... The remaining three were joined by Warren Cuccurullo, and performed as a foursome until the early 90s, when John Taylor finally left the band (a split he once described as being more difficult that divorcing his wife!)
The album “Greatest” was reduced in 1998 and as the name suggests is ... Read review
course)--all their ground-breaking videos together in one place. More than radio, MTV made mega-stars out of the photogenic group, and few took better advantage of the me...
Duran Duran - Greatest
DVD 1:1. Planet Earth*2. Girls On Film (Long Uncensored version)*3. The Chauffeur4. Hungry ... more
Like The Wolf5. Save A Prayer6. Rio7. Is There Something I Should Know?8. Union Of The Snake*9. New Moon On Monday*10. The Reflex11. Wild Boys (7 Edit Version)*1...
course)--all their ground-breaking videos together in one place. More than radio, MTV made mega-stars out of the photogenic group, and few took better advantage of the me...
Duran Duran - Greatest
DVD 1:1. Planet Earth*2. Girls On Film (Long Uncensored version)*3. The Chauffeur4. Hungry ... more
Like The Wolf5. Save A Prayer6. Rio7. Is There Something I Should Know?8. Union Of The Snake*9. New Moon On Monday*10. The Reflex11. Wild Boys (7 Edit Version)*12. A View To A KillDVD 2:1. Notorious2. Skin Trade3. I Don't Want Your Love4. All She Wants Is5. Serious*6. Burning The Ground7. Ordinary World8. Come Undone (Uncensored Version)*9. Electric Barbarella
course)--all their ground-breaking videos together in one place. More than radio, MTV made mega-stars out of the photogenic group, and few took better advantage of the medium, particularly in the 1980s. Just as their music combined the sophisticated pop of Roxy Music with the electro-funk of Chic, each video is as immaculately styled and conceived as the band itself.Like 1998'sGreatestCD collection, this two-DVD set features all their big hits, including uncensored versions of "Girls on Film" and "Come Undone". Directors include Godley and Creme, Julien Temple, andVoguephotographer Ellen Von Unwerth and the albums covered range from 1981's self-titled debut to 1997'sMedazzaland. All told: more models, more hair spray and more mascara than a Paris fashion show--but it's got a better beat (and you can dance to it).--Kathleen C Fennessy
A review by Pumpkin on Greatest - Duran Duran July 2nd, 2001
Author's product rating:
Originality
Groundbreaking
Lyrics
Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
See opinion
Disadvantages:
None for me
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Duran Duran are probably the first band which springs to mind for most people as soon as the 80s New Romantic movement is mentioned. In fact, they were by no means pioneers of the New Romantic scene, which originated at the Blitz club in London. It was some months before the scene spread out of London, due to the mainstream success of bands such as Visage, and reached Birmingham, the hometown of Duran Duran.
Despite being almost frowned upon by some of the hardcore New Romantics (their inclusion of the actual phrase “New Romantic” in their first single was seen as a huge faux pas!), Duran Duran enjoyed phenomenal success in the early to mid 1980s and were groundbreaking artists in many ways, being responsibly for bringing the style and music of the New Romantics to the masses. They managed to combine being fashionable, serious artists and musicians, respected by the majority of their peers, with having a very large teen following, something which very few of today’s teen bands can even aspire to. Their total career has spanned many years, with them achieving moderate chart success even now. They are still going strong as a live act, and I was lucky enough to see them perform last year.
Duran Duran’s original line-up was Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass), Andy Taylor (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums). This line-up was very successful until the mid 80s when Andy and Roger Taylor both departed. The remaining three were joined by Warren Cuccurullo, and performed as a foursome until the early 90s, when John Taylor finally left the band (a split he once described as being more difficult that divorcing his wife!)
The album “Greatest” was reduced in 1998 and as the name suggests is a greatest hits compliation, containing the majority of Duran Duran’s most successful and well-known singles. I originally bought the CD simply as a fan of 80s music who liked one or two of the songs, but I soon grew to love them all and have since become a big fan of Duran Duran and have purchased a number of their other CDs. Unfortunately I was a little too young to enjoy them in their hey-day, which is a great pity as I think that despite (or perhaps thanks to!) all the big hair, frilly shirts and heavy make-up, they were ten times more exciting than any band that has come along for a long, long time!
The track-listing of the album is as follows:-
1. Is There Something I Should Know? 2. The Reflex 3. A View to a Kill 4. Ordinary World 5. Save a Prayer 6. Rio 7. Hungry Like the Wolf 8. Girls on Film 9. Planet Earth 10. Union of the Snake 11. New Moon on Monday 12. Wild Boys 13. Notorious 14. I Don’t Want Your Love 15. All She Wants Is 16. Electric Barbarella 17. Serious 18. Skin Trade 19. Come Undone
There are many highlights for me, which include:-
The Reflex – The lyrics to this song make no sense to me whatsoever! Despite that it is one of their best and most catchy songs, and contains the subliminal(!) lyric in the title of this opinion!
