Rio - Duran Duran

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To me Rio is the best ever Duran Duran album, every song on this is a masterpiece and sounds as fresh as it did when it was made and released in 1982.
The song "Rio" became a number one hit straight away after it's release and it proved that even though the band had only been going for a year they were well established and had thousands of fans.
"Rio" really did have it all and the band brought out their ...
...the cover but without the Rio title. I thought that this worked well for the disk, eye catching and easy going.
The little booklet inside has all the lyrics to every song from the album here along with a few pictures of the band that I thought was a good touch, I seem to remember them having something similar in their record album of the time (I think)
As this was recorded a while ago I thought the sound transfer was done very well ... more

I am reviewing Duran Duran's CD RIO

A few people have already reviewed this album, but as I have all of Duran Durans albums I will be doing a few of them on here and it's now time to review my favourite one ……

To me Rio is the best ever Duran Duran album, every song on this is a masterpiece and sounds as fresh as it did when it was made and released in 1982.
The song "Rio" became a number one hit straight away after it's release and it proved that even though the band had only been going for a year they were well established and had thousands of fans.
"Rio" really did have it all and the band brought out their best album ever in their history and making it one of the most successful albums in history.
The other songs released from this album were, "Hungry like the Wolf" and "My own way" at that particular time.

Simon Le Bonn commenting on this album said "It's more developed and more consistent from the previous one"

Also at this time the new romantic scene was coming into force thanks to the group, as I'm sure a few of you will remember out there ….

Most of the songs on here you will remember but there maybe a couple you have not have heard of very well, all depends if you are a Duran Duran fan or not.
This album has nine songs on which was quite common at the time and it was not before "Notorious" 1986 and "Liberty"1990 that the album songs consisted of 10 or more songs on.
This CD also has three music videos on, "Rio" "Hungry like the wolf" and "Save a prayer" and has weblinks to the site.

The sleeve and booklet from this album has every songs lyrics on and well worth to take a look at.
The cover and the CD itself is a very good one and highly recognisable.
You can pick up this album quite cheap now from the net and some shops, as this is the best know Duran Duran album a lot of places will stock it and it is still a high seller all these years later.

The songs on this album are

1 Rio
This was one of their greatest ever hits, with a vibrant video to accompany this marvelous track it captured Duran Duran at their peak. The song is a good fast paced tune, catchy lyrics and was a top ten hit in 1982.

2 My own way (May '81)
A medium to fast paced song, and it is not very lengthy as it doesn't have that many lyrics written into it. This still has a catchy tune and is a very good song and I think the best instrumentals accompanying the song to make it work very well.

3 Lonely in your nightmare
The good thing about this song is that is has the lyrics and rythum to be in any era of the bands as it seems timeless. The lyrics could have been written in todays standards as they were so good then. This is a song you will listen to a few times to catch the lyrics.

4 Hungry like the wolf
A tune that most people have heard as it is now one of their most known songs. A good fast paced track with a catchy chorus. This was another one of their top ten hits in the 80's and has a very good video made for this track.

5 Hold back the rain (19th March '82)
A fast paced song with fast intro from the band, very catchy tune. Another good well written lyrics In this one. This was another one of their well known hits from this album and done very well in the charts at the time.

6 New religion (27th August '80)
Slow instrumental start to this one, then building up to a faster track. Very 80's style tempo with the instrumentals in this one along with the lyrics. This is a classic example of the band in their prime.

7 Last chance on the stairway
This is quite a fast upbeat track with quite a good story thought about when these lyrics were written. This is another catchy tune and one that will stick in your head for a few days after you have played it.

8 Save a prayer
This is a very well know track and has a slow beat to it. The lyrics are very well though out and work very well within the time limits of the song. This was also in the Top ten of the charts and done very well as another of the bands greatest hits.

9 The Chauffeur (1978)
One of the bands most underrated songs. This is no doubt one of the bands best and oldest songs written by them. This had a lot of imagination written into this song with the pace at a sort of medium rythum, starting off slow, picking up, and varying throughout the song.

(in brackets are a mixture of recording dates, and release dates with the exception of The Chauffeur)

My all time favourite songs on this album are "The Chauffeur" which is not a very well heard of one but the song has great lyrics and the music video to this is very different to their previous ones.
"Hold back the rain" is another one of my favourites as it's fast paced all the way through and the tune is really very catchy.
"Rio" for obvious reasons
"Save a Prayer" means a lot as this is a nice slow paced one that you never get tired of hearing or having a nice slow dance to.

The Chauffeur was the bands oldest song ever written bust did not get put on the first album or even recorded until four years later as the band wanted to get established before releasing this one. I don't think this one became a number one hit as it was not too fast paced enough for this one in the early '80's.

Duran Duran are :

Simon Le Bon
Nick Rhodes
John Taylor
Roger Taylor
Andy Taylor

Also on this CD are three music video's "Rio" "Hungey like the wolf" and "Save a prayer"
All of these videos have been remastered to put on this CD and have good picture quality for the age of them now. They all run at the normal time and are not specially extended videos but the ones that were released to go onto Top of the Pops and other music shows when they were released.

There are also weblinks to the Duran Duran site along with memorabilia you can buy online.

What I thought :

The first thing that caught my eye is the design on the CD, I knew what it looked like before but it is a good eye caching design of a woman on a pink/reddish background, also the fact that it states that it has three music videos on as well !
The disk itself is a good design, the same as the cover but without the Rio title. I thought that this worked well for the disk, eye catching and easy going.
The little booklet inside has all the lyrics to every song from the album here along with a few pictures of the band that I thought was a good touch, I seem to remember them having something similar in their record album of the time (I think)
As this was recorded a while ago I thought the sound transfer was done very well and sounds like how their most recent releases are made.

With the songs I remembered every single one of them and it was good to hear these great tunes again.
I found that even thought there are only nine songs on this album every single one of them has great lyrics, thought out tunes, and to me one of their very best albums ever made.

My favourite songs on here are Rio, as I have great memories of this song growing up and remember this in the school disco's. I like it because it is a very catchy tune, upbeat, and a song you can easily sing along to !
The Chauffeur is another of my favourites. Even though it might not be one of their well know songs it has it's own quality, not too fast and not too slow this beat is just the right pace to how the lyrics were meant to fit. This is also their oldest song written but you can't really tell as I think this is a timeless classic.

There were not any songs I never liked on this album as every song meant something to me on here, being a fan of the group anyway ever since I saw them on Top of the Pops in 1981 I think this album has some of their best ever work on it.

I also thought that the videos were very well cleaned up from their first appearance and you can still feel that 80's style all the way through all three videos.

If you are a fan of Duran Duran then you probably have this album anyway, but if you haven't heard of it or not around in the 80's then do give it a go, you won't be disappointed. 

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