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Rating:
In every band, there is an antagonist. A troublemaker. When everything is going (so to speak) well, they bring tantrums to unleash their popular musical ego. The tantrums can be: let's change genre, I want to leave, I want to be number one, I can't stand so-and-so anymore, and so on. In Duran Duran, the ultimate antagonist has always been Andy Taylor. An anarchic hothead, a rough guitarist but not very eager, he has pursued a personality over the centuries that, when integrated with the band, made sense. Transferred to a solo context, no. Or, maybe.
The fact is that after placing the flag on the roof of the world with three studio albums and the live "Arena", after allowing the group parallel moments with Arcadia's Lebon, Rhodes, Roger Taylor (more of a stage presence, really) and Power Station's John Taylor, Andy Taylor, Robert Palmer, and Tony Thompson of Chic (RIP), part of the core wanted to start anew in the blessed year of 1986. Roger immediately withdrew: no polemic vein, he was simply tired. Exhausted. We'll find him again in 2001 during the big reunion. Andy, on the other hand, didn't officially withdraw. He went underground. In fact, he joined Missing Persons to take the guitarist's place from Warren Cuccurullo (attention, because he will make the reverse journey, proving to be beneficial for the band; "Ordinary World" is his work, by the way) and to indulge in the desire for a more heavy sound.
Left as a trio, Simon, Nick, and John tried to convince their companion first with a gentle approach (placing "We Need You", essentially a small gem of sweetness, as the B-side of "Notorious", the first single released). Nothing doing. So they switched to a hard approach: buddy, we'll sue you. Contractual obligations.
So, Andy, unwilling and with his mind elsewhere, showed up to color here and there "American Science" and "A Matter Of Feeling". But, needless to say, a good part of both rhythmic and solo work was done by Cuccurullo and Rodgers themselves.
Stop right now from tuning "No-no notorious", in a cheesy cadence, because that paninaro-infused interlude condemned the album. A solid, balanced album that is well beyond the "No-no". In "Notorious", an album with Hitchcockian traits ("Notorious", "Vertigo" and "Hold Me" initially baptized "Rope" note) there's both good and beautiful. There's personality, an excessive use of equipment, a brass section worthy of the name, a guitarist who's still too humble but tenacious, funk, pop, delicacy, creativity, power.
In "Notorious" there is maturity, and not even thinly veiled, no. Little girls? "American Science" and "Skin Trade" as well as "Hold Me" have no seductive purposes. And if sweetness and depth shoulder each other in "A Matter Of Feeling" and "Winter Marches On", the title track, "Vertigo", and the already mentioned "Skin Trade" give a clear sign of composure, practical sense, exhilaration. This doesn't mean there are never slip-ups. "So Misled" and "Proposition" are negligible, forced the first, superficial and airy the second. Better "Meet El Presidente", which is still much preferable in the remix version that generated the single, third extracted.
Simon's voice, as we know, is muffled and made plausible in the studio, because live, we weren't there yet, no. But the support is magnificent: the guys play well, they go all in, they spare neither core nor detail: the sound is clean, at times niche. For anyone who has the desire and time and isn't prone to prejudice, "Notorious" might end up pleasing you, and a lot. To be the definitive album, in the Duran Duran corollary. It sold less than its predecessors precisely for this reason: hysteria was giving way to reason, to consciousness. Who are we? Where are we going? What are we doing?
To the eyes of the writer, "Notorious" and its successor "Big Thing", eclipse the entire discography. And, allow me, perhaps those who cause trouble don't always provide positive input in studio work. In Andy's case, certainly not. Even though, let's give him credit, in 2006, after the demos of the never-released "Reportage", where under his guidance, things took a harder approach, our guy was prophetic when he left the project. A project that was unwisely put in the hands of Timberlake and Timbaland and became "Red Carpet Massacre". "Watch out, you're about to make a mess, I'm leaving again." He was right.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Notorious (04:18)
No-no-Notorious. Notorious. Ah. No-no-Notorious
I can't read about it
Burns the skin from your eyes
I'll do fine without it
Here's one you don't compromise
Lies come hard in disguise
They need to fight it out
Not wild about it
Lay your seedy judgements
Who says they're part of our lives?
