It’s ironic that yesterday we were discussing an Andy Taylor project when the news dropped simultaneously that his old mothership, Duran Duran, had announced a new album to be released on October 27th of this year. A mere two years following their “Future Past” opus…which I’ve yet to hear, though I’ve picked up that it was more solid than the last one I heard. The uninspiring “Paper Gods.”
The band played a unique Halloween concert in Las Vegas last year with reworked thematic material from their catalog mixed with some covers and an elaborate stage show that was probably the talk of DD fandom for months. That show formed the core of the new “Dance Macabre” album coming out in about two months. What’s on it?
Duran Duran: Dance Macabre – UK – CD [2023]
- Nightboat
- Black Moonlight
- Love Voudou
- Bury A Friend
- Supernature
- Danse Macabre
- Secret Oktober 31st
- Ghost Town
- Paint It Black
- Super Lonely Freak
- Spellbound
- Psycho Killer
- Confession in the Afterlife
The eerie classic “[Waiting For The] Nightboat” was, dare we say, taylor-made for such an album as this.”Love Voodoo” from their “Wedding Album,” got a Creole makeover, judging from the new spelling. Fave rave B-side “Secret Oktober” is appended with “31st.” I hope they don’t ruin this classic, but I can’t imagine them making it better. And in a headscratcher, they’ve mashed up “Lonely In Your Nightmare” with Rick James’ “Super Freak” to result in “‘Super Lonely Freak…?” I’m just report the facts!
Some atmospheric covers figure including Billie Ellish’s “Bury A Friend” which, of course I’ve never heard. My contemporary firewall is astounding, but the rest are known and loved quantities. “Psycho Killer” [Talking Heads], “Supernature” [Cerrone/Lene Lovich + Nina Hagen/Erasure], “Ghost Town” [The Specials], “Paint It Black” [Rolling Stones], and “Spellbound” [Siouxsie + The Banshees].
All of them in my personal Record Cell…and yours too, I hope. However, we know that Duran Duran covers are a sticky wicket; fraught with peril. Have they ever made a good one? I think they can join Simple Minds in the cover version remedial summer course! That their last deep dive into covers was the disastrous “Thank You” album doesn’t bode all that well.
Three new songs were written to “flesh out” the album and presumably these might not have figured in the special show last year. They are: “Black Moonlight,” “Dance Macabre,” and “Confession In The Afterlife.” Thanks to the wonder of Soundcloud, we can give the cover tune a listen, so why don’t we do that right now and report back with our findings?
Groaning synths and metallic percussion gave way to a grinding synth lead not far from a Nitzer Ebb record. With Simon rapping the verses but singing the chorus with a handclap hook? There’s some good arrangement going on here with some deep bass synth throb and string patches holding it together nicely. Not convinced about Simon’s rapping, but by the time it ended, it was getting its hooks in comfortably. Let’s put it this way: I’ve heard a lot worse from Double Duran. This actually has me a bit hopeful!
It’s interesting for them to have a concept and to make it happen in what for them, is a brief timeframe! The album is also notable for featuring their two anchorman guitarists performing on it, with Andy Taylor and Warren Cucurullo both figuring on the cuts. A first since “Notorious.” With Andy’s health issues at the fore, it makes sense for the band to bury the hatchet and get on with their lives, because at the end of the day he was the guitarist who got them off the starting block.
But at the end of the day I thought that Warren Cuccurullo could play circles around Andy. That he brought songs to the table that revived the Duran Duran machine in 1993 is noted. I was never happy that he was discarded so that they could get Andy Taylor back for the mediocre “Astronaut” …and look how long he stuck around afterward. Was it worth it?
Other names back in the saddle are their buddy Nile Rogers, Victoria De Angelis of Måneskin [a band that won the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, apparently] with Josh Blair and …Mr. Hudson on production. Seeing Mr. Hudson’s name worries me.
FORMATS ON PARADE
For once, at least for now, the album of eleven tracks will be identical no matter which version you buy. Which is the first time that DD have not thrown half a dozen different formats with unique tracks at us in an effort to make me buy more that always just shuts me down. So I do appreciate that, and who knows. It might make me end up buying a copy one day. There’s streaming, but that’s immaterial to me. DL is out there with three different physical formats.
The black vinyl will retail in a gatefold sleeve with booklet and twin LPs for better sound quality. It looks like a special ouija board is included but the hype doesn’t mention this specifically. It may be a gatefold. Cost in the official DD store will set you back $39.98 but I would expect this to be widely retailed elsewhere.
