A band in crisis

Duran Duran came into the 90's reeling, their last 2 cd's (Notorious & Big Thing) had bombed. Worse, the tour to support Big Thing had been a disaster! Were once there had been screaming young ladies at ever gig, now there empty seats. Wisely perhaps they decided not to tour the Liberty session. That they were still making a go of it was credit to the determination to be as popular as before, if not their output!



Clearly Liberty was not a CD to bring back any fans that had fallen by the wayside! Having permanently recruited Sterling Campbell and Warren Cuccurullo to replace Roger and Andy they tried to make a more upbeat album with the help of Chris Kimsey.



Liberty (the title track) sounds polished and promises much for the rest of the album but that's were the interest dies! My Antartica catches the ear with some Jean Michelle Jarre...esque keyboards but everywhere the pace is lethargic and the production is sloppy! All Along the Water, First Impression and Can You Deal With It sound like a band trying to be INXS and ending up sounding like Richard Marx!



At least before Duran could be relied on a few catchy singles, now even this magic touch had deserted them. This did not bode well for the rest of the 90's ........

A very undrrated album from the Fab Five

"Liberty", Duran Duran's follow-up to the successful comeback CD "Big Thing", was the lowest-selling Duran Duran album of all time (until 2000's Pop Trash). It was basically ignored when it appeared, and there were no significant hits off of it.



The album however, is fantastic, containing four very strong tracks (among the group's best ever) and another song, Serious, that I can't quite make up my mind about.



"Violence of Summer" kicks off the disc, a great piece of light, synth-heavy pop. "Liberty" is funky and has a great horn section. "All Along The Water" and "My Antarctica" are the highlights of the album. The former is a fantastic, hyperkinetic groove with a few lyrics repeated to great effect. "My Antarctica" is a plaintive allegory for a loveless relationship (I think - nothing is ever 100% certain with Simon Le Bon's cryptic lyrics).



With Duran Duran making yet another successful comeback in 2004 with "Astronaut", it's as good a time as any to revisit this classic of the early 90s. Liberty got a bad rap when it made its debut back then, but time (and new, unbiased listening by critics) has been very kind.



Well worth the (low) cost!

Un Liberated

While certainly not the worst album in the Duran Duran library ("Pop Trash" and "Arena" can fight for that title), "Liberty" found the three remaining Durannies (Lebon, Rhodes and John Taylor) picking up Missing Person Warren Cuccurullo and Sterling Campbell and trying to forge ahead into the 90's with mixed results. The deceptively catchy "Violence Of Summer" laid strong expectations for "Liberty." It surfs atop a frothy keyboard hook and danceable beat, and sounds like you'd expect a Duran Duran single to sound.



Unfortunately, the remaining songs struggle. Only "Serious" and "My Antarctica" manage to give any sense of band image. The rest of the CD limps along as the band searches itself for an identity. Ridiculous rock guitar solos mangle songs like "First Impression." Even the found sound clips that pop in during "Hothead" give the impression of desperate attempts to sound relevant.



The album's title is ultimately its greatest irony. By trying to make themselves sound like they had something important to say musically in a new decade, Duran Duran unnecessarily restrained themselves. "Liberty" is the sound of a band trying as hard as they could to conform to something they weren't. Fortunately, the "Wedding Album" eventually found Simon and company perfectly happy to live in the "Ordinary World." So get "Liberty" for one reason only. Thus far, the commercial catastrophe that this album dealt the band has left the still wonderful "Violence Of Summer" off any of the best of compilations. Otherwise, there are better DD albums available.