Duran Duran: Danse Macabre

Released October 27, 2023 by BMG
Production: Josh Blair, Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers, Mr. Hudson
Length: 50.07 min.
Genre: Pop rock / New wave

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Before I start the review, and to head off protests, bad vibes and other meltdowns, I have to explain that it’s written from the standpoint of an old-school Duran Duran fan. I was obsessed with them right up to and including the single A View to a Kill, after which Andy Taylor decided he’d had enough. After only four years. Thanks to contractual obligations he still played some guitar on the 1986 album Notorious, but it just wasn’t the same anymore.

I bought and listened to Big Thing in 1988 too, but those were no longer the Duran Duran I used to worship. And by then I’d already waded pretty deep into metal. I still quietly rooted for the boys, but I stopped listening to their albums, never mind buying them. That lasted until 2004 and Astronaut, which the now fully grown men recorded in the original The Fab 5 lineup. The old early-80s sound partly came back, and they even landed a minor hit with (Reach Up for the) Sunrise. Then Nick Rhodes (“I’m not a musician, I’m an artist and a performer”) and his airy-fairy nonsense managed to drive off the already restless Andy again, and my interest died down again with it. From that period there’s a fantastic live recording for all of us fans of the original band: Live from London.

The last proper hit for the Durans goes back to 1993 (the evergreen Ordinary World and the slightly-less-evergreen Come Undone) and the so-called The Wedding Album. After that came all sorts of albums that left a lasting positive impression neither on me nor on the world at large. But after the mid-2000s tour with the original members they’ve become a live act worth respecting again, which I’ll happily go see this summer at the Arena in Pula.

Nick said they conceived the new record as the soundtrack to a wild, dark Halloween party. Andy Taylor shows up as guitarist on a full ten tracks, and that bit of info raised my expectations for the album. Guesting on two tracks each are guitarists Warren Cuccurullo, the longtime post-Andy Taylor guitarist, Dominic Brown, who took over from Warren, and longtime friend of the band and legendary producer Nile Rodgers. Whether Andy’s guitar on most of the songs means his return to the band, only time will tell.

The harsh reality check is that 6 and a half tracks are covers of more or less well-known hits, 3 and a half are covers of old Duran Duran songs, and only three are new originals.

So what jumps out right away is that Duran Duran just won’t quit their failed attempts to win over a younger audience and stay relevant. They’ve been (unsuccessfully) doing that on the last few albums too. How else am I supposed to explain a cover of Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish? A girl listened to by post- and neo-feminists of both sexes from the trans-gender generation, who at the same time fervently despise Taylor Swift. And they don’t know, or don’t want to know, that the two ladies are just opposite sides of the same coin. Maybe Simon and the gang naively believed the fourth season of True Detective wouldn’t be such a flop (Bury a Friend is the show’s main musical theme). Who knows?

Or the guest spot by Måneskin bassist Victoria de Angelis on the Talking Heads cover Psycho Killer. Victoria contributes some tasty slap-funk bass lines, but nothing that John couldn’t play totally wasted at two in the morning …

Before I get to the music itself, let me mention that the production and sound are classic Duran Duran flawless, full of bass and percussion flourishes, Nick’s synth soundscapes, playful guitar bits and tastefully mixed Simon vocals. Simon was never an exceptional singer, but he’s managed to keep his average voice majestically average, which he proves again and again on records and stages around the world.

Let me start with the three original tracks. By far the best is the bouncy Black Moonlight, which came out as a single and a video. Stylistically it sits somewhere right after A View to a Kill, or maybe on the Astronaut album. You can’t miss the sound of Andy’s guitar, backed up by the wizardry of Nile Rodgers. The catchy chorus rounds off a track that would’ve been a hit in some other, better times.

The title track Danse Macabre features Warren Cucurullo. It’s a dark one, where Simon surprises at the start with an attempt at rapping, followed by a quirky but memorable chorus. The song somehow never really takes off and feels half-finished.

