Duran Duran Album: “Red Carpet Massacre (Deluxe Edition) [Digipak]”

Duran Duran has been around since the early 80's and was one of the most popular and trend setting band of that decade and part of the "New Romantic Movemnet" with the likes of Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet and Talk Talk and with countless of great pop songs like "Girls On Film", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "A View To a Kill" an "Wild Boys". It was one of my favorite bands of the 80's, no matter what critics said about them they made undeniably good pop music and controlled the charts from 1981-86 and even made a side project called Arcadia while Andy Taylor who left the band after

formed the supergroup Power Station with Robert Palmer, John Taylor and Tony Thompson. Simply put, Duran Duran and it's members had a huge influnce of music in the 80's. But in the late 80's/early 90's things changed considerably and the sound that Duran Duran called their own was no longer popular and they made several hit & miss projects like the terrible "Big Thing" & "Liberty" before trying something new with "The Wedding Album" from 1993 with new hits like "Ordinary World" and a new rock/ballad sound that certainly was something unexpected. After some rather bad albums they made a new comeback in 2004 with

that was their best album in a decade, once again with a new sound more suitable for it's time. "Astronaut" was the first studio album since 1983 where all of the 5 orifinal members were present after Andy Taylor decided to back a return. 2 years later a new album called "Reportage" was supposed to be released, but it never saw daylight when the record executives found it too political. So, Andy left again and they called Timbaland, the most in-demand producer at the moment to record a dance album instead.

So, what can we expect from their new album "Red Carpet Massacre", well in reality it's Timbaland's protégé Danja who produces most of the album and it shows cause his sound is more varied then Timbaland's. Justin Timberlake also produce one of the songs and appears on two. But all of the songs were produced by the collective with no outsiders involved. Either way, this is a modern dance album with amazing sound and effects and in all honestly I prefer this over Ballads or Rock ("Ordinary World" being an exception). But for those of you that thought this would sound like Nelly Furtado or Justin Timberlake's recent album will be dissapointed, alot of it sounds like Rock/Pop meets modern production tecnique, more simular to Katharine McPhee's album

that Danja had a big hand in. Nothing is bad here but there is nothing too good either, so don't expect any new hits. It's one of those albums where I find myself listening more to the sound then the lyrics or hooks. Timbaland's songs "Nite Runner", and "Skin Divers" are more club oriented and his third one "Zoomed In" sounds like the rock songs he made for his last album. Best songs are however, the title track, the retroish "Last Man Standing" and the Timberlake priducerd ballad "Falling Down". I also enjoyed the instrumental "Tricked Down" with an amazing sound. There's some growers but I don't think this is quite the comeback most fans had hoped for.

Overall, Is a decent album atleast by sound and for the first time in ages it tries to create a suitable contemporary sound to their early dance-pop days that still feels fresh and entertaining today. It works in parts, cause dance/pop is better then Adult Contemporary Ballads/Rock for Duran Duran but it still doesn't always feel right. The sound is often better then the songs and it lack obvious hit singles. Timbaland's rap in "Skin Divers" just feel corny and out of place. Maybe the expectations were too big or we just wanted something else. Timbaland and co makes a great job but I don't think their help is always right for Duran Duran. It feels like they're just trying to hard to sound fresh and hip again. Red Carpet Massacre got it's moments but it could have been much better.

...that I love this album, because I love Duran Duran and have since I was twelve. I was so thrilled with their true comeback album "Astronaut" that I was expecting them to move forward with more innovative and inspired music. But this album falls just a bit short of the DD greatness that we've heard in the past.

The opening track "The Valley" is pretty decent and does have some shades of classic Duran Duran. I was reminded of "Notorious" with this song. The second, title track has a great "spacey" opening then drifts into a raw drum beat - it's very 80s so I like it. The third track, "Nite-Runner" is the first track on the album that sounds blatantly Timbaland inspired and he provides some of the chorus vocals. I don't dislike Timbaland - he's done some great work - but there's something about his and Timberlake's presence in some of the songs that I feel rips away from the soul of Duran Duran.

I know some reviewers have voiced their dislike for "Falling Down," but it's my favorite track on the album. The melody is beautiful and the lyrics are quite appropriate for this age of rising/crashing starlets and pop singers and our consumption of them. For me, it's right up there with "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" from the Wedding Album. Bits of the melody remind me of "Save a Prayer," as well.

Track five, "Box Full O' Honey," is another lovely melody with great lyrics and acoustic guitar. John Taylor's melodic bass really comes through on this track as well. "Skin Divers" is a ready made dance floor hit/Timbaland beat machine with a catchy rap hook; it gets you moving, but Simon's voice sounds a little flat and lifeless on this track. "Tempted" is my least favorite track; it's sounds like they simply recycled Timberlake's "Sexy Back" and just changed a few chords. "Tricked Out" - All Hail Nick Rhodes! - is a fun instrumental track with shades of Berlin/Siouxsie/Bauhaus, etc. Very 80s, so of course I love it.