If you want something that fits the mood of the vintage seance photos on the cover, then the translucent galaxy vinyl option looks pretty interesting. Same price as black vinyl – $39.98. Last but not least, is you basic CD for $16.98 at the DD webstore. There were autographed options that flew out of their store in hours so there’s no point in mentioning them now. If I get one of these, in about a year, it will be the CD. But there’s one more unique option!
DOLBY ATMOS® BLU-RAY
The tireless Paul Sinclair at Superdeluxeedition.com is burning up the road with his series of Blu-Ray discs mixed in Dolby Atmos® surround sound. Duran Duran have their second surround opus [“Astronaut” was their first such disc back in 2005], and now the great Bob Clearmountain had manned the remix into Dolby Atmos® sound that will fold down to normal 5.1 DTS/AC-3 if all you have is garden variety surround sound. As usual, the disc is priced to move at £23.00 but if you want this, hurry. The pre-order period closes on September 6th, 2023 in six more days. I pick and choose my surround discs with great care since I almost never find myself sitting in the sweet spot in my living room to listen to music. So this doesn’t push any buttons for me but your mileage may vary. I can vouch for the great customer service the SDE store provides and even across the Atlantic, I can order from their store and have the disc in hand in mere days.
STEREO FORMATS AT OFFICIAL STORE
SURROUND SOUND BLU-RAY
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![2020 – The Year In Buying Music [part 2]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-buying-stats.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
For anyone needing an Andy Taylor health update….
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/26/duran-durans-andy-taylor-says-prostate-cancer-asymptomatic
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secretrivals – I actually linked to that in yesterday’s post, but thanks anyway.
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OOPS. I’m not a Power Station fan, so I sort of skimmed the post! Sorry about that Monk.
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This has all the potential to be a car crash but I’m hopeful – Future Past album was a definite return to form.
Some of their covers are okay where they haven’t strayed too far from what they sound like anyway. But not White Lines which was dreadful.
They had better not mess up Secret Oktober though…
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mod3red – Well that’s not much of a stretch. Every DD album has the potential to be a car crash. And when you think they can’t get any worse, they manage to exceed expectations yet again. I’d listen to “Thank You” all day long compared to many tracks on “Paper Gods.” Just to show you that it takes all kinds, “White Lines” was the only song on “Thank You” that I could bear! Though I did also like “Diamond Dogs” on the JPN CD… except for the dog toy sample. It’s by far their best Bowie cover. And they will mess up “Secret Oktober,” because the original was perfection.
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That first covers album was … a mixed bag … yeah, let’s leave it at that. However, the quicker turnaround for this one with what seems a rejuvenated group eases some of the dread. UGH!! Who am I kidding. It’s Duran Duran. Of course I’m going to get it.
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postpostmoderndad – Well, let us know your opinions. Like I said, I’ve heard far worse than “Danse Macabre,” so I am entertaining hope. Because we still embrace the idea of Duran Duran.
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This leaves me in a bit of quandary. I haven’t really been a DD fan for a long time due to the varying quality levels of their output, but when they pop out a good tune I’m always happy for them.
Given the current dire state of the CD market despite its superior sound quality, I think Mr Sinclair is right that surround or spatial audio on Blu-ray* is the future of the round shiny disc. Presently I only have two such releases from SDE, but I’m looking to get more. But I’ve gotta wait for reviews before deciding if this new DD album is one worth taking a chance on.
*Apple’s got the streaming/subscription intangibles spatial audio market all sewn up, and it’s just a matter of time before Spotify jumps more fully on that bandwagon …
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chasinvictoria – Do we have the same two SDE B-R discs? xPropaganda and ABC*** for my Record Cell. What about you? I like that SDE prices the discs on the right side of affordability. Making them almost impulse buys. £23 is as much as I think an LP [130 g @ 33.3 rpm, black virgin vinyl please] should cost but with much higher quality on the Blu-Ray! Far less portability, though! That is the sticking point. CDs for me are still liberal in terms of playback where both LP and Blu-Ray shackle me to a single space most conservatively.
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Of course we do!
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Gonna admit that I am down enough for this to blind buy it out of the gate which is the first time I can say that for DD since about…..Big Thing?
re Billy Elish, I am like you, I have a pretty solid pop culture bubble that blocks a lot of stuff. My initial exposure to her was via a mix done by the Secret Soul Society and shortly after that Whitney Avalon (RL friends with Weird Al if you need a quality control check here) turned a BE song into an Addams Family homage, released long before Tim Burton did his thing to the franchise.