The last original is Confession in the Afterlife with Dominic Brown on guitar, which tries to revive the slower Duran stuff from the start of their career (The Chauffeur, The Seventh Stranger) but doesn’t quite pull it off. I have to admit, though, that the song gets better with every listen.

The covers of older Duran tracks, which had their titles slightly tweaked (Love Voodoo – Love Voudou), are OK, since you can’t completely screw up good songs even if you tried.

Now to the surprises of the record. The first and biggest is definitely the hugely successful cover of the The Rolling Stones classic Paint it Black. When I saw it on the tracklist, I was convinced Simon’s days were numbered, because Keith Richards would be waiting for him around the first corner and scare him to death by rattling his skeleton. But no, if Keith’s hearing still serves him well, he’s happy with what he hears. With the help of Andy’s excellent guitar and some nicely judged backing vocals, this version is even more desperately dark than the original. Yep, it’s that good.

The second gem hides in a clever weave of the original Duran track Lonely in Your Nightmare and Super Freak by Rick James (we kids of the 80s know the main musical theme from U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer and Der Komissar by the late Falco). Lonely in Your Nightmare is a forgotten gem from the album Rio, and in this bizarrely named hybrid (Super Lonely Freak) it flows flawlessly, rhythmically and melodically, into the sexually lustful Super Freak, all of it seasoned with a commanding sonic image and impeccable Simon vocals. Hats off, boys!

After repeated deep listens to the album, I’ve come to the following conclusion:

The very idea of a Halloween party with ten covers is pointless, rating 1/10.

Duran Duran as a band and as an institution … and as a religion 10/10.

The album as an album 7/10

Overall rating 8.5/10

Sweet picks: Black Moonlight, Paint it Black, Super Lonely Freak

Great warm-up for the Pula show, can’t wait!

Author: Igorac

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Track list for “Danse Macabre”:
1. Nightboat (4:23)
2. Black Moonlight (3:07)
3. Love Voudou (4:29)
4. Bury A Friend (3:05)
5. Supernature (3:45)
6. Danse Macabre (4:22)
7. Secret Oktober 31st (4:23)
8. Ghost Town (3:00)
9. Paint It Black (2:38)
10. Super Lonely Freak (4:28)
11. Spellbound (3:28)
12. Psycho Killer (4:26)
13. Confession in the Afterlife (4:34)

Duran Duran
Simon Le Bon – vocals, production
Nick Rhodes – keyboards, production
John Taylor – bass, production; guitar (6)
Roger Taylor – drums, production

Guest musicians:
Andy Taylor – guitar (1–2, 4–5, 7–12)
Anna Ross – backing vocals
Rachael O’Connor – backing vocals
Joshua Blair – percussion (1–7, 9–12), strings (1, 3, 4, 7, 12, 13), guitar (4), piano (9, 13), synthesizer (10)
Nile Rodgers – guitar (2, 5)
Nate Merchant – bass, drum programming, programming (3–12)
Warren Cuccurullo – guitar (3, 6)
Alexandra AStama – backing vocals (3)
Mr Hudson – loops (6), guitar (13)
Simon Willescroft – saxophone (8, 10)
Johnny Thirkell – trumpet (8)
Dominic Brown – guitar (12, 13)
Victoria De Angelis – bass (12)

Technical crew:
Joshua Blair – production, engineering
Nile Rodgers – production (2)
Mr Hudson – production (6, 13)
Bob Clearmountain – mixing
John Webber – engineering
Andy Taylor – engineering (1, 2, 5–12)
Richard Woodcraft – engineering (1, 12)
Ed Farrell – engineering (2, 3, 5–13)
Billy Halliday – engineering (3, 5, 7–12)
John X. Volaitis – engineering (3, 6)
Russell Graham – engineering (5)
Phil Kemp – technician (1, 2, 5, 12, 13)
Kevin Bell – technician (2, 5, 8–13)