A must for any music lover's collection!

Duran Duran is a band of epic proportions. For their pioneering video craftsmanship, their trailblazing of the New Romantic subgenre, their fururistic fashion sense, the Fab Five deserve the lifetime achievement award they recently received.



"Greatest" is a fantastic compliation of their hits, from "Planet Earth" to "Electric Barbarella". The songs sound fantastic (better, in several cases, than on their original releases), and the collection boasts a robust repretoire of New Wave gems (I admit bias - my favorite Duran tune, "I Don't Want Your Love", appears). About the only off-note is the inclusion of the vapid "Serious": there are at least four better songs on "Liberty", the album from which "Serious" is taken.



Perhaps Capitol should have replaced "Serious" with "White Lines", the superb remake from "Thank You", Duran's album of cover tunes.



But that is a very small nit-pick. Another is that "Greatest" cannot be the definitive Duran Duran compilation - they have had two albums since, the quirky "Pop Trash" and the incredible "Astronaut", ensuring at least one more "best of" album ere the end.



But "Greatest", like "Decade" before it, is well worth the purchase price.

One of the most underrated bands ever

"Duran Duran" I feel is one of the most underrated bands in history. These guys have cut two number one hits and numerous top twenty classics. Though they rely more on synthesizers and image more than many other bands, the music is still catchy and packs a punch to it. They have recently made a comeback of sorts with "Astronaunt", which itself is a pretty solid album. "Greatest" packs together all their hits from the 80's up to the mid 90's.



The CD is not ordered chronologically, but you can still tell the evolution of the band from listening to the CD. Songs like "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Girls On Film", and "Planet Earth" were helped in popularity thanks to their very creative videos that were played back in the day non-stop on MTV. More than that though, they are strong songs that'll make you dance. "A View To a Kill" was the James Bond theme from the movie with the same name starring Roger Moore in 1985. It is a very cool song and it hit number one. The other number one, "The Reflex", is also included, though personally I find the song to get annoying and I don't like it as much as the other cuts on the CD. Other cuts from the early 80's that you probably will recognize and enjoy include "New Moon on Monday", "Wild Boys", and "Is There Something I Should Know".



"Notorious" signals a transition in Duran Duran. Two of the members left the band, creating a trio. Still a strong song (sampled by the late Notorious B.I.G. in a song), it does have a different sound to it than the earlier cuts. Some of the stronger cuts in this period (the late 80's) besides "Notorious" include "I Don't Want Your Love", "Union of the Snake", and "Skin Trade".



The 90's were relatively a quiet period for Duran Duran, but two songs did hit the top 40 and make some noise on radio stations. "Ordinary World" sounds much more mature and mellow compared to the glam, synth driven songs of the 80's. Though it is different, I like the song a lot. It's a pretty reflective song and a good one to listen to if you are in a thinking mood. "Electric Barbellia", a song named after a famous villiness, is the other song from the 90's. The song is a dance hit, but sounds much more modern since there are not many synthesizers used and has a more calmer sound than their dance hits from the 80's.



If you are a casual fan of Duran Duran and don't want to spend money on all the albums, interested in seeing what Duran Duran is about, or just looking for music to add to your 80's collection, "Greatest" is a great (no pun indeeded) album to pick up. If you have gotten into Duran Duran recently with their reunion comeback (the original five together for the first time since 1985!) and want to see what their past work is like, pick up "Greatest" to hear one of the video pioneers: musicans with synth soaked beats and lots of glam to entice their image. Ah, to be young again.

Your usual "Greatest Hits" Album ...

Duran Duran have been around for over 25 years and this is your typical Greatest Hits, capturing all the tunes we know so well. Nothing special, we've heard it all before. But as with all Greatest Hits compilations, its good to have it all on one disk and its a way to sell more records.