Okay, this is it. The last Duran Duran album from the 80's that I have to make my way through. I've talked about all the others, dug in extensively to the groups past, present, and future. Now it's time to cross the finish line with 1986's Notorious.
With nothing left to say about the band in general, let's just dive right in.
Notorious starts with the title track, and immediately sets the tone of a more mature Duran Duran. No longer riding the waves of the heartthrob images which all but tore them apart in 1985. Instead, it was back to the music. The core fundamental of what makes a band a band. The album also departs from the prior new wave and synth-pop sounds to focus on a more funk rock aspect.
The album came to fruition after the departure of core member Roger Taylor, and while parts of it featured Andy Taylor, he too would leave. Former guitarist of Missing Persons, Warren Cuccurullo, would be called in to complete Andy's work, along with producer Nile Rodgers, who also filled in. Cuccurullo would go on to remain with the group through 2000's Pop Trash. Steve Ferrone, and Jimmy Maelen would fill in on drums in the absence of Roger.
While most critics praised Notorious, the album, for its more mature tone, many also agreed that it didn't deliver the energetic pop hits that made the band popular to begin with. I suppose it's a compromise one has to make. Do you want Duran Duran to stay in their early years, rinsing and repeating the standard slate, or do you want to watch the members grow and mature? All bands ebb and flow, and sometimes that's the charm of it.
I agree with the critical reception. Notorious is definitely a more sophisticated and grown up album than what came before it. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish for a campy pop hit to be thrown into the mix. Something free spirited and irresistibly giddy to just cheese out to. This album simply isn't going to do that, and it wasn't intended to. It's good, and stands on its own merit, but certainly lacks the hits of prior releases.
Standout tracks for me would be the title track, Notorious, Skin Trade, Vertigo (Do The Demolition), and Proposition. However, for the most part, it's kind of forgettable. Honestly, I felt like the whole thing was kind of dragging on, and it ultimately got relegated to background noise.
The album would also be the beginning of what would become the steady decline of album sales for the band. By the mid 90's they were shadowed so greatly by their continued underperformances of Notorious, 1988's Big Thing, and 1990's Liberty, that when they returned to record material for what would become the 1993 self titled Wedding Album, Capitol would only fund them incrementally as material was completed, submitted, and approved by the label.
Of course, despite this hiccup, and decline in the 90's, Duran Duran has since transcended to become one of the mainstay staples of the 80's, among the very few to continue to release new material, and stay relevant in the 2020's. That's no easy feat to accomplish. Heck, just surviving the 90's seemed like a life or death situation for many 80's artists.
While I certainly have many more Duran Duran albums to get through, owning their entire discography to date, that's definitely not something I'm going to be getting to soon. I mean, look how long it took me just to get to this point. It's on to someone "new" tomorrow.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 24, 1989 |
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