Duran Duran Album: “Strange Behaviour”

"Strange Behaviour," whose title is lifted from the lyric of the 1986 single "Skin Trade," is the first career-spanning remix album from Duran Duran. I already own many of these 12-inch mixes on vinyl, but it's convenient to have them all on two CDs. The first disc, which covers the years 1981-84, is classic Duran Duran, featuring "night" versions of the hits "Girls on Film," the original mix of "My Own Way," and "Hungry Like the Wolf." There's also a version of "Planet Earth," that I haven't heard before and is different from the one I own on the 1981 12-inch single. Other notable tracks are extended versions of "Union of the Snake" and "New Moon On Monday," although I'm no huge fan of the 12 version of "The Reflex," which verges on annoying. While the first disc is automatically a keeper, the second disc, which covers the years 1986-93, is where things get patchy. I can't deny the excellent mixes of the Nile Rogers-produced "Notorious" and "Skin Trade," and I also dig "I Don't Want Your Love" and "All She Wants Is." However, "Strange Behaviour" runs into a few clunkers such as the sluggish remix of "Violence of Summer," and bland remixes of "Love Voodoo" and "None of the Above." Even so, this double-disc set is a recommended purchase for Durannies who want a one-stop collection of the band's 12 mixes.

When i first found this CD, i was glad to see that it had all the 12 Inch Remixes and 12 Inch Extended Versions and Digitally Remastered of all of our favorite Duran Duran tracks.

Disc 1 : The Night Versions (1981-1984), all of them are all CLASSICS (Bar-None!), but If I had to crown the reigning champ of Disc 1, it has to go to "Girls On Film", this is the version that was used for the "UNCENSORED" video, before editing it and then using the LP Version from the "Duran Duran" 1981 LP, the Night Version of "Girls On Film" blows the album version right out of the water big time, it has way more sex appeal to it. Overall Disc 1 : "More substance Is better".

Disc 2 : The Remixes (1986-1993), Disc 2 doesn't have the same magic that Disc 1 has, it kind of falls short and at times makes it kind of hard to listen too (I don't know, bad remixing, it was the mid 80's, at times doesn't sound like a remix), but you have to like for what it is.

This disc gives you a great retrospective of most of DD 12" releases, all digitally remastered. It shows us how the band has developed itself over more than a decade. The sound is wonderful and makes us hear certain instruments that were totally hidden on the non-remastered versions. Very revealing. The first disc gives us slightly different remixes of "Planet Earth" and "Hold back the rain", without any extra production. The rest of the 1e CD is simular to its original 12" release. The 2e CD contains hard to get 12" versions of their later hits. The only disappointing thing are the dubversions of "I dont want your love" and "Come Undone". Don't know why the record company did that but these dubversions dont fit on this disc. They mutilate the original song too much. There are both excellent regular 12" versions of these songs and they should have been put on this disc instead. Too bad. The other 12"s are great, hardly any extra production so most of the songs have the same sound of the original. "Drowning man" is an exception but luckily it turned out to be a great version! A great album, worth its money!

This is by far the best compilation to get if you're even slightly into Duran Duran. It is overfilled with the great remixes that make Duran viable. Once again, the topic of the "critic" above seems to have veered to the videos. Well, let me tell you this...you do NOT need the videos to enjoy this! Duran are still going strong, and compilations like this ensure that even the most passive of fans can see that. And that is something mere appearance cannot obtain.

Look at what number the song is on Amazon's track listing, and this list will then tell you the corresponding version that appears on these CD's:

1. (Night Mix)

2. (Night Version)

3. (Night Version)

4. (Night Version)

5. (Remix)

6. (Carnival Version)

7. (Carnival Version)

8. (Monster Mix)

9. (The Monkey Mix)

10. (Extended Version)

11. (Dance Mix)

12. (Wilder Than Wild Boys Extended Club Mix)

13. (Extended Mix)

14. (Stretch Mix)

15. (12' Version)

16. (Chemical Reaction)

17. (Dub Mix)

18. (US Master Mix)

19. (Power Mix)

20. (Come Undub)

21. (Sidney Street 12' Mix)

22. (12' Jellybean Mix)

23. (Drizabone 12' Mix)

24. (D:ream Ambient Mix)

I don't have enough personal knowledge of all things Duran to spout such eloquent prose as that of fellow reviewers of this wonderful little 2-CD collection, but I can damn sure post a bit of layman adoration!

I have liked Duran Duran since I started listening to music in 5th grade or so (1982-3). I don't have ALL of their CD's, but I have enough for me:

Liberty, Decade, Big Thing, Notorious, The Wedding Album, and the Electric Barbarella CD Single (with the must-have "Perfecto Mix" of "Out of my Mind").

I can sort of hear how the night versions and carnival versions of the songs differ from the originals, and the extended versions are great, too. It might seem like the kind of CD only good for a "completist" but I think it would be a good place to start for the uninitiated Duranies of the world.

I like MINE, and that's all there is to it.