From its Nagel cover to the haircuts and overall design - and first and foremost the music -Rio is as representative of the eighties as it gets, at its best. 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. For the latter, consider the lush semi-tropical sway of "Save a Prayer" or the closing paranoid creep of "The Chauffeur," a descendant of Roxy Music's equally affecting dark groover "The Bogus Man." Andy Taylor's muscular riffs provide fine rock crunch throughout, Rhodes' synth wash adds perfect sheen, and Le Bon tops it off with sometimes overly cryptic lyrics that still always sound just fine in context courtesy of his strong delivery. Rio's two biggest smashes burst open the door in America for the New Romantic/synth rock crossover. "Hungry Like the Wolf" blended a tight, guitar-heavy groove with electronic production and a series of instant hooks, while the title track was even more anthemic, with a great sax break from guest Andy Hamilton adding to the soaring atmosphere. Lesser known cuts like "Lonely In Your Nightmare" and "Last Chance on the Stairway" still have pop thrills a-plenty, while "Hold Back the Rain" is the sleeper hit on Rio, an invigorating blast of feedback, keyboards and beat that doesn't let up. From start to finish, a great album that has outlasted its era.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts of the Week
-
History They originally called themselves The Reactionaries , with additional band member and singer Martin Tamburovich. According to Watt, ...
-
New ep is recorded by two good musician John Darnielle and John Vanderslice, this EP is a concept album about organ harvesting colonies on t...
-
Velvet Revolver is a rock supergroup with three former members of Guns N' Roses--Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum--with Scott Weila...
-
The Bachelor is set to be released by Universal Records on June 1. New record sounds authentic and poppier than previous Patrick Wolf albums...
-
Sin After Sin is the third album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest , released in 1977. The album was remastered in 2001, wit...
-
To say that Warner/Rhino/Sire's 2006 four-CD, one-DVD box set Pirate Radio is for the die-hard Pretenders fan may be stating the obviou...
-
These are mostly indie rock records in their own original style. What i mean is, you can find great original tracks on each of these such as...
1 COMMENTS:
01 Rio
02 My Own Way
03 Lonely In Your Nightmare
04 Hungry Like The Wolf
05 Hold Back The Rain
06 New Religion
07 Last Chance On The Stairway
08 Save A Prayer
09 The Chauffeur
Post a Comment