Duran Duran
Notorious

THE REVIEW

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.