Future Past is perhaps the quintessential title for Duran Duran in 2021, when the veteran New Romantics trade in their legacy while keeping their focus directly on the future. Occasionally, the gilded synthesized surfaces of Future Past recall the futurism of New Wave, but Duran Duran take pains to not re-create the past by inviting a fresh set of collaborators into the studio. Swedish pop star Tove Lo and English rapper Ivorian Doll are duet partners, Japanese pop band Chai provide a chorus cameo, while Mike Garson -- the pianist best-known for his work on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane -- graces the finale "Falling." Much of the actual vibe and sound of Future Past is due to the behind-the-scenes collaborators, specifically producer Erol Alkan and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, a pair who are responsible for co-writing and producing the lion's share of the album. Together, Duran Duran, Coxon, and Alkan craft a dense, shape-shifting tapestry that gets punctured by the guitarist's melodic squalls and the group's thick hooks. Their work orbits "Beautiful Lies" and "Tonight United," a pair of neo-disco tracks produced by Giorgio Moroder strategically placed in the middle of the album. Much of Future Past feels like modern disco, music that blurs the distance separating the club and home and that plays with genre as fluidly as it plays with technology. Duran Duran are taking some calculated risks here which sometimes means they stumble -- occasionally, the ballads feel a shade strident -- but the restlessness makes for a kinetic, exciting album.Future Past is perhaps the quintessential title for Duran Duran in 2021, when the veteran New Romantics trade in their legacy while keeping their focus directly on the future. Occasionally, the gilded synthesized surfaces of Future Past recall the futurism of New Wave, but Duran Duran take pains to not re-create the past by inviting a fresh set of collaborators into the studio. Swedish pop star Tove Lo and English rapper Ivorian Doll are duet partners, Japanese pop band Chai provide a chorus cameo, while Mike Garson -- the pianist best-known for his work on David Bowie's Aladdin Sane -- graces the finale "Falling." Much of the actual vibe and sound of Future Past is due to the behind-the-scenes collaborators, specifically producer Erol Alkan and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, a pair who are responsible for co-writing and producing the lion's share of the album. Together, Duran Duran, Coxon, and Alkan craft a dense, shape-shifting tapestry that gets punctured by the guitarist's melodic squalls and the group's thick hooks. Their work orbits "Beautiful Lies" and "Tonight United," a pair of neo-disco tracks produced by Giorgio Moroder strategically placed in the middle of the album. Much of Future Past feels like modern disco, music that blurs the distance separating the club and home and that plays with genre as fluidly as it plays with technology. Duran Duran are taking some calculated risks here which sometimes means they stumble -- occasionally, the ballads feel a shade strident -- but the restlessness makes for a kinetic, exciting album.false2023-07-15 10:38:42Future Past420212021-05-212021-05-2151ElectronicNew WavePopPop RockRockSynth-Pop11133223729576bf261f9-f18b-4ba8-92be-7afc36575f2d1a1cd7f3-e5df-4eca-bae2-2757c9e656b5da546d74-bb57-4f73-94ca-6395cf14e4b2/media/data/media5/Music/Duran Duran/Future Past (2021)/folder.jpgDuran DuranAlbumArtistDuran DuranArtistDuran DuranDuran DuranDuran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.
Emerging as members of the New Romantic scene, Duran Duran were innovators of the music video and a leading band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US in the 1980s. By 1984, the band had achieved levels of fame similar to Beatlemania. The band's first major hit was "Girls on Film" (1981), from their self-titled debut album, the popularity of which was enhanced by a controversial music video. The band's breakthrough second album was Rio (1982), a worldwide hit. The songs "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Rio" featured cinematic music videos directed by Australian film maker Russell Mulcahy and became two of their biggest hits. Their third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, became their only UK number one album and featured the US and UK number one single "The Reflex". In 1985, the band topped the US charts with the single "A View to a Kill" from the soundtrack of the James Bond film of the same title.
Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left the band before the recording of their fourth album, Notorious (1986), which yielded the top ten title track; Warren Cuccurullo replaced Andy as guitarist. The band spent the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s continuing to release albums and singles to only moderate success. Their comeback album, 1993's Duran Duran (commonly called The Wedding Album), featured two top-ten worldwide hits "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone". After John Taylor left in 1997, the band released a number of albums and singles which underperformed on the sales charts. A full reunion of the line-up of Le Bon, Rhodes and all three Taylors in 2001 led to a number of highly successful concert tours and the 2004 album Astronaut, which reached number three in the UK and top 40 in numerous other countries. The album's lead single "(Reach Up for The) Sunrise" was an international dance hit, and reached number five in the UK. Andy Taylor left again in 2006, and the band have released five additional albums, with the most recent being Danse Macabre in 2023.
According to Billboard, Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records. They achieved 30 top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart (14 of them top 10) and 21 top 40 singles in the US Billboard Hot 100. The band have won numerous awards throughout their career: two Brit Awards including the 2004 award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, two Grammy Awards, an MTV Video Music Award for Lifetime Achievement and a Video Visionary Award from the MTV Europe Music Awards. They were also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.