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Album Review: Duran Duran, the Wedding Album (1993)

Duran Duran

The Wedding Album, released 3 years after the ill-received Liberty was a turning point for the entity known as Duran Duran. Officially a second self-titled album (the first Duran Duran was their debut released in 1981), the body of work affectionately known as The Wedding Album helped pull Duran Duran out of a dated rut and paved the way for success in the 1990’s and beyond.

Duran Duran had gone through some lineup changes and at this point, consisted of Simon LeBon on vocals, Nick Rhodes on keyboards, John Taylor on bass guitar and Warren Cuccurullo on guitar.

The cover art of Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) is actually wedding photographs of band members’ parents. This was done to differentiate between the first self-titled effort and the second.

There are 13 tracks on this album, starting with Too Much Information. Instantly you can hear the growth and modernization from Duran Duran’s previous work. Clean drums and bass run together smoothly in this dance-influenced tune. Listening to the lyrics it’s clear Simon isn’t saying, “it’s good to be back…” he’s saying “It’s good to be back DESPITE everything.” An upbeat tune that’s easy to get into.

The second track, Ordinary World, is a rather emotional ballad still maintaining a dance influence. The hook is fantastic and the vocals are almost haunting at times. This song would go on to be the albums first single, winning an Ivor Novello Award and reaching number 3 on US charts and number 6 in the UK. The song is very moving and quite memorable.

Coming in third is the sexy club-style Love Voodoo. I think this song fit perfectly into its era with nice amounts of bass and a beat you can’t resist tapping along to. The lyrics match the overall sensual feeling of the music, Simon at one point unleashing the lyrics “Night after night I try to prove/That I can resist you/Tied up inside your love voodoo/Designed to manipulate” with a thick desire in his voice. Its darkness versus its desperate lyrics makes it a true guilty pleasure.

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For the fourth track, Duran Duran gives us a surprisingly angry song. Of course, you wouldn’t know it just by listening to it. Drowning Man boasts a consistent thud backdrop for entire song but it’s still coated with a club like beat and catchy, albeit it varied, keyboard parts scattered throughout. Its primal vibe is a nice changeup and isn’t really reused on The Wedding Album.

Shotgun, the 5th song, is more an intermission than anything else. Shotgun comes in at 53 seconds and is really forgettable. It maintains the same feel as the rest of the album with shotgun sounds accenting the light techno beat.

Track 6, Come Undone, is the other song you’d already know from The Wedding Album. In the beginning it begs a loud similarity to Love Voodoo, but once the vocals start, it really veers off onto its own. The female vocal adds that much more to a song that feels romantic and tragic at the same time. Duran Duran aced mixing an otherwise happy melody and very intense vocals together and coming out with a beautiful song that you’ll really love listening to more than once consecutively.

Track 7 is a personal favorite of mine. Breath After Breath leaves behind the club sound and lashes out with a more native sound. Milton Nascimento co-wrote Breath After Breath and also performs on the song, and the contrast of his tone – and the fact that his vocal parts are in Portuguese – play effortlessly off Simon LeBon’s and just further the compelling native sound of this track. Breath After Breath will pull you up and then drop you down, over and over again. It snakes around very well and has a lot of energy.

UMF brings us up to the 8th tune on Duran Duran’s The Wedding Album. UMF is still less inspired by dance than the first 5 songs, but it still has a solid electronic beat and decent keyboards. What stands out in this song is how much of the background music is actually vocals (and in some cases, whistling). It’s a very playful song and while you may not skip right to it, you probably wouldn’t turn it off if it came on, either.

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Femme Fatale, a cover song, brings us to number 9. You can guess the theme lyrically of this song by looking at the title. A mellower version of the more dancy tracks from the beginning of the album, it remains light throughout and is another playful track by Duran Duran.

Going from Femme Fatale to None of the Above at number 10 is interesting, because the 2 songs are nothing alike. None of the Above again has the beats and rhythm of a club jam with very confident lyrics. The hook proclaims “I am, I myself alone/Realize I never need to use no-one/Money, power, holy roads/Freedom puts my faith in none above.” This is another personal Duran Duran favorite of mine. The hook is pretty easy to love and hard to not at least hum along to. A show-offish guitar breakdown drops you right back into the hook of the song, and the vocal harmonies at this point are definitely pleasing.

Shelter is the 11th track, and while it has undeniable electronic beats and accents, the music suits the lyrics of this peppy and energetic love song. Duran Duran does a great job of letting the music completely drop out in this song and at least one other just to have it pick back up with the right amount of steam.

The 12th track from Duran Duran’s The Wedding Album is titled To Whom It May Concern. This is powered little tune just full of snark. The lyrics, “Telephone call for Mr. Bones/Dear Mr. Bones we’ve had enough and you can try to pull us down/With your pinstripe weasel stuff but word travels in this town/I wouldn’t write home about you we’re better off without you without you Mr. Bones” are aimed at someone or something, and they’re pulled off with a cocky satisfaction that puts a sassy spin on the whole song. The song hits a bit harder than the rest of the album, but Simon LeBon’s vocals remain clear and even with aggression, he never resorts to yelling a single word. One of the best tracks on The Wedding Album and a terribly enjoyable and mischievous sounding song.

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The 13th and final track is Sin Of The City. An intro full of city sounds, including chatter and police sirens is just about a minute long, leading into another 30 seconds or so of straight instrumentation. Sin Of The City refrains from having a dance beat behind it the entire way, reserving it for only parts of the song. This songs meaning is also pretty clear from the lyrics, citing slum landlords, wars, prostitution and overall atmospheric aggression. Sin Of The City is a nice choice to close out the CD because it’s a healthy mix of some electronic sounds and tight guitar. Simon LeBon gets to show off a little bit and considering towards the end of the song, everything is going on, it never sounds overly busy. The song finishes with distorted guitar fading into a programmed beat and then fizzles out.

This album is in my top 5 of all time. It’s versatile, jazzy, and emotional and sounds amazing on a nice system. Duran Duran has a solid addition to their extensive catalog with The Wedding Album. I’d only classify a couple tracks as “fillers” and that’s probably just my personal taste. Each track is unique both musically and lyrically.