In the fallout of Red Carpet Massacre, Duran Duran enlist superfan Mark Ronson and produce their second-best album.
By the turn of the century, with a critical and public acclaimed album (Astronaut – 2004), and a massive success world tour with the original line-up, it felt like Duran Duran was on the rise again. But then it came a massacre, the follow-up album, which would be, according to Roger Taylor, "in some ways a homage to our roots as a band, more direct and a return to our dance and 'new wave' origins" [1], was, god knows why, rejected by their label, who wanted a pop-sounding album, forcing the band to work with producer Timbaland. The results were, according to John Taylor, a nightmare: an album with poor sales, so poorly reviewed by the critics, that is generally placed in last placed on the band's album ranks [2] [3], Andy Taylor’s leaving, once again, the band and no renewal of their contract with Sony Music.
The fallout Red Carpet Massacre (2007), could have ended the career of many bands, but Duran Duran had grown resilient, learning from the ups and downs of their two-decade career. They decided to return to their glory days with an imaginary follow up their 1982 seminal album, Rio. To achieve that they enlisted superfan Mark Ronson as a producer, someone who believed in the band's talent and potential while also was up to date with new trends in pop music.
As a result, Ronson production unearthed the band's mojo, the slinky sexiness of Rio is all there, now sprinkled with guests like Kelis and Ana Matronic. Musically, the album goes all-in on the sound that made them famous: Simon LeBon’s signature singing, that served as a soundtrack to many of us in the ’80s is just as solid as it was 30 years ago, Nick Rhodes’ icy synth lines build landscapes to a melodic, but tight rhythmed, and John Taylor’s bass lines, and Roger Taylor rhythm section feels tight-as-ever. All You Need is Now is an hour-long successful crossover between the New Romantic era and hippiness of modern pop music.
The album opens with the title song and lead single, that, with it’s memorable, larger-than-life chorus, that sings of swaying in the moon “the way you did when you were younger,” couldn’t give a more straight message to fans. Tracks like “Blame the Machines”, “Being Followed” and “Network Nation” showcase their ability to make well-crafted pop tunes. “Leave the Light On” and “Before the Rain” bring us back to their beautiful “Save a Prayer”. But perhaps “The Man Who Stole a Leopard”, with its slowing crescendo, more than six minutes length, and a pseudo news-report outro, highlights the maturity and confidence the band had during the recording process.
Pre-released, with limited track listening, online in December 2010, and, in extended physical packages, in March 2011, the album peaked at number 11 in the UK and number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart.
All You Need is Now may not be Rio 2.0, but it surely achieved its goal, being regarded as “the best album Duran Duran has released since” Rio [4], and ranked second best album of the band, losing only to the aforementioned album[2] [3].
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