Debut DD shows it age
Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 04/24/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"While it certainly sets the stage for their exploits to come, the debut album by Duran Duran has dated itself rather tellingly. The highlights remain the singles, "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film." The album also contains "Careless Memories," which should have been a hit. But the greater textures and more sophisticated songs came forth more on "Rio" than here.
"Duran Duran" captures the kind of delirious art school DIY ethos of the period. The band was obviously stewed in the likes of Roxy Music and David Bowie, but there is a lot of Ultravoxx in here, plus the club beats that these disco boys loved to spend their nights with. The synthesizers dominate, are rather simplistic sounding, and LeBon's vocals are still highly affected. And if it wasn't obvious that these guys were working through their art school pretensions, just listen to "Tel Aviv," an exercise in movie soundtrack making.
The debut DD remains a fine album, but you can get both highlights on the "Greatest" disc. Also worth noting, as many others have: the first American version of this album (on the Harvest Records label) had a club mix of "Planet Earth" leading it off. Then, after "Rio" took off commercially, "To The Shore" was replaced by "Is There Something I Should Know" and the single mix of "Planet Earth" was switched with the club mix. That was the first US CD version. This version represents the original UK release, though if you look hard enough, you will find a version that has both "To The Shore" and "Is There Something I Should Know.""
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1