Duran Duran
Red Carpet Massacre
Epic
For their twelfth studio album since 1981, the band that virtually owned new wave romanticism in the Eighties has joined forces with mega-producer Timbaland and mega-celeb Justin Timberlake for Red Carpet Massacre. Everyone and their mothers seem to be bringing Timbaland on board these days to add his hip hop club-ready flourishes to their music (even Madonna tapped his services for her upcoming disc Hard Candy) and as ready as I was to criticize Duran Duran for relying on current trends where once their music was cutting edge, I can’t say that Timbaland did them a disservice. With the exception of a guest rap spot by the producer on “Skin Divers,” his studio touches only accentuate the band’s flair for dancefloor anthems.
Even the presence of Justin Timberlake serves as a seeming inspiration to the English boys. “Falling Down,” produced and music co-written by Timberlake, is one of the best songs on the album and destined to be the one that stands the test of time. When the club flavor of highly addictive pop songs like “Red Carpet Massacre” (my personal favorite on the disc) and “The Valley” fades as the trends change, it’s the warmly written songs like “Falling Down” and “Box Full O’ Honey” that will remain.
Duran Duran, minus guitarist Andy Taylor who left the band due to creative differences during the recording of this album, is about to embark on yet another world tour that begins in Canada and will end in mid June in Switzerland. With all things Eighties back in vogue, it seems only appropriate that Duran Duran should be packing in arenas once more.
To listen to “Nite Runner”: http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/?page\_id=13887
To buy tickets for the tour: http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/?page\_id=12911
Duran Duran: http://www.duranduran.com
