One of those essential elements of course is Simon LeBon. The album’s success is partly down to a strong set of tunes, but also to the fact that Duran’s five key elements are all in keen form and working in harmony. Not the usual hit and miss Duran we have come to accept over the past three decades.
The album is (whisper it) consistently good from start to finish. “One foot in the future, one in the past” was Rhodes' guiding mantra, and it proves a highly effective compass on Future Past. But now, with a simple mantra, Nick Rhodes has given the band permission to free themselves from such attachments. In particular, ‘Hammerhead’ has John slapping with pure funk, something he happens to be very good at.Īs a fan, I have often felt a sense of post 80s Duran Duran sometimes trying too hard - to be modern and stay with the times, while also trying to hang on to their old success (or somehow win their popularity back). On this record, John’s bass is BIG and thumps throughout. For a start, you cannot hear John Taylor’s bass thumping on Paper Gods (the exception being the excellent single Pressure Off). That album wasn’t half bad, but the production was frustrating.
The album’s main producer Erol Alkan wanted to hear more of the band playing on this album and all I can say is thank you Erol Alkan for recognising something many fans will feel was missing from Paper Gods. Always a pop group first and foremost (and at one point the world’s biggest), Duran Duran are also a proper band of accomplished self-taught musicians who can really play. And that is what Duran Duran is all about, essentially, electronic sounding pop music made by real musicians. It’s precisely what differentiates ‘Future Past’ from its predecessor ‘Paper Gods’ - an organic yin to the electronic yang.
DURAN DURAN NEW ALBUM 2021 SERIES
This is the 2nd in our series of album guides, meant to be an alternative to the critical album review, since who reads those these days?Īt one minute 25 seconds of track two on Duran Duran’s new album, there is a minor piano chord that strikes a very human element into a driving electronic track (‘All Of You’ is a genuine banger).
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