You own the money
You control the witness
I'll leave you lonely
Don't monkey with my business
You pay the prophets to justify your reasons
I heard your promise, but I don't believe it
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
Girls will keep the secrets (uh)
So long as boys make a noise
Fools run rings to break up
Something they'll never destroy
Grand Notorious slam (bam)
And who really gives a damn for a flaky bandit?
Don't ask me to bleed about it
I need this blood to survive
You own the money
You control the witness
I'll leave you lonely
Don't monkey with my business
You pay the prophets to justify your reasons
I heard your promise, but I don't believe it
That's why I've done it again.
No-no-Notorious
You own the money
You control the witness
I'll leave you lonely
Don't monkey with my business
You pay the prophets to justify your reasons
I heard your promise, but I don't believe it
You own the money
You control the witness
I'll leave you lonely
Don't monkey with my business
You pay the prophets to justify your reasons
I heard your promise, but I don't believe it
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
That's why I've done it again. No. No
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
No-no-Notorious. Yeah
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
No-no-Notorious. Yeah
That's why I've done it again. No-no-Notorious
No-no-Notorious
02 American Science (04:43)
It's a little bit late now
But there is times you will
Get a little bit out of hand
Making all of a spill
And if we can lay this down
You're going all the way
Take a look and I'll check it out
Cuz I can always find it
Such a lonely Place...Ooooh
This room without your face...Ooooh
Ooooooh...American Science
All night long
She can two-step and sway
Ooooooh...it's such poor manners
Don't keep me waiting
Come lay down beside me
A little megalomania
Becomes you evidently
There ain't a thing you can't acquire
With your cling-wrap plaything
Just look at this state
I crawl around in a daze
Like symptomatic case
Of your soul persuasion
Such a lonely Place...Ooooh
It moves me into place...Ooooh
Ooooooh...American Science
All night long
She can two-step and sway
Ooooooh...it's such poor manners
Don't keep me waiting
Come lay down beside me
Such a lonely Place...Ooooh
It moves me into place...Ooooh
Ooooooh...American Science
All night long
She can two-step and sway
Ooooooh...it's such poor manners
Don't keep me waiting
Come lay down beside me
03 Skin Trade (05:57)
Working on the weekend, baby
She's working all through the night
A jump into the deep end gave her
the evidence she required
Takes five; she's got pearls
Don't fake it when it comes to making money
So she smiles. But that's cruel
If you know what she thinks
If you knew what she was after
Sometimes she wonders,
And she laughs in her frustration
Doctors of the revolution gave us
the medicine we desired
Besides being absolutely painless
It's a question of compromise
They got steel.
So cool to get angry at the weekend
and go back to school
So big deal; it's what rules
When it comes to making money,
Say yes, please; thank you
Sometimes you wonder, and ask yourself the question
Would someone please explain
The reason for this strange behaviour
In exploitation's name
We must be working for the Skin Trade
I know the answer, but I'm asking you the question.
Would someone please explain
The reason for this strange behaviour
In exploitation's name
We must be working for the Skin Trade
06 Vertigo (Do the Demolition) (04:44)
Hey guys, turn it up to get sleazy
Twist it in a vice
Nobody said it was easy
Just use your naked eyes, oh
How to see and how to hide it
How to save it. Well, maybe. Maybe. Maybe
You can take it and eat it, and chew your life supply
Where's the real life in your illusion?
On the dark side your power's in confusion
Do the dance. Do the demolition
And lose the chance to hear when you don't listen
Don't you feel edgy?
Bite your lips and bleed
Conversation is empty
Abandoned in the freeze
Freedom is your condemnation
Free to say well, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe
You can take it or leave it
Just need a little hit tonight
Where's the real life in your illusion?
On the dark of power in confusion
Do the dance. Do the demolition
Don't lose the chance to hear 'cause you don't listen
Maybe. Maybe. Maybe you can try to believe it
Just need a little help tonight
Where's the real life in your illusion?