Back to DD, I suspect this is goint to follow (for my liking) my rule of thumb that the quiet slow burn songs are the best thing on the offering. We’ll see!
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Well, I now have a favourite Billy Eilish song! Thanks for that!
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You’re welcome!
Pretty much worked that way for me, too.
If folks here aren’t familiar with Whitney Avalon, she has done a series of rap battles that are delightful humor. But….the people rapping are Santa, Mary Poppins, Princess Leia, etc.
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Paper Gods was their best album for yonks, but i agree about covers albums by them and Simple Minds… Is there a remedial covers course available? I can think of several bands who could use it.
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Rupert – How did I forget not to rope Annie Lennox into that remedial class as well?! Wait…you loved “Paper Gods???” Can you explain why?
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I’m afraid i was someone who pretty much disliked ‘pop’ music growing up. I was into prog and then post-punk and improvised jazz. But I got review tickets to see Duran Duran soon after Paper Gods came out and (apart from some bad dance grooves) greatly enjoyed the gig. As nostalgia, but also because they rocked it up and enjoyed themselves, as did the middle-aged crowd. I think ‘Paper Gods’ and ‘Pressure Off’ are great songs. And I’ll let you in on a secret, I worked with Simon Le Bon in a London hospital [we were both porters] for several months before he got famous. I worked the summer in the States, teaching sailing, and when I went back to the hospital everyone said ‘Have you seen Simon on the TV?’ I hadn’t of course.
Yes, Annie Lennox can join the class, definitely. Along with Bryan Ferry, Pin-Ups era David Bowie, and most of the people on those tribute albums. Maybe even Patti Smith. Honourable mentions though for Nick Cave, Rickie Lee Jones, and Johnny Cash.
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I think that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are ably qualified to teach said course on how to do covers the right way.
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hi mr monk,
breaking news:
5.1 surround sound mix added:
https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/new-audio-stream-added-to-duran-duran-blu-ray/
later
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ne gative 1
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hi mr monk,
the album is out.
you can check out all the tracks on ewwtube.
i’ve listened a few times now.
(and listening again).
i like the original duran songs better than the covers.
but i prefer most of the original duran songs.
nightboat is ok, and love voodou is not bad either.
i never liked secret oktober, and the lonely in your
nightmare mashup is weird, the beginning part is fine.
secret october 31st is a longer more structured and
produced version, with a cleaner sound to it. but it
still short on lyrics, and variation. you might like
this alternate take on it.
i dont recognize most of the covers except paint it black,
and supernature (erasure did a great remix of it), and pyscho killer.
too me, its like thank you all over again, more electronic this time,
and maybe better production, but the result is the same, they don’t
sound like duran duran songs (and why would they). some are closer
to the original style.
i know simon likes doing a lot of covers, and there was a theme here.
but i think its a little too much putting them all in one place.
yes, this is a duran duran album, no questioning that.
but too me, its one of those quirky releases, that doesn’t really
add much to their catalog.
i can’t really rate it, because its mostly covers.
but if i did, it would be 1/5 stars, just because a couple of their original songs are good.
but i noticed most of the songs are really too short.
it would have nice, if they were fleshed out more.
later
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ne gative 1
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ich habe mir das Album Danse Macabre von Duran Duran gestern gekauft und für mich ist es als DURAN DURAN Fan ein tolles Album. Die drei neuen Tracks (Danse Macabre, Black Moonlight und vorlalem Cofession in the Afterlife sind wirklich wunderbare Trakcs. Egal was Duran Duran macht, es sind immer großartige Songs. Deshalb höre ich so gerne DUran Duran und das schon seit 41 Jahren.
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Frank Baumann – Welcome to the comments! You have beaten me to buying the album. Right now we’re in a period of deep saving for a trip to Europe next spring, so I’ve been buying almost no music this year. After 42 years I’ve come to expect almost any result when I spin the Duran Duran roulette wheel of music, and I have to keep my expectations fully open, but I have traditionally had difficulty with their cover versions. [Willkommen in den Kommentaren! Sie haben mich beim Kauf des Albums geschlagen. Im Moment sind wir in einer Phase, in der wir für eine Europareise im nächsten Frühjahr sparen müssen, deshalb habe ich dieses Jahr fast keine Musik gekauft. Nach 42 Jahren habe ich mich daran gewöhnt, fast jedes Ergebnis zu erwarten, wenn ich das Duran-Duran-Roulette-Rad der Musik drehe, und ich muss meine Erwartungen völlig offen halten, aber ich hatte schon immer Schwierigkeiten mit ihren Coverversionen.]
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