After three years, Duran Duran returned to the studio – this time without the services of long-time guitarist Andy Taylor, who left the band last year – to create Red Carpet Massacre. Though the band had written an entire album before Taylor left, Duran Duran chose to scrap those songs and come up with a fresh slate. Regrettably, the new five-some – who are supported by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on a handful of tracks – rely too much on electronic producing this time around and create a total mess.
Nearly every song on the album uses blaring, computerized noises that obscure the sound of the band’s instruments and the vocals of Simon LeBon. While Duran Duran is famous for its particular brand of ’80s techno-pop, the band’s best work came when it was able to balance the synthesizer with traditional instruments. Regrettably, Red Carpet Massacre doesn’t follow the balanced mantra.
The album’s first single, “Nite-Runner,” enlists the services of Timbaland as a producer and Timberlake as a performer. Unfortunately, this track sounds exactly like the duo’s previous collaborations on FutureSex/LoveSounds and and leaves no room for Duran Duran anywhere on the song. As a Timbaland/Timberlake effort, the song is solid, but as a Duran Duran song, it fails significantly. The point of collaboration is to do just that – work together – not to have the guests record a song and put your name on it.
Duran Duran saved the best for last, as the album’s two closing tracks, “Dirty Great Monster” and “Last Man Standing,” are the standouts (although that doesn’t say much, given the quality of the rest of the album). Neither of the songs will be remembered as classics.
“Dirty Great Monster” is one of the only tracks on Red Carpet Massacre that doesn’t get lost in the “wonders” of machine-produced beats. Though the track isn’t great, it is refreshing to encounter instruments on the mostly computer-generated album, and the saxophone riff on the end of the track backs the indiscernibly-chanted vocals to perfection.
Closing things off is “Last Man Standing,” a song which resorts back to digital beats. But the strength of the track is LeBon’s vocals – while his nasal voice isn’t great, it is what is expected of Duran Duran. The repeated chorus of “He’s the last man standing on the track/ He does not look down, he does not look back/ He’s the last man standing on the track/ You can’t hold him down, you can’t hold him back,” is effectively catchy.
The main issue with Red Carpet Massacre is that little of it bears any resemblance to Duran Duran’s previous work. This is not a case of a band experimenting with a new musical direction – instead, this album is simply Duran Duran’s best impression of several popular bands from the current era. Fans listening to Red Carpet Massacre and looking for new material from Duran Duran that stands up to the band’s ’80s pop classics will certainly go hungry (like the wolf).
tripp@umd.edu
RATING: 2 stars out of 5
