This triple box features all 13 singles released during their first four years including seven inch single mixes, extended mixes and b-sides. Features the hits 'Rio', 'Hungry Like The Wolf', 'The Wild Boys', 'Girls On Film', 'Save A Prayer', 'Is There Something I Should Know', 'The Reflex' and many more. Even if you already own 'Decade' or 'Greatest' this compilation is still worth getting, since it contains so many great remixed/extended versions of classic Duran tracks. I particularly like the 'night versions' (shouldn't that be 'nite versions'?) of the 'Duran Duran' and 'Rio' singles, which I much prefer to the 'dance mixes' of the later singles (I'm sure I read somewhere that in the early days, the band would actually re-record the extended versions of their singles from scratch).
Duran Duran personified new wave for much of the mainstream audience. And for good reason. Duran Duran's reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their fashion-model looks and glamorous sense of style. Without music videos, it's likely that their pop-funk – described by the group as the Sex Pistols-meet-Chic – would never have made them international pop stars…
From its Nagel cover to the haircuts and overall design – and first and foremost the music – Rio is as representative of the '80s at its best as it gets. The original Duran Duran's high point, and just as likely the band's as a whole, its fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever. The quintet integrates its sound near-perfectly throughout, the John and Roger Taylor rhythm section providing both driving propulsion and subtle pacing.
The Power Station is the debut album by the supergroup The Power Station, released in 1985 on Capitol Records. The album peaked at no. 6 on the US Billboard 200 and no. 12 on the UK Albums Chart. All three singles released from the album were Top 40 hits in the United States. An anniversary edition was released 21 February 2005, featuring 7 bonus tracks, as well as a 35-minute DVD. The Power Station was a supergroup formed by Robert Palmer, Tony Thompson (of Chic) and Andy and John Taylor from Duran Duran. They came together in 1984 to record a one-off album, as a respite from the relentless global touring and promotion of Duran Duran. The original plan for this one-album project was for the three musicians (Taylor, Taylor and Thompson) to provide musical continuity to an album full of material, with a different singer performing on each track.
Duran Duran came back out of nowhere in early 1993 with a new album and a huge hit, "Ordinary World." The group sounds more relaxed and mature than it did during their glory days, but not all that much has changed; instead of personifying the days of early-'80s synthesized dance-pop, the music is smooth dance pop for the '90s. Taken on its own terms, Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) works every bit as well as Duran Duran, Rio, or Seven and the Ragged Tiger. "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" are wonderful pop singles that sit between some passable album tracks and the occasional embarrassment, namely the wretched cover of the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." In other words, Duran Duran are back and as good as they ever were.