A View to a Kill – The theme to the James Bond film of the same name. The fact that Duran Duran were asked to perform a Bond theme demonstrates their popularity and stature at the time, and puts them up there with artists like Paul McCartney and Shirley Bassey. The song is a typical Bond theme, with lots of orchestration.
Ordinary World – My personal favourite on the album, and one of my all time favourite songs. It is a beautiful ballad with a haunting guitar melody, and although not released during the peak of their career success was a huge hit for Duran Duran, deservedly so. It is taken from The Wedding Album, one of their most critically acclaimed recordings.
Rio – An uplifting song which reminds me of summer, and is as well-known for its video as anything else. The image of the band singing the song whilst speeding along on a yacht is one of those images which epitomises the 1980s!
Girls on Film – Another of their most famous and easily recognisable songs, which was almost as well-known for its X rated video as anything else!
Planet Earth – This was the band’s first single, and defined their sound for years to come. It was also the song responsible for the offending “New Romantic” line!
Wild Boys – This song has a really “big” sound with a lot of bass and drums and is one of those songs which is great to turn up loud in the car!
Electric Barbarella – Not one of their well-known songs, and not a particularly big hit, I think it was included on the album because it had been a recent single for the band at the time of the album’s release. Nevertheless it is a quirky and catchy song, and not one that should be skipped over, even if you are buying the album more for their older songs.
Skin Trade – Quite a funky song; at this time the band were working with American producer Nile Rogers, and his style comes through in this song.
Come Undone – Another single taken from The Wedding Album, and another haunting love song, written by Simon Le Bon for his wife Yasmin.
Overall, the album is musically very good, and encompasses a variety of different styles whilst still maintaining their distinctive sound. Despite some cringe-inducingly awful lines (e.g. “You’re about as easy as a nuclear war”) they do manage to redeem themselves on some of their later singles with some fairly profound lyrics.
The album is packaged in a white sleeve with blue writing, and is simple but stylish, with the same theme being followed throughout the booklet. The information given in the booklet is sparse, simply giving the details of each song.
As you will see from my comments, Duran Duran were as well known for their lavish video productions as for their music. There is a video compilation available, which contains almost the same tracks as the album, with a few differences.
The album, Greatest, is an absolute must for anyone who was a fan of Duran Duran in the 1980s, or is a fan of 1980s music in general. It contains some real classic songs which define the decade, without sounding dated when listened to today. Even if the song titles don’t ring a bell you will be likely to recognise them when you hear them, and they are all catchy with no weak links or fillers on the album. I admire artists who wait until they have a decent body of work behind them before releasing a compilation, in order to give them a choice of songs to include, rather than simply every single they have ever released.
I would highly recommend this album, it is one of the most listened to CDs in my collection and is never far away from my CD player!
Advantages: 19 tracks of the 1980's all for the same price as a normal CD Disadvantages: None, except Duran Duran have vanished!
All those men in make-up, all those really bad taste in clothes and the Austin Meastro, surely something half decent had to emerge from the 1980's.
Looking back at it all now though its hard to think of a song I liked that wasnt sung by men in make-up wearing extremley dodgy clothes!
There was Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet, Gary Numan, Adam and the Ants, all of which produced some really good and original music, all with very distinctive sounds ... ...true 1980's super new romantic band...
DURAN DURAN....
Way back in 1981, when we had just got over the 70's and punk was starting to lose its momentum, bands started appearing offering a new, different approach, they nearly all wore the make-up and wore daft clothes but to me Duran Duran were different.
The music was miles better than 'joe dolci - wat da matta u hey!' and other rubbish left over from the 70's.
1981 saw Duran Duran's first real ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: brilliant nostalgia trip Disadvantages: only for Duranies
...and proudly so.
When the greatest album came out three years ago I rushed out to buy it with realish and I proudly held it out to the spotty youth behind the counter who tried hard not to giggle.
I thanked him for the purchase and rushed home to put it on.
When I arrived home the house was empty for a change and I danced and sang my heart out for hours.
Anyway enough of that you want to know what's on the album don't you?
1. Is there something ... ...dance record which is one of there best great to sing along to and make a fool of yourself over.
2. The reflex
fle-fle-fle-fle flex
I still remember this upbeat song and the video which went with this where the water came out of the screen brilliant song.
3. A view to a kill.
The theme tune to the James Bond film of the same name. Not one of my favs I usually fast forward this track.
4. Ordinary world.
One of the newer songs they released ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency...
How does it compare to ...
Value for Money
very helpful
11.09.2001
80's magic Review ofGreatest - Duran Duranby
reginold
Advantages: Lots of great songs Disadvantages: none really
...best loved albums ever, a greatest hits collection of my favourite band. This combines the 80's classics of Rio, Planet Earth, New Moon on Monday etc with the newer hits from the wedding album like Ordinary World and Come Undone. This CD hasn't left my player for a long time now, as out of the 19 songs i listen to 18 regularly, the one i don't listen to is i don't want your love. If you are young and not from my era in music you may have already ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...in my head. I bought Greatest on a whim in a sale and when I got home and put it on my CD player I was surprised by the amount of tracks I knew on it. All of them bar their latest release, Electric Barbarella! All the tracks on the album (Latest release excluded again) are classics. From Girls on Film (The song with THAT video) to A View to a Kill, from the Bond movie of the same name to Save a Prayer. One of the few songs Duran Duran released in ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A classic- lots of tracks, no samey songs Disadvantages: No lyrics in inlay, but you should know them anyway!
