
Superb!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I seem to remember when this album came out in 1995 it was pretty much universally panned. Most of the reviews I read described it as a 'brave, but stupid' follow up to 1993s 'Wedding Album', speculating that maybe there was a lack of creativity within the band at the time and that they were 'copping out' of releasing an album of new material for fear of failure.
Don't believe a word of it! I bought the album originally because I heard that there was a good version of Led Zeppelin's 'Thank You' to be heard, I didn't really care about the rest of the album... What I heard amazed me. Every song is a winner, every cover version superbly executed and slightly different to the original. The Doors' 'Crystal Ship' is slightly reworked, as are versions of 'Lay Lady Lay' by Dylan and 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello. Even more surprising is the cover of 'White Lines', featuring Grandmaster Flash himself which even I doubted could be performed by Duran Duran with any credability whatsoever.
I really can't fault this album. It's as good as perfect. Lou Reed commented that Duran Duran's version of his 'Perfect Day' was the best cover version of one of his tracks he had ever heard - I think it's actually the best cover version OF ALL TIME. Forget the celebrity version the BBC recorded a few years ago, this was recorded first and beats the hell out of it.
And that sums it up: Read the tracklisting and dismiss it as rubbish. Then actually listen to it and EAT YOUR WORDS. Because you will.
Brilliant.
Review ID: 10000000002495175

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