" (my least favorite Duran Duran song but with an excellent video recalling "The Road Warrior"), which went to number two in the U.S. and the U.K.



After belatedly releasing the "Rio" track "Save A Prayer" as a single in America, where it became a top twenty hit (it was already a top ten single in Britain two years later), the producers of the James Bond film "A View To A Kill" approached the group to sing the film's theme song, and "A View To A Kill" became the first 007 theme to top the charts in America.



However, after the release of that song, the group splintered and formed new bands, Arcadia and the Power Station (don't ask who went where, it's very confusing). When the group got back together in 1986 to record "Notorious", Andy and Roger Taylor did not return, leaving Simon, John and Nick to record the album as a trio.



"Notorious" marked to the end of their astonishing string of hits, selling a respectable but not amazing amount of copies. The album's title track, however, went all the way to number two on the charts and became one of their most famous songs. The next single, "Skin Trade", was a Prince type funk song that barely nicked the top forty but remains a great song nonetheless.



Throughout the rest of the 1980s', the group's success continued to go downhill, with 1988's "Big Thing" (which actually did yield a top five hit in "I Don't Want Your Love") and "Libety" (represented by the great album track "Serious) becoming massive flops. It seemed their career could never be rescued.



However, in 1993, the group released "The Wedding Album". Not only did earn great reviews and hit the top ten, it yielded two massive hits, "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone", both of which made the American top ten. The next album, "Thank You", is zero represented, a crappy covers album (Duran Duran do Public Enemy?!). 1997's "Medazzaland" featured the minor hit "Electric Barbarella" (fittingly titled since the band took its name from the Jane Fonda flick "Barbarella").



The dvd is a collection of all their videos, most notably the awesome extended and uncut "Girls On Film". I'm disappointed that the one for "Come Undone" was not included, but other than that, it's brilliant.



This two cd collection is definitely worth the money. I would definitely recommend it."