Duran Duran – All You Need Is Now
by Damien O'Carroll

All You Need Is Now has been widely bandied about by music
critics as being Duran Duran’s best album since 1993’s
self-titled effort (also known as The Wedding Album) that
featured the huge single Ordinary World. And to be
completely honest with you, it probably is.

Conceived and recorded as a “sequel” to 1982’s Rio and
produced by trendy A-list producer/DJ and self-confessed
Massive Duran Duran Fan Mark Ronson (who has produced albums
for Lilly Allen, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Amy
Winehouse and Ol’ Dirty b******, to name a few) All You
Need Is Now contains significantly more hits than misses and
is one of those albums that manages to bury itself into your
subconscious with its catchy hooks…

Although there is a significant amount of (undoubtedly
intentional) self-plagarism that echoes throughout the
album, that is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, scratch
that – it is actually a very good thing, as the band have
obviously avoided the desperate need to sound “relevant”
and “modern” that has permeated their last few albums
and simply returned to what they have always done best –
catchy rock-tinged synth-pop with the occasional ballad
thrown in for good measure.

If I have one complaint about All You Need Is Now, it would
be that Ronson could have cranked the guitars up a bit, but
that’s just my personal tastes. As it stands, All you Need
Is Now is not only a brilliant return to form for Duran
Duran, it is also a just a damn fine album in its own right.

Rating: 4/5 A brilliant, catchy and memorable return to the
towering heights of ’80s synth-pop goodness from the
masters.

Review courtesy of http://www.flybuyscommunities.co.nz/entertainment/duran-duran-all-you-need-is-now/