[…continued from last post]

In the last half of the 90s, Duran Duran lost the big momentum that their eponymous 1993 album, had gifted them with. Their 1995 cover album was a disaster. It’s another album that has nothing culled from it for this compilation [just like “Seven + The Ragged Tiger”]. Then bassist John Taylor left the band and EMI cut the band loose after 17 years and millions of records… but what had they done for them lately? Reduced to a trio of Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon, and Warren Cuccurullo, they recorded the “Medazzaland” album only to see it picked up for sale in America/Japan by Capitol Records/Toshiba, their labels in those territories.

Track 10:
Michael, You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For

“Medazzaland” was Duran Duran’s attempt at a neo-psychedelic album that was highly irregular, but not without some merit. Which is more than I can say for the album that preceded it. The clear winner for this program was the sensitive ballad that was written for LeBon’s friend Michael Hutchence. LeBon’s performance was bittersweet and the mood was delicate. The lyric “misbehaving in candlelight” must stand as the mildest heroin reference ever, but the intended audience for this song didn’t have long to hear it. Within two weeks of the album’s release, Hutchence was dead.

Track 11:
Boxful O’Honey

“Red Carpet Massacre” got a lot of hate for deigning to give the likes of Justin Timberlake, or Timbaland the reins of production, but if we dig into the album, it’s more than just pop du jour. “Box Full O’Honey” opened with just Simon LeBon and Dom Brown’s acoustic guitar right up front. It could have been a campfire song. Eventually Rhodes’ piano joined the fray, followed by the rhythm section. Has Simon LeBon ever sounded this good, this straightforward, before? His vocals here were a treat from start to finish. The air of wistful melancholy that the song engendered certainly want a long way in fulfilling my requirements for this compilation.

Track 12:
She’s Too Much

This track was Duran’s lift of The Cure’s “The Walk” [which was itself, a lift from New Order’s “Blue Monday”] over which Simon sang his most tender lyric ever. The music bed was much more electronic than the previous track, but the lyric was even more heartfelt. Such a song of gentle compassion and devotion is probably not what immediately comes to mind when contemplating Duran Duran, and that’s exactly why it’s here in the company of songs that reflect more kindly on it.

Track 13:
Leave A Light On

This sumptuous ballad from “All You Need Is Now” immediately had callbacks to “Save  A Prayer” with the synthloops of Nick Rhodes that manifested in the intro and set the [languorous] pace for the entire song. I can imagine producer Mark Ronson demanding to know where that album’s “Save A Prayer” was and the band offering this up in response. The boy’s just can’t help it. They have a facility with a beautiful mood and melody that has ultimately served them better than their [now spent] videogenic looks. This song got as far as a promo CD-R.

Track 14:
Mediterranea

Their 2010 album had more languorous tricks up its sleeve. “Mediterranea” was too simply beautiful to be a UK/Euro download only single. Dom Brown’s guitar licks here were deep enough to tumble head first into. In slow-mo, of course. The scratcher percussion was a new trick for DD this far into their career, but one can’t argue with success. The deeply sustained solo of Brown following the middle eight lays down a précis of the lazy sensuality and warmth that a track called “Mediterranea” simply had to exude.

Next: …The Shocking Conclusion