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In mid-1989 John Taylor, the charismatic bassist always balancing between rock, funk, and experimentation, realized that for the group to express its full potential, it needed to return to a five-member count. "Notorious" (1986) and "Big Thing" (1988) had forced him, Simon Le Bon, and Nick Rhodes to reduce the project to a trio. Andy Taylor, the historic guitarist, still intoxicated by the successful stint with the Power Station, only lingered in the "Notorious" project long enough to enrich the track "American Science," before passing the baton to Warren Cuccurullo, a Frank Zappa school graduate, who asked and obtained the position with a tenacity that did not go unnoticed. A smart move: the mastermind of "Ordinary World," as has become evident, is him. Drummer Roger Taylor simply raised the white flag. He went to live in the countryside, an unconscious precursor of Cutugno's famous song, to rest in the company of his first wife Giovanna. He took it easy: we'll see him again, fresh as a rose, during the 2001 reunion that will give life to "Astronaut" (2004). "Notorious" and "Big Thing" represent the highest point of the entire discography, although the echo of "Rio" tends to wash away this certainty: the sound becomes cleaner, more elaborate, sophisticated, but much of the audience doesn't appreciate it. Sales drop, only Italy seems to withstand the shockwave of dissent and continues to send the boys up, high, in the charts. John experiences it as a (half) failure. Quite rightly, because "Liberty" will sell very little; the problem wasn’t the number of members. Rather, it was necessary to give time some time. Find the right singles, look around, understand where and how the late '80s pop scene was evolving. Instead, it was decided to fully integrate Cuccurullo, who had already been playing with them steadily since 1986 both live and in studio. And on drums? After Roger's departure, they relied on Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers) who, as an inside session musician, never seriously bonded with any project. Ferrone had a free hand in "Notorious," while in "Big Thing" the veiled dance imprint of some tracks necessitated the use of synthesizers (just think of "Drug"). John thought of the "Big Thing Tour." They were accompanied by the lanky Sterling Campbell, talented enough to aspire for a place as a permanent member. John had the brilliant (sic.) idea of hosting him in his own home. Armed with good intentions but little common sense, Campbell had the habit of practicing the tracks in the middle of the night, robbing poor Taylor of sleep. And so, it happened that with "Liberty" Duran Duran didn’t take themselves seriously enough. "Notorious" and "Big Thing" were different but similar: just listen to, for instance, "A Matter Of Feeling" and "Palomino." The root is the same, in short. Pure, straightforward melody. With the "Liberty" project, however, they rocked out, strummed, gave themselves a hard tone but went completely off the rails. Going off the rails isn’t a crime, but they did it without logic. They decided to mess around, decided that the demos and sessions were a real cool thing, but the finished product got lost in the mix, and they were the first not to be satisfied with it. "Liberty" is not a bad album, quite the contrary. Some of the fans' favorite tracks make an appearance here. If you have the patience, go snooping among polls, forums, or on Facebook: "Serious" and "My Antarctica" you will always find among the must-haves, among the favorites of the hard core. Unfortunately, the album then gets lost in too many rivulets and rills. For instance: the carefree "Violence of summer," a lead single, is one thing. But then, let’s give ourselves a tone, I say. The boys outline with "Liberty" (the track), which would have deserved better airplay. Enjoyable, excellently harmonized, it flows smoothly. Some will start grimacing at "Hothead," over three minutes of samples, rap, and distorted guitars on electric fragments. The track works in part. "Serious" immediately reconciles and involves the listener, even the most inattentive: the track is melodic, never trivial, the guitar riff irresistible. But then, for heaven's sake. What is "All Along The Water" for? Why include it in a worthy track list? To ruin it? To kill the finished product? Seventeen years have passed, but I still don’t have the answer. "My Antarctica" is the missed single, the swan song of the album, the pink apostrophe. I think I made my point clear. One turns over the cassette hopeful (because I have my years, yes, and "My Antarctica" closed side A, ed.) and starts grumbling again. Oh my: if the instrumentalists know how to play, and in this Duran are second to none, one doesn’t say "what crap." But it's not enough to put notes and chords in sequence and go for it. It's not enough to capture ear and consensus. "First Impression" (Cuccurullo a couple of years later will rework it and extract the wonderful "Come Undone," ed.), "Read My Lips" (the chorus is there, it could be worked on: too bad it's only proposed twice), "Can You Deal With It" (such a cute intro), "Venice Drowning," "Downtown": all shallow tracks, where Simon searches (without ever finding) a macerated sensuality, and each of the other members seems to try to want to overshadow the companions with their own instrument. The amalgamation is never cohesive, most of the time it’s inconclusive to the point of becoming pathetic. Oh: the Japanese edition thought it wise to reward the buyer with an additional gem (so to speak), the malus...sorry, the bonus track "Yo Bad Azizi." God save us. However, fans, as we know, always have to set trends. So, in 1999, "Didn’t anybody tell you" magically appears online, the bootleg with the demos and tracks that did not find a place in the definitive edition, and is immediately labeled a masterpiece. It’s not so: simply, the sound is rough, and the intonation uncertain, just like it happens to the vast majority of bootlegs, but I assure you, no alchemy and no unfinished business. And in any case, no. Don’t make the mistake of considering "Liberty" an abortive work, to pass over it. There’s something good, and that good must be safeguarded, put in a treasure chest. Because it’s the path that leads us to redemption, and redemption means "The Wedding Album" (if I sing: "But I won't cry for yesterday…", what do you think of? Exactly). If you already have it, dust off the "Liberty". If you don’t have it, buy it. You can easily buy it, pay little for it, on various auction websites or online stores. Happy listening.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 Liberty (05:01)
(if you wanna stay with me, at your liberty
if you wanna be with me, at your liberty)
-
(ahh, ohh, do-doo)
I'll tell you something,
To let you understand the way I feel, just what you mean to me
Thank you for fine times, we nearly made it all -
The way we know, it wasn't meant to be.
