January 2011 \ Reviews \ Media Review \ CD Review: Duran Duran - "All You Need Is Now"

CD Review: Duran Duran - "All You Need Is Now"

Shawn Hammond

All You Need Is Now is a return to the sound that put the band on the New Wave map.
Premier Guitar January 2011
Duran Duran
All You Need Is Now
Tapemodern



For 30 years now, Duran Duran has been one of the few unabashed purveyors of synth pop to also make guitar and bass guitar crucial elements of its sound. Andy Taylor’s chorused, funky/ neo-punk chord stabs added indispensible bite and adventure to every one of the band’s ’80s hits, from 1981’s “Planet Earth” to “Girls on Film,” “The Reflex,” “Wild Boys,” and “A View to a Kill.” Likewise, John Taylor’s slinky, galloping bass lines were probably the funkiest on radio that whole decade. Andy left the band in the ’90s, and former Frank Zappa guitarist Warren Cuccurullo came aboard to shake things up for several years. Andy returned for a couple of albums in 2004 and 2007, but he’s now out again. You’d never know it from All You Need Is Now, though. Session guitarist Dominic Brown has been filling in since Andy’s second departure in ’07. And though Brown is far more adventurous, toneful, and adept than Andy Taylor, anyone hoping he’d add the same sorts of earthy grit he’s been adding to Duran live shows—search YouTube for “Duran Duran – Skin Divers (Private Sessions)” for a sampling—will be disappointed. Brown’s lines sound exactly like Taylor circa 1981. In fact, the whole album is a return to the sound that put the band on the New Wave map. The first single, “All you Need Is Now,” takes a stab at being more cutting edge with its industrial synths, semi-sneering verses, and danceable chorus, but the rest of the album is filled with so many nods to the past that it comes across as cynical. It’s not that they can’t pull it off—it is their sound—and there certainly are some nice songs, including the bittersweet, acoustic-driven “Leave the Light On” and the catchy, upbeat “Blame the Machines.” It’s just a shame Brown is left to so slavishly cop the sound of a player that he obviously blows out of the water.

     

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Comments

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DD WOLF PACK!
on 02/05/2011 		Andy left in 1986 ... He didn't play on the 2007 album. ... Warren started playing with DD in 1986, and became official in 1990. ... Dom has been playing with the band since 2005. :-O

on 02/04/2011 		All you need is now is a great album. Since Rio or Seven and the ragged tiger!!! fantastic
MissNovember Tues
on 02/02/2011 		First, I love ALL of them. I like their individual styles and yes, Dom is amazing. He kicks ass live and he and John riff off each other VERY nicely. Great chemistry on stage. Dom is also very good on his own. I love his solo work and have watched the webcasts of his gigs from the Bedford. His style is more classic rock and blues. As for this album, Mark Ronson was driving the band's direction to recapture the classic feel, so that is why Dom is playing in Andy's style here. The fact that he can so easily lay it down is just one more sing of his ability. I honestly can't wait to see what he gets to do on the next album. I think he will get to have more freedom as time goes on, so long as he decides to stay with the band. As for Warren, I loved Warren and anyone who says that all of their hits came with Andy is forgetting that Ordinary World with Warren's amazing solo is actually their all time best selling single ever. Warren may be an odd duck, but his style and talent cannot be denied. Andy is a great guitarist, but he obviously has never felt he can play in the style he really wants to in the confines of the band. I love what he has contributed, but he and the band are all happier the way things are now. It was pretty cool though to see what he got to do with Power Station. I will always love those songs. I am a lifelong Duranie and love tracks from every one of their albums. Maybe some more than others, but every one had @ least a few tracks that I would never want to go without. No matter what, I will listen and look forward to whatever may come. This band is perfect. Just don't scratch the surface.
Simonina
on 01/15/2011 		Sorry if I ask, but do you only listen to the guitars in these kind of reviews? If the answer is yes, then I can see why only 3/5!
The album gets 6/5 from me anyway!
Phil M
on 01/12/2011 		Actually Shawn if you've watched any of the video footage about the making of the album you'll see that this was a collaboration of all five artists playing together in a room under the watchful gaze of Mark Ronson. Dom was certainly not mandated to sound like anyone. His input was his own.
Peyton
on 01/12/2011 		Honestly, my favorite Duran Duran music comes from one of their least successful albums: Liberty. Warren Cucurullo's guitar tone on "Downtown" (don't even bother looking for it on YouTube, it isn't there) was as sleazy as it needed to be for that song. I'm not surprised DD isn't trying new directions; since the 90's every experiment they've tried has been a flop, financially.
rik
on 01/04/2011 		Why do people slag andy taylor and his guitar playing?he was the best and the only guitarist for duran duran...........who played/wrote the hits?
Johan
on 01/01/2011 		Dom plays really well on the new album. Guitarparts are smart and not over the top. This band needs a guitarist who has a certain style: sometimes plays parts that can be heard but are not dominating the whole song. Parts that still are very important to the song. This band is not guitar based rock band and there should never be long guitar solos here. They need a guy like Dom. What comes to the new album: It´s an amazing, takes me back to the good old times and reminds me that DD was a great band once. This deserves 5/5 stars!
Jean Loup
on 12/27/2010 		well, i think that nobody can't beat old ATaylor in DDuran.Warren was the skilled one, Dom the more traditional. Andy gives us a lot from Dduran to Powerstation.He can do everything; from new-wave to funky,to rock,to hard-rock,he could all guitar hero if he can,just thinking of those fantastic flashy solos(but with class) in Powerstation.He's very good with rythm, effects, distortion,arrangements and solos,can you remember of his incredible bends on the first 2 albuns? the guitar rythm on Careless memories. Another very important thing is that he can go all pop and with class too.Just dont like it when he go all hard-rock or heavy metal, and i still think that the Powerstation first is tremendous album and with one of his best workd to date.thnk you.
Jeztone
on 12/21/2010 		Andy Taylor is fucking crap, I thought Eddie Martinez ghost tracked the Power Station album. I think Warren Cucurullo is a very strange man, but a much better guitarist. Dom Brown is just a typical English session player, he's good, but no real style of his own.



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