Duran Duran Album: “Thank You”

I'm not a Duran Duran fan at all, although I admit they do write some good songs here and there. I accidently came across this cd and listened to it and I was totally astonished! I'm not into writing reviews because I know people have different opinions and I respect that, but after reading very bad reviews by critics and fans, I had to make my say. I just think people aren't giving them a chance on this album.

Overall, I was very impressed with the creativity, excellent song structures, and musicianship. The first song, they rocked & grooved in "White Lines" but it's going to take a while to get use to Simone LeBon's weak rappin' voice. Even though, the scratchin' was fun to listen to and the beat was heavy and pounding. The follow-up song is a song I love by Sly & the Family Stone,"I Wanna Take You Higher." I loved the guitar riffs in this one, and the ending was cool when everyone is getting down.

After that, Duran Duran came out with some mellower stuff, Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives," and the classic Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay." To appreciate those songs, you would have to listen to it from beginning to end, and LeBon's singing was excellent.

Then, they did Public Enemy's "911 is a Joke." This time, LeBon's rappin' was great and funky, and I loved the beginning sound of the Mississippi Blues guitar and harmonica. After that came Iggy Pop's "Success," written by David Bowie. This version was awesome and it made me realized they actually picked GREAT SONGS! for the cover cd. Although, I didn't care for the Doors' "Crystal Ship." It's just not that good of a song period. "Ball of Confusion" was unique and interesting, and I enjoyed it. The surprised part is when I heard Led Zepplin's "Thank You." LeBon sounded like Robert Plant totally, but in a unique way. The atmospheric sound of the song was tremendous. The only song they wrote was "Drive by," which was very creative. The song creeped slowly in an intense atmospheric way again, and after it builds up, somebody breaks out in a recorder solo, which was awesome! The finishing song was another part of the first cover tune of Sly's. This time, they band just got into rocking in a soulful way and LeBon was getting down with his singing.

As you can see, I'm loved this cd...I think it has to be one of the greatest cover tunes cd around. I would love to see a good band do some Stones' songs and try to make it fresh and great. I probably won't write another review because this took longer than I thought, but it was worth it. You guys in Duran Duran, I did you righteous. Peace brothers!

Okay, flashback time. The year is 1993. Duran Duran mount one of the most impressive comebacks of recent pop music history, putting out an impressive album with a couple of really good singles ("Ordinary World", "Come Undone") that get critics to take them seriously, attract new listeners, and top the charts like they did back in the day. So what do they do to keep this remarkable comeback going two years down the road? The worst thing possible: Instead of writing some more of their own infectious tunes, they sample a bunch of other artists' work (which is the album being discussed here, "Thank You"). And a lot of it is simply not worth covering, not by Duran Duran, not by the Beatles, not by anyone. No one cares, not even the Durans' own fans, and Duran Duran sink into semi-obscurity again.

"Perfect Day" sounded good when I first bought the album, but now it just grates. "Crystal Ship" is the only song on here that's an interesting cover, and the only truly good song is "Drive By", which basically becomes a retread of their own work, more specifically 1982's "The Chauffeur".

Like other people have said, it's ridiculous to think that Duran Duran were in any way influenced by Public Enemy or Grandmaster Flash. So why did they make this album? Still beats me. If they really wanted to pay homage to their "roots" as they were, why not covers of David Bowie, Chic, even the Sex Pistols? Interesting concept, the covers album, but poorly timed and even more poorly executed. No thank you.

Although I'm in the age bracket that most of the original "Durannies" sprouted from, I was never a big fan until around the time of Notorious or Big Thing. Even then, I thought that Duran Duran were some guys who had a few good songs but would never release an album I would consider buying. Boy, was I wrong. Thank You is EXACTLY the album that the band needed to win over people who weren't Duran Duran fans to begin with.

At first glance, it appears to be more of a curiosity than anything else (I mean, how can you take their versions of "White Lines" and "911 Is A Joke" seriously?) Not only are those particular tracks great, but it's a great insight to see the particular music that Duran Duran considers to have had seminal influence on their own music, as unrecognizable as it may be in their own stuff. Also, it's not a bad trick to record cover songs that no one would ever guess in a million years they would record.

The other really neat thing (see how I'm slipping back into 8th grade euphemisms?) is that the range of artists covered is so great (Led Zeppelin, the Temptations, Elvis Costello, etc) that you can't help but have some respect for a band that could take that wide a range and not only bring their own sound to the recordings, but their devotion and love of these songs to the listener.

Wow, a completely great Duran Duran album. I must be running a fever.

Be open minded about this album. I held out on listening to it for a long time, finally got it so I could listen to "Drive By", and was very pleasantly surprised. I think Duran Duran had a lot of courage to risk their musical reputation and make an genre-defying album like this. "White Lines" is pumping with energy and wonderful to dance to, I'm sure it's just a joy live. If you stop listening to what everyone says about Mr. Le Bon's rapping, you might find it enjoyable! I think "911 Is A Joke" is awesome, it's got a great beat (you might even like it if you don't like rap!) "Watching the Detectives" and "Lay Lady Lay" are wonderfully juicy, and Simon's lovely voice makes them sexier than ever. "Ball of Confusion" is another underrated, fun, great to listen to track. "Success" and "I Wanna Take You Higher" both stand out as great fast-tempo songs (the only thing I don't like is that, in the latter, the voice of the speaking girl is very annoying.) Of course, "Drive By", the follow-up to one of Duran Duran's greatest songs ever, is a work of art. Worth it, even if you don't like Duran Duran, as it's surprisingly different from most previous or later works. It is a great joy to listen to, and I'm sure the band had a fabulous time making it as well.

I admit when I first listened to this when it first came out, I didn't like it. But as time passed, I got a little bit older and my taste matured a bit. I gave this a second chance and found that it is really really good. They did an incredible job remaking songs by The Doors, Led Zep, Lou Reed, etc. This is a great tribute from Duran Duran to the artists that originally recorded the songs. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.