Duran Duran
Astronaut

THE REVIEW

When memories of the good old days resurface in an era where quality pop has been flushed down the toilet by MTV and the likes, it’s nice to see the original line-up of Duran Duran make a comeback. They do so with a stylish album, "Astronaut", that revisits their entire '80s production in an updated fashion, with the modernization of sounds by Nick Rhodes (the group’s keyboardist), thanks to the assistance of two high-profile producers such as Rich Harrison (Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blidge) and Don Gilmore (Pearl Jam, Linkin Park), allowing the group to catapult into the third millennium.

Let’s say it straight away, the reunion of the original formation has allowed the band to regain that fascinating rhythmic groove created by the hands of John and Roger Taylor, lost in previous albums, while keeping intact the hedonistic atmospheres embedded on a minimal electronic backdrop. The album opens with the single "(Reach for the) Sunrise", an immediate throwback to their self-titled debut with an impact reminiscent of "Planet Earth". The album never really takes off and the tracks almost anonymously slide past our memory, but if we assign it the less demanding task of simple accompaniment, with no artistic pretensions, "Astronaut" with its funky riffs, choruses, foreground bass lines, and synthetic intros, fulfills its purpose: to immerse us in those years, still alive in collective memory, thanks also to the contribution of Interpol and company. Now I hope that the over-thirty-year-olds, teenagers of the eighties, get caught up in a new collective hysteria, and that someone takes the responsibility to write a new book with the emblematic title "I’ll Grow Old with Simon Le Bon". It would be a nice way to spend the winter.