You say we feel the same, there ain't no blame.. to decide
But if a little time, could change your mind, I'll be here..
And you can call me (if you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
You can hold me (if you wanna be with me) at your liberty.
(Do you, do you)
Do you remember, how lover's right for summers - even nights,
Would never seem to end,
And as December, comes stirring with that finger of desire
To feel it once again
You worry 'bout you're friends, what if they find what's going on?
But if you want to try to make it come alive, I'll be here..
And you can call me (you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
You can hold me (you wanna be with me) at your liberty.
And you can call me (you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
And you can touch me girl (you wanna run to me) at your liberty.
Help me out!
I live in doubt
Sort me out, yeaaaahhhhhhh....
-
Don't make it every night, don't wanna be the love of your life
So if you are inclined to spend a little time, I'll be here..
And you can call me (if you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
You can hold me (if you wanna be with me) at your liberty.
And you can call me (if you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
And you can touch me girl (if you wanna run to me) at your liberty.
Touch me girl, (if you wanna stay with me) at your liberty.
Help me out, (if you wanna be with me) at your liberty.
Sort me out, (if you wanna run to me), at your liberty.
Or you can set me free (if you wanna run to me), at your liberty.
(if you wanna stay with me, at your liberty).
(if you wanna be with me, at your liberty).
(if you wanna stay with me, at your liberty).
(if you wanna run to me, at your liberty).
At your liberty...
03 Hothead (03:31)
(We will continue...er...to...er...watch
This situation very closely)
Here in the shadows where we stand
Watching lady, watching man
(And it may take nature three years the experts
Say to make up for the damage done)
Greedy for pictures as they roll
We see the planet lose control
(The average credit card holder has
About $750 of revolving debt)
Hothead! evolution nonstop evolution
Hothead!
Hothead! evolution nonstop evolution
Hothead! ....... Hothead
Time, time will change the picture
(Ah it's a good sign)
About time, time will change the picture
Power to change the point of view
But what is fake and what is true
(There are charges today that a consumer product
Is torching homes and killing Americans)
Blow by blow you're telling me
You'll change the course of history
(Our television tends to come out of Hollywood
Action cars, crashes, chases)
Hothead! evolution nonstop evolution
Hothead!
Hothead! evolution nonstop evolution
Hothead! ....... hothead
Time, time will change the picture
(Ah it's a good sign)
About time, time will change the picture
I turn you on you turn me off
Right now I'm suffering from this culture shock
Spread confusion wherever you can
With shaking heads and shaking hands
Cue propoganda to manipulate
Where there's megabucks you protect the state
Let the body break and the body tumble
So you build it up, then you watch it crumble
Time will change the picture
Evolution, nonstop evolution
About time, time will change the picture
Evolution, nonstop evolution
About time, time will change the picture
Evolution, NONSTOP!
04 Serious (04:21)
Oh woman you make me feel
Like I'm on fire
Oh woman you make it real
It's the only way for me
So if we sometimes fight
Doesn't mean we got problems
Ain't always black and white
who cares anyway?
Doesn't have to be serious
Doesn't have to be serious
Serious
Doesn't have to be serious
Doesn't have to be serious
Oh baby you get so wild
MMM.. Too much understanding
Oh baby you're such a child
Full up with on love and tears and cryin'
Don't worry if you're confused
We all tend to be sometimes
The whole world is getting used
That's just the way it is...
