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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Just A Few Songs Short Of The Perfect Comeback Aug 08, 2010
Even though they had a sound that many had endelibly stamped at a certain date and time Duran Duran had spent so many years sailing through adult contemporary and alternative rock waters during the 90's that in the post 9/11 world it became more than apparent how vital and timeless their original sound had been. Now not to trample on a whole decade but the 1990's had periods of almost extreme musical arrogence,where people deeply involved in alternative/grunge style rock or hip-hop/R&B conmbinations seemed to be under the impression they were making the greatest pop music ever. Truth is of course,as with anyone at anytime sometimes they succeeded and a lot of times they made total fools of themselves. This band kept on coasting along,hitting or missing depending on what they were doing until the post Y2K years started to see a major revisiting of early/mid 80's new wave dance/funk revival. Sure there was more modern technology that was acknowledged but it more or less spelled an end to the scathing anti 80's musical sentiment that kept Duran Duran from making any significant comeback in the previous decade. This album has been described as something of a return to their classic sound. Despite the very welcomed return of guitarist Andy Taylor no one is probably going to mistake this for Rio or anything like that because the production has plenty of modern house and hi NRG touches to it,themselves styles inspired by the 80's. One thing that can be said is that the majority of this music is based in funk such as on "(Reach Up For) The Sunrise","What Happens Tomorrow","Nice" and "Finest Hour" so,that being a slower genre by nature those dance style production touches wind up being more decorative than any type of rhythmic base. "Want You More!" is furiously fast polyrhythmic dance groove with some strong electro-funk style drumming. It's just about the ideal in terms of a major Duran Duran comeback. "Bedroom Eyes" is another major standout out,a sharply arranged and sexy sophistifunk tune of a type you very seldom here even today. The latter end of the album feature more droning songs that are a lot more heavily guitar/alt rock oriented such as "Chains" and "Still Breathing". They still have those sleek rhythms this bands' slower tunes had in their heyday but the dirty,unclean guitar riffs kind of take a tad of the funk out of the sound so that's the reason why I deduct a star from this-soley on the basis of a funky sound but if your into alternative rock more these songs actually do just fine for what they are. The spastic title song and the poppy "Taste Of Summer" go for a good happy medium with what I'd call an alternative funk style,somewhat in the vein of Beck in a lot of ways where the guitar and rhythm lines are raw but still very clean. This is definately a comeback based on transition and happily this wouldn't be the end of it. It has it's occasion flaws and lack of focus here and again but when it's good (which it is most of the time) it's on a par with the bands best material and is highly recommended.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 What took me so long? May 26, 2010
I can't believe I, a dedicated DD fan since 1981(I was *ahem* barely out of the womb), took so long to get this album. It's brilliant! I was always a tad suspect of my boys after the original 5 split. Sure they've put out some great tracks in the intervening years, but nothing to get me all fan-girly again. I've been listening to my old DD/Rio/Tiger albums ad-nauseum and wishing for something new...and here it's been right under my nose all this time.
This is the fab five at their absolute best - Astronaught is pure Duran Duran with no hint of or influence from anyone else (yeah I'm lookin' at you Messrs. Timbabore and Timberlame).
As has been said before, Simon's voice is as good as ever, and wonderfully sweet and haunting on tracks like Still Breathing (my fave on the album). Nick, Andy and Roger? You wouldn't think they'd been playing apart for almost ten years. And John Taylor? What can one say about the Bass God? He IS genius.
In the words of dear old Molly Meldrum (Aussie inside joke), 'do yourselves a favour' and BUY THIS ALBUM!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Still Fantastic! Aug 26, 2009
The high standard of this album really surprised me since many great groups of a previous era fail to recapture the vibrancy of their heyday. Duran Duran have managed to do just this! Listening to this album several times over, I discovered how well polished the overall product just is. It is completely contemporary with a sound of today without being simply a rehash of the 80s. If you had been or are a fan, this album is a must have.
J.S.(New York)
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Back to writing top level pop songs! Aug 01, 2008
When I first picked up this disc I was so glad they ditched the Medazzalnd/Pop Trash style and got back to doing what Duran Duran does better than anybody.....writing top notch melodic pop songs. All 12 songs on this disc are solid....Astronaut is my least favorite. Favorite songs are Want you more,Nice,Still breathing, & Point of no return. This one is on the level of Rio & The Wedding Album!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Welcome back!!! Jul 28, 2008
Not as strong and forceful as many other Duran Duran recordings, this could be easily remembered for being one of the decade's most expected comebacks -keeping in mind that it sets the reunition of the original Duran Duran lineup, after more than 20 years of sepparate careers-, rather than for the actual musical content...
But, however, that would be a very simple and unfair approach to this album as it contains some geuine gems worth to be appreciated, not only by true fans but by everybody as well. It's not and probably it won't become a classic album, but it's still much more than Medazzaland and Pop Trash though.
Sound is definitely not evocating the new-wave bizzare-hairdos synth/pop music style that made them famous during the 80's, but it still keeps most of the DD's signature, with some spice on the guitars and a mature voice production.
Maybe listener can feel there's a little too much work here on trying to make a hit single out from some tunes, which brings down my rating from 5 to 4 stars.
However, the album as a whole deserves a positive remark as it adds up some missing talent and strong background in not-really-good times for pop music.
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