Please please tell me now... there is something you should know! This album really is fantastic and every Duran Duranny should already have it, if you haven't then go out and get it .... go on.... NOW!
I'm a huge Duran Duran fan so of course I'm likely to be a little biased whilst writing this review but I'l try to be as impartial as possible for your benefit.
*The band*
----------------
Duran Duran is...
Nick Rhodes (keyboard) John ... ...Simon LeBon (vocals)
The band formed in 1978 and are currently touring for what will probably be the last time. I am very chuffed to let you all know that I saw them at Manchester on Wednesday night and there live performance is amazing. Leaping around the stage they display so much energy. They even wrote some new songs for the tour which was also nice to see.
*About the album*
-------------------------
The album was released ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...I was born in 1979, so a lot of the 80's I can vaguely remember, most of it being the late 80's however if you asked me to name several bands from the 80's I don't think I would be able to come up with many. I remember the songs however detailing the artists would be difficult and I think I would come up with a handful, the likes of Wham, Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and of course DuranDuran.
I love everything about the 80's, the cheesy pop music that was fantastic, the dress sense and DuranDuran have got to be in my opinion one of my favourite bands from the 80's and they are still going strong to this day.
The DuranDuranGreatest Hits Album has got to be one of the best albums I have ever purchased and it only cost £5 aswell. With the main songs that they have released over two decades, its a really...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: 18 Wonderful Number one Tracks from the 80's Disadvantages: None
...makes up for in content. As many of you will know from my previous reviews one of my pasions is 80's music, and the beauty with this album is that although all the tracks were number one singles, very few of them appear on other compilation albums. Although the album was particularly cheap, I don't feel cheated by the quality of the tracks on offer.
Track Listing
1. DuranDuran - The Reflex
Not the Brummie boys greatest offering (Rio, Save A Prayer and Girls on Film probably do it for me) but a decent enough track to kick start the album.
2. Midge Ure - If I Was
Midge is probably best known for his role with Bob Geldof in getting Live Aid up and running, but he was also a successful artist with Ultravox before embarking on a solo career which culminated in this huge hit. Unmistakable Glaswegian vocals.
3. Spandau Ballet...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Friendsreunited classic album for those in their thirties Disadvantages: None
...Although I was not a fan of DuranDuran when bought this tape, I soon got lost in the tones and lyrics of band that I did not realise were going to be so big....
That was then and this is now.... Blowing the dust of the old tape and finding it only last 10 miles of a 2 hr journey made me feel sad. So when arriving at the destination I headed straight for a record shop to get the CD. After much searching.... Success and I eagerly gave my credit card to boy behind the counter...
Alas my car had no CD player, I raced to Dixons to get a cheap CD player - they had none so I went to Argos....
£25.99 later I was in business.... Nope - i had not got the batteries...
Got the batteries, sat down on bench and listened to a blast from the past... I spent a whole hour on a bench listening to one of the greatest bands from 80s - Duran...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Album Notes: Personnel includes: Duran Duran; Jonathan Elias (samples). Producers include: Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Chris Kimsey, Daniel Abraham. Compilation producer: Nigel Reeve. Though '80s nostalgia was an inevitability, the truth is that some of the most influential voices of that era never went away. The members of Duran Duran had their mortgages paid off long before GREATEST was conceived, so their sincerity in releasing a best of album is not to be doubted. One listen is enough to convince the most forgetful fan that every once in a while, the musical taste of teenage girls is right on the mark. GREATEST follows the teen heartthrobs from their inspiring early days (the quintessential new wave anthem "Planet Earth," the stylish, more-than-suggestive "Girls On Film") straight through to their later work ("Electric Barbarella," a whirring, modern dance cut). In between, the classic "Hungry Like The Wolf" and the mournful "Save A Prayer" give evidence of the band's mastery of the pop form, while the Bond theme "View To A Kill" and "Notorious" trace their development during the decade with which they are inextricably linked.
Titles on disc 1
1.: Is There Something I Should Know
2.: Reflex
3.: View To A Kill
4.: Ordinary World
5.: Save A Prayer
6.: Rio
7.: Hungry Like The Wolf
8.: Girls On Film
9.: Planet Earth
10.: Union Of The Snake
11.: New Moon On Monday
12.: Wild Boys
13.: Notorious
14.: I Don't Want Your Love
15.: All She Wants Is
16.: Electric Barbarella
17.: Serious
18.: Skin Trade
19.: Come Undone
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Listed on Ciao since : 30/07/2000
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