May be right, ooh it may be wrong
Doesn't have to be serious
Being hard isn't being strong
Doesn't have to be serious
Fighting for love, fighting for pain
Doesn't have to be serious
And if you win, Oh, what do you gain?
Doesn't have to be serious
Ooh, doesn't have to be serious
Maybe right, oh but maybe wrong
Doesn't have to be serious
Fighting for love, fighting for pain
Doesn't have to be serious
And if you win, oh what do you gain?
Doesn't have to be serious
Maybe right, oh but maybe wrong
Doesn't have to be serious
Being hard, isn't being strong
06 My Antarctica (05:01)
Once I thought that I was in control
But that was just another trick of fate
Playing with my life
There have been some times
I was so tied up
And I said to myself
Gotta break it all
But didn't really try
Two hearts beating in this place you've made
You know nothing changes my Antarctica
You can make your rhymes
And paint your rules
In black and white
For me to memorize
But never understand
And there will be time
For a thousand vows
Oh a thousand promises
We forgot
To be realized
Two hearts beating in this place you've made
You know nothing changes my Antarctica
One life pumping
We make love to make our heat
And we throb in my Antarctica
We'll keep the rhythm going
And we'll remember
We'll keep the laughter flowing
And we'll remember
We let the music jangle
And we'll remember
Two hearts beating in this place you've made
You know nothing changes my Antarctica
One life pumping
We make love to make our heat
And we throb in my Antarctica
Caught and sheltered this is what you made
You know I will stay here
In Antarctica
And you
Will stay here
With me
08 Read My Lips (04:30)
(ROCK IT!)
I got something
You got nothing to lose
I could give you
So much more than you're used to
Move a little closer
Maybe we can slip away
Right now we could use a little privacy
All too much attention from your friends in here
Move a little closer
Trust me
I'm not on the make
(That's a lie)
If I could pull you over
C'mon lady, what d'you say
Get a grip
Don't resist
Read my lips
It's a trip
Ain't a risk
Read my lips
Get a grip
Don't resist
Read my--
(lips)
Part of you wanna get lucky
Part of you wanna go trade
Part of you wanna come looking
Part of you want to stay.....
(ROCK IT)
Get a grip
Don't resist
Read my lips
It's a trip
Ain't a risk
Read my lips
She's all mine...
09 Can You Deal With It (03:48)
(words and music: Duran Duran)
There must be somebody
Who'll make love to me.
Blow the rules away
And trash these yesterdays.
Live in simpathy
Use psychology.
To find the twist in me (ah-ha)
Can you deal with it?
Recent enquiry
Showed now boundry.
Loves the only way
Can you handle it?
Can you deal with it? (oowa)
Can you deal with it?
Can you deal with it? (oowa)
Can you deal with it?
Can you deal with it?
When you aint sorry? (Can you deal with it?)
For all that you appologise (Can you deal with it?)
Working up to something,
I know you're up to something...
Yeahhhh...
Can you deal with it? (somethings got to happen)
Can you deal with it? (somethings got to get me up)
Say you deal with it? (but nothing never happens)
Can you deal with it? ('cos nothings ever good enough)
Say you deal with it?
Can you deal with it? (somethings got to happen)
Can you deal with it? (somethings got to get me up)
Say you deal with it? (but nothings gonna happen)
Can you deal with it? ('cos nothings ever good enough)
Say you deal with it?
11 Downtown (05:22)
(words and music by Duran Duran)
Deliver use from evil, we go with the flow.
Here's a little secret, I think you ought to know.
Providers and abusers, they know where to go.
With Sundays refugees, from Sunday TV shows.
(Downtown!) All of the way down
(Downtown!) All of the way downtown
(Downtown!) All of the way down
(Downtown!) All of the way downtown..
Lets sink imagination, past your wildest while (All of the way downtown)
Go way delow, below, below, is it such a crime?
Ahhhh The Uptown, can't teach you how to live,
They don't have the time
'Cos where I'm gonna take you, is a state of mind.
Ahhoouu
(chorus)
You better learn to use your heart
You gotta loose your money
You better use it all up
'Cos you can't take it with you when you're going down..
You never come home babe
You never come home baby
And you'll never be alone, all of the way downtown
All of the way downtown
You never come home babe
You never come home baby
And you'll never be alone, all of the way downtown (down, down)
All of the way downtown
You never come home babe
You never come home baby
And you'll never be alone, all of the way downtown
All of the way downtown
You never come home babe
You never come home baby
And you'll never be alone, all of the way downtown...
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