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From the Vault...
06/03/2001
#736 |
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info
Duran Duran
"Liberty"
© Capitol Records
Year of Release: 1990
Rating:
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track listing
Violence Of
Summer/(Love's
Taking Over)
Liberty
Hothead
Serious
All Along The Water
My Antartica
First Impression
Read My Lips
Can You Deal With It
Venice Drowning
Downtown
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Duran Duran
"Liberty"
Ah, its Duran Duran time again... As mentioned in
previous Duran Duran reviews on this site,
this band has never been one of my all-time favorites. That's the bad news...
The good news is that I have learned to enjoy Duran Duran's later releases, rather
than their significant most popular glory days albums. Their 1990 release
Liberty is a pretty good album, yet it has its same typical (and
arguable) features I have heard in their earliest releases, likewise some
relatively "listenable" tunes to enjoy.
Their 1988 release Big Thing
(and reviewed on this site) was given a
very positive review, and has to be a release that I would recommend over their
most famous releases; of course that would be debatable to the die-hard fan of
Duran Duran. Sure, there are some songs that could easily equate some songs from
Big Thing on Liberty, but there weren't any major hits from
Liberty as compared to Big Thing, which that I can easily argue over.
The songs that could easily have received heavy airplay on Liberty
are "Violence Of Summer," "Serious" and "First Impression."
Even though two of those songs in this list I seem to enjoy, it's surprising
that none of the songs on this release were never released as major or minor
hits. (More on how these three songs are "enjoyed" later in this review...)
"Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" is a nice pop/dance number
to start off the album, as it reminds me of the beat rhythms of The B-52's
"Love Shack." This one could easily have been the first song to be released
as a hit.
As stated in previous Duran Duran reviews, I was never a huge fan, as I
was never a fan of Simon LeBon's voice. On the title track "Liberty,"
certain vocal parts from LeBon doesn't have my listening ear in the best frame
of mind, as it reminds me of (what I call) the "whining" vocals of Simon LeBon
in the "heyday" of Duran Duran's releases, such as their
self-titled debut release, and especially
Seven And The Ragged Tiger.
"Hothead" has a great funky beat, and surprisingly, the vocals are
pretty decent (maybe because the vocals of LeBon and other members of the band
are combined.) It's not a song that could immediately get everyone's blood
going, (in my opinion, anyway), but the next song certainly does: "Serious"
is my favorite from the album, as the beat of this songs grabs your attention,
from beginning to end, and I can easily say that Simon LeBon's vocals are quite
pleasant to digest on this one.
"All Along The Water" is another song that certainly doesn't grab
my interest. The vocals are fair, and the dancebeat is tolerable. This song
is not one the best, but it's somewhat listenable. "My Antartica" is
quite impressive; it's a bit slower than the previous selections before it,
as it has a more 1990s sound, as heard in such groups as U2 and INXS.
"First Impression" is another one that shares with "All Along
The Water", and despite the title of the song, my First Impression is not
as the most positive and impressive as the die-hard Duran Duran fan. But
ooohhhh... read on... "Read My Lips" certainly has potential, as it
reminds me of the Duran Duran spinoff group, The Power Station's "Some Like
It Hot" with its pulsing beat, and dance rhythms. "Read My Lips"
is definitely a song worth repeated listens, and a possibility of being a radio
hit.
"Can You Deal With It" brings up an arguable point in Duran Duran's
nusic: The music itself on this song is extremely exceptional; having a cool
clubdance beat, yet the vocals of Simon LeBon is what I have to deal with --
it passes on this one, yet I've said in past Duran Duran reviews -- Simon
LeBon's voice makes me cringe on certain songs. (However, cringing didn't
really hit my senses on this one, as it did on the "heyday" albums I mentioned
earlier.)
Yet, I can agree that the music and vocals are quite satisfactory on the
next tune, "Venice Drowning." Oh sure, there's that "whining" voice
of LeBon in the song, yet its tolerable to my listening ear. And the last song,
"Downtown" is simply great -- both the music (and yes!) the vocals.
It has a certain eerieness about it, and the vocals are quite pleasant --
not much "whining" here.
Let's face it: Duran Duran is not one of my favorite bands of all time,
yet Duran Duran has been better with age. It seems that their later releases
may not have enjoyed the enormous success of their glory days, but they are
more interesting to listen to. They still remain to have an incredible sound
in pop/clubdance music. I'm sure the die-hard Duran Duran fans simply enjoys
BOTH the music and vocals of Simon LeBon, but for some people, there are those
who simply love them or hate them. Do I hate Duran Duran? In their glory days
I did, nowadays I've enjoyed their later releases, maybe because they're not
hyped up as they used to be. But all in all, I just wished that Simon LeBon's
vocals were better.
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