Duran Duran got back together after about twenty years and…
On October 11th twenty years ago i Duran Duran they delivered to the fans “Astronaut”their eleventh album. An album that saw the English quintet reunited in its original lineup after about twenty years. Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, John, Roger and Andy Taylor they announced at the press conference: “We got back together simply because we wanted to make music in a creative way, that’s all. The sole pleasure of playing moved us, there was nothing else behind our decision. The result? It fully convinces us”. What you can read in the following lines is the review of the album he wrote for us Paola Maraone.
Men: nostalgia for the Eighties? Women: did you too, like Clizia Gurrado, dream of marrying Simon Le Bon twenty years ago? Yes? Well: “Astronaut” is definitely the album for you. Furthermore – wonders of photo editing and hair dye – on the cover Duran Duran don’t look more than 30 years old. And here, more or less, end the merits of a reunion which, in this form, had not taken place since ’83.
Okay: Duran hit the charts with this album. And we are happy to see them all healthy. But inspiration, that’s another thing. Those who loved “Rio”, “Arena” and “Notorius” cannot say (or write) that “Astronaut” is up to par. And enough with the nonsense like: Duran has always been a singles band, they’ve never done a good album in its entirety, because it’s not true.
During the first half of the 1980s, things were different. And that they were icons and undisputed masters of those years – to the point of being renamed the “Fab Five” – no one doubts. But now, what is their place in the world? It’s not a problem of sounds: the taste for the Eighties revival doesn’t have to account for anything to anyone. It’s not even a problem of the lyrics: they were ridiculous, they remain ridiculous (“Put my hand into the flame, burning but I feel no pain” is just an example).
No, there’s more here: the songs are missing. And after a string of albums destined not to leave their mark in history (Do you remember “Liberty” or “Thank you”?), “Astronaut” all in all doesn’t look bad. In short, we would have been surprised otherwise. And let no one dare accuse us of “lazy or distracted listening” or “snobbish prejudices”. Hey: Duran Duran was our favorite band in the 80s! But in here there is nothing that equals the glories of the past. Not the Duranian rhythm of “(Reach up for the) sunrise”, not the funky “Taste the summer” and “Bedroom toys”. Okay, they’re nice songs. But they have nothing to do with “Hungry like the wolf”, “Come undone”, “The Chaffeur”, “Electric Barbarella”. And – of course – not even with “Wild boys”.
