Astronaut

by

Duran Duran

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This album is amazing...best of 2004, easily. To consider that these guys are all well into their 40's by now is all the more impressive. It breaks the heart to think of how amazingly more solid their career could have been had they not fragmented as they did after the "Live Aid" gig in 1985. Their sound is vibrant and real; this is not a band that is trying to recapture their old sound or to make "an '80's album". With the original line-up restored for this album, Duran show that they were far better qualified to set trends rather than follow them (as they seem to have done over the last ten years or so). If you've followed them the length of their career you will EASILY find this effort to be their most solid and complete since the "Wedding Album" in 1992. I would set "Astronaut" above that one myself, but I'm probably one of the few Duran fans that was not completely in love with the Wedding Album even back then. I do think that "Astronaut" is definitely a Top 5 Duran album, and I grieve for missing the abbreviated tour that came through here in 2003. I am completely stoked over the notion of seeing a tour to support this album, though. It's good enough so that I won't mind if a few "classics" get booted from the set list to make room for the newer material. Here, then, a track-by-track breakdown:

"Sunrise"...great lead-off track; does everything you'd expect a good Side 1, track 1 song to do...sets the mood, defines the sound of the album. In this case the sound is just drop-dead cool. The talents of all 5 band members shine; Andy shows why he was one of the most underappreciated guitarists of his time...JT is playing bass GUITAR just as he was back in the day...Roger grooves like he hasn't missed a beat despite being out of the scene for 20 years. Simon's voice is as tell-tale as ever, and the vocal harmonies are fantastic. Nick adds flavor and atmosphere as usual and is the glue that keeps all the instruments together.

"Want You More"...funky and fast-paced...Nick's synths and Andy's Chic-esque guitar chords are definitely in the foreground. Roger has the energy needed to move it along just like the old 16th-note hi-hat days with "Girls On Film", et al. Definitely old skool.

"What Happens Tomorrow"...slows the pace a bit, a mellow groove that would sound very much at home on "Notorious". Simon's falsetto is superb in the chorus, and the lyrics are evidence of a fully matured lyricist who has reached the point where he is more interested in communicating real emotions rather than trying to be poetically aloof. Great atmospheric song.

"Astronaut"...good enough song...starts out sparsely enough with voice and acoustic guitar, but then Andy kicks in with the funk and the tempo runs up and down, with the chorus being the high point. It's probably the most uneven effort on the album (is there an unwritten rule in pop music that title tracks must always be subsstandard?); the lyrics aren't really that good, and the quick stops, while proof that the band are musically very tight, are disconcerting enough to make you think something's wrong with the disc or your player.

"Bedroom Toys"...is about exactly what you'd think a title like that should imply. I love the female back-up vocals, the lyrics are particularly witty and sexually playful...the repeating "Omigod, what's this?" sample is classic. John's bass and Roger's drumming make a good sex groove. This song is so good that it should have been by Prince.

"Nice"...is much better than just that. John's bass playing is absolutely off the hook. The old rhythym section is just unbelievably good on this one, and Andy's guitar playing reminds me that the art of rhythym guitar, something I've always love in the Dandy Warhols' music, is an art not completely abandoned in this century. The structure of this song is terrific...it grabs you by the b@11$ and squeezes ever so convincingly. If this song isn't the next single (it realy should have been the first), something's really wrong.

"Taste The Summer"...picks up where "Nice" left off. Roger's got the 16th notes happening, and John's on top of it like a fornicating tortoise. Andy and Nick provide an almost contradicting soundscape of a background (the rhythym is the lead "instrument" here)...and Simon's vocals are just terrific. Pity this song wasn't out in time for summer '04 (unless you're hemisphere's the southern one); it should be a summer anthem for years to come.

"Finest Hour"...cuts the tempo back a second time. The slower songs on this album are not exactly the romantic, lighter-inspiring efforts that "Save A Prayer" were...and in truth this song doesn't get particularly interesting to me until the bridge kicks in...but it is a well-written, well-engineered song. I don't know why, but I suspect it sounds better live than it does on the CD. I'd look forward to hearing it in concert knowing how it sounds from the studio.

"Chains"...probably a tad overproduced...but Andy and John show another side of their respective techniques here. You begin to think that it's one slow song too many, but then it kicks into this pseudo-psychedelic "na, na-na, na, NA-na" bridge that has too good of a hook to resist...I wish there was more of it; it would've been better to fade out with that riff.

"One Of Those Days"...pretty obviously two fragments of songs that were combined to make one; it shouldn't work, but it does. Some bits of it remind me of some of Blur's older classic stuff. Can't make a better recommendation than that. Duran's ability to record a song as an artist puts paint on the canvas is well demonstrated here.

"Point Of No Return"...starts out as a good late-night, come-down sort of song, but it picks up enough in the chorus to give the party one last last kick. Good show of licks from Roger, too. Andy has a notable guitar solo here, very effective for what notes are left out as well as for those chosen...I loved the same aspects of Daniel Ash's playing, also. This is probably a good song to play maybe 3/4 of the way through a set...and it has a classic '80's fade-out, too...always a good thing.

"Still Breathing"...this reminds me more of some of the chill-out portions of one of my favorite albums of theirs, "Big Thing"...very retrospective in tone and lyric, it is as good a way to end what will inevitably be referred to as (yet another) comeback album. I don't believe they would have been capable of recording a song like this even five years ago.

If you're a Duran Duran fan you probably already have (And are really enjoying) this CD; if you think modern pop music has completely lost the plot you'll want to buy "Astronaut" just to experience what true song craftsmanship and musical talent are all about...I can't recommend it heartily enough.

ASIN# B0002T22GO is supposed to include 2 bonus tracks, 'Blank' and 'Virus' (according to track listings at amazon.jp). When I ordered this item, however, this ASIN# was on the Amazon invoice but not on the item (anywhere I could see). The number on the spine of the item was 'EICP 424-5' and on the UPC symbol '4 547366 016765.'

The item was made in Japan but was identical to the US Limited Edition CD + DVD with the same 12 tracks on the CD as the US release but no extra tracks. *Don't buy this item expecting to get the extra Japanese tracks* I think Amazon has the wrong ASIN# in the description or something else was lost in translation.