"Zoom In" isn't a bad song, but it isn't great, either. It's got a nice beat, but feels a bit shallow. "She's Too Much" has a nice opening and a melancholy melody, which I always gravitate to, but it would be nice if John Taylor's bass was more present on this track. I think it would have added a much needed layer and you can actually hear the empty space left vacant by his lack of presence, which is a shame because he is one of the great bass players of our time. "Dirty Great Monster" has a great bluesy beat and Simon's voice really shines on this track - think "The Reflex" and "Union of the Snake." The final track is a bit lackluster. Again, it sounds like a stolen track from one of Timberlake's albums - his first solo, I think - same beat.

Overall, if you're a true Duran Duran fan, this is not an album to pass up. If your a casual Duran Duran listener, you'd do better with the Wedding Album or Astronaut or even their EARLY stuff. But I love these guys, so they really can't do anything wrong in my eyes; however, they need to dump the Timberlakes and Timbalands of this world and follow their own vision as they have in the past. You can definitely tell there are too many fingers in the pie on this album.

I've been a fan since 1982. I'm 40 now, and I wanted this CD to be.. groundbreaking, if nothing else. No, in honesty, I wanted it to be a return to form from 5 guys who knew how to CRAFT a song. It seems that Andy (the 5th guy) saw that this was going to be a sellout to their label and a compromise; a denial of their innate abilities to write outstanding material; to write trendy soulless drivel and call it evolution, so he left. At the time I was floored, and I just *knew* we'd get a sub-par record.

Yes, I wanted an amalgamation of Rio,etc,etc, right through the Wedding Album, because I knew that's what these musicians are capable of, and I had faith in them to have confidence in their abilities. Looks like the record company did not have that faith.

I WISH above anything else that I could be holding the CD of the scrapped project in my hands instead of this.

I've loved these guys for 25 years, and will buy whatever they put out. But let's be HONEST, and listen with an honest ear and heart. The only good songs on here are:

*Last Man Standing - unbelievably, the last song! Finally, a melody, a hook!.. perhaps even underproduced, sounds like it was rushed to completion. By far the best song on this.. thing.

*Dirty Monster - a song, at least. Saxophone!~for gosh sakes, and not those disgusting tinny "tip-tip-tip" drums that Timbaland pushed the buttons for the rest of the project.. good to see they let Roger get behind a kit for a tune or two.

*Falling Down - not the worst tune I've suffered through this year. That's all the compliment I'll be giving. I suppose it *is* the only single they could consider! In the history of great DD songs, I give this a two out of ten.

*Box full of Honey - decent if DD was releasing a folk cd.

---If any other band had put this out, I would not have bought it. Any other band would get one of five Amazon stars.

Gone are atmospheric DD soundscapes. Gone is Andy's edgy guitar. Gone are Roger's driving drums. Gone are Simon's cryptic, poetic lyrics. John's energetic bassline returns for 30 seconds in the first song, and then he disappears. Call this evolution, call this catching up with 'the times', but I call this far from what they are capable of. Sometimes you don't want to sound like the modern peers because those peers aren't in your league, so you'd be better off writing what you know, which surpasses and exceeds trends..

Please, Duran Duran, find yourselves again, and please fans, be honest when they don't live up to what we know they can deliver.

DD cant face the fact that they are ageing, and just for the sake of entering the charts (which no one cares about anymore with all the junk pop out there anyway) bring in the musical genius called Justin to create this lame album. I mean who is he to tell DD what their album should sound like? They we out making music when he was in his crib. Its sad to see Roger playing fake drums over a programmed drum machine. What happened to the rockin/drummin DD that made beautiful music? They sold out, thats what happened.

I own most of DD albums and like most fans I prefer old stuff from their early era. After a deceiving decade in the 90s, they came back with the original line-up and the great album Astronaut a few years ago.

Now the guitarist Andy Taylor has left and the band is back with a totally new kind of creation, Red Carpet Massacre, featuring Timbaland and Justin Timberlake (something I would never have expected). Clearly, the band tried to adapt their mucical style to the 2000s tendency. I think the result has worth it. The album features very interesting tracks and sounds fresh, innovative and creative. But it is not for everyone. If you're looking for songs like Hungry Like The Wolf or Save a Prayer, you will be totally lost !!

The album sounds like a creation by a new band except for Lebon's voice and Nick Rhodes synths. If you're a fan you might recongnize the bass line style of John Taylor.

I would recommend people to listen to the album before buying it ! I think this is the kind of "love it or hate it".