Disco de Duran Duran: “Notorious”

I've been a Duranie since age 12, when Rio was released, and still hold steadfast to the new wave roots of my childhood.

Notorious, by far the band's best effort, is a collection of Duran's maturing, introspective poetry squarely founded on the colorful, highly-charged sound of their past hit albums. "Winter Marches On" recalls the somber romance of Rio's "The Chauffeur" while "So Mislead" and "American Science" reflect the group's fusion experimentation, probably directed by producer Nile Rodgers and Average White Band drummer Steve Ferone. Andy Taylor did lay down the guitar tracks, then left Duran for a solo pursuit. John Taylor's bass sound grows up on Notorious, maturing into well-constructed groves, especially on "American Science" and "Skin Trade".

Nick Rhodes, whose signature synthesizer sound brought distinction to the band's new wave hits in the early Eighties, appropriately broadens his musical pallete to add new ambiance to each song, especially on "Matter of Feeling" and the title track.

Duran's strength has always been to create a new world of sound and poetry with each album, while courageously hanging on to their new-romantic identity, despite the attacks of industry critics.

The three years of waiting since the last Duran Duran studio effort were well rewarded when `Notorious' came out in late 1986. The band had teamed up with Chic guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers, a fierce horn section, some top drawer backing singers, future member Warren Cucurullo and legendary drummer Steve Ferrone to create a raw, funky sound that suited them perfectly. There is a remainder of Arcadia in `Winter Marches On' which has some great sampled strings on it, but apart from this song and the beautiful ballad `A Matter Of Feeling' it's pure Duran meets Chic meets Power Station. The real gems here are the title track, `American Science', `Skin Trade', `Vertigo' and `So Misled' (check out the horns and the bass on this one!), but the whole album is excellent. Compared to later Duran stuff it's a very accessible, no frills album with ten tightly arranged songs that were just waiting to be played live (I still recall the show they did in Copenhagen during their Strange Behaviour Tour in 1987 as one of the best concerts I've ever been to). The album sounds just as fresh as when it came out. Forget about all the techno/house and so-called `dance' crap - this is the kind of music people should get down and sweat to.

I haven't gone to many rock concerts, I always have other things to spend my time and money on, but I went to the tour that was supporting this album. The music is danceable and yet provokative in many ways -- nothing explicit but very suggestive. Even with only 3 of the original 5 members, this is one of Duran Duran's best collections. It shows a good deal of maturity after the first split.

Never judge a c.d. in the el cheapo bargain/cut-out bin of your favorite music store. Sadly, most obscure or even popular artists are known for having some project tossed in the bargain basement due to lack of sales or meeting the commercialized-top-of-the-pop charts criteria.The only great advantage to a consumer is if they really enjoy the album for a few bucks; Even if they don't at least an arm and a leg was not spent...

Duran Duran's Notorious is a prime example of a c.d. I have seen quite often in "the bin". Fortunately, it is one of the most differently sounding albums put out by the group for the 80's in a positive way ! The Motown elements along with some of Duran Duran's trademark synth sound and production by Nile Rodgers (Chic fame)proved that this was not another pseudo-R&B project by a predominantly white british band.Simon LeBon did not change his vocal style to sound like the great Barry White or Marvin Gaye in order to coincide with the flavor of the music; LeBon did not succumb to the "white-boy-thinks-he's black" syndrome!Yet, vocals,lyrics, and instrumentation work with great coherence and unity. And the horns, love those horns ! This is one of the more warmer sounding and naturally textured and colorful Duran Duran albums; the cold and sometimes robotic sounding characteristics of their earlier albums are gone...

Notorious is a keeper !

If you could only have 2 obscure Duran Duran B-side albums, you should choose this one and Big Thing. Listen to Big Thing's B side in the dark, and listen to this one in the wintertime. "Winter Marches On" has incredible depth and texture.