On the dark side of power in confusion
Do the dance. Do the demolition
And lose the chance to hear when you don't listen
Where's the real life in your illusion?
On the dark side of power in confusion
Do the dance. Do the demolition
And lose the chance to hear when you don't listen
Repeat for FADE:
Hear it when you listen
You don't hear when you don't listen
07 So Misled (04:03)
I,.......So Misled
In the summer of a London life
"Gold," she said, was a month before I
Realised sold instead
Babe, it's such an awful choice
Don't break my back
Take it easy, now you whipping boy
Don't wanna feel the crack
Trust my head to say lose it
Now my body's got to use it
I should not be So Misled
I should not be So Misled
Saw an advert in a magazine
Safe it said, with the satisfaction
Guaranteed to cool your head
I can't see the solution
To this state of confusion
I should not be So Misled
I should not be So Misled
I should not be So Misled
I should not be So Misled
08 "Meet El Presidente" (04:19)
Yeehh
Yeehh (yehh)... Mmm
Yeehh (yehh)... Mmm
Miss November Tuesday, bend your rubber rules
Take your time but don't take off your high heel shoes
She's in demand at dinner time, (she's in demand)
She's on the factory wall (pin-up on a factory wall)
And when the gentlemen retire (when they retire)
Guess who's in control? (control)
She blew your money on taking a cruise
If that isn't funny well, watch out teacher...
ohh ohh, when the chamber's empty.. she said,
"ohh, ohh, meet el Presidente"
Dress in flimsy clothing,
Use your lipstick line
To cover fear and loathing
With a pink disguise
You never refuse when she lies back -
Put a stripe on the union, and a star on the jack
She's on the case at dinner time (at dinner time)
She's on the evening news (seen her on the evening news)
And if you dare, step out of line (step out of line)
You're going to be abused.
You may not like it, you may not be scared,
But hell has no fury like a young girl's ego
(chorus)
-
(oooh, ooohh , dooo dooo)
(oooh, ooohh , dooo dooo)
(oooh, ooohh , dooo dooo)
You might adopt an attitude, (attitude)
Look on the moral side (lookin' on the moral side)
But if police are after you, (after you)
Where's the best place to hide? (hide)
For this production, they gave her a gun...
Ain't no director, so watch out actors!
(chorus) (chorus)
ohh, ohh, meet el Presidente
ohh, ohh, meet el Presidente
ohh, ohh!
09 Winter Marches On (03:25)
The trade's on
She drains emotion
To drink from her breast of fortune
Dreams have frozen crystal in the morning
Birth time rose
A thorn for coronation
All arise from your rest
We will find enough there to feed you
Soon you'll belong to the blest
Spare us your lives while we need you
Loud is the music the crowd is bringing
Out of my head as the winter marches on
Loud is the music. The sky is ringing
Out of my head as the winter marches on
Loud is the music the crowd is bringing
Out of my head as the winter marches on
Loud is the music. The sky is ringing
Out of my head as the winter marches on
And on
Winter marches on
10 Proposition (04:57)
"Bring back that child," she said.
Spare me the price of freedom.
Cold is my baby's head,
Blown by the wind of reason.
Even the rage behind
Cries out to see
We're still standing
Under the closing edge.
Pay for the crime of feeling.
When all your pride is dead
You must be scared instead.
[CHORUS]
A quiet word is my Proposition.
A promise made of a fierce day.
A body bleeds for this coalition.
Without surrender if you stay.
"Show me my youth," she cried.
Wasted for desolation.
Hold up the sacrifice.
Pull down your institution.
Resting while anger flies.
Question's the same.
Who's deciding after the clouds have lain.
Shame on your generation.
When all your guilt lies dead
You must be scared instead.
[CHORUS]
When all your pain lies dead
You must be scared instead.
[CHORUS (Repeating for FADE. Vocal ad lib.)]
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By Filo96
Notorious is an album out of space and time, precious and homogeneous, which made elegance its hallmark.
Listening to it gives the impression of sipping a good cocktail, catapulted into its elegant atmosphere right from the cover.
