It’s over 40 years ago that Duran Duran released their debut and the band have become a British institution; a national treasure, For a period, in the early 1980s, they were arguably the biggest band in the world, thanks to the brilliance of their first two albums; being embraced by America; and the non-stop stream of hit singles (in the UK they had 10 in a row, between 1982 and 1986).
Even at the beginning of the 1990s, and the misstep of “Liberty,” the band came back strongly with “The Wedding Album” and delivered the epic single ‘Ordinary World’. That song has been a staple of their setlist ever since.
Inspired by the band’s one-off, 2022 Halloween show at the Encore Theater at Wynn in Las Vegas, “Danse Macabre” is a spooky, ghoul-inspired 13-song collection.
18 years on and we have a new Duran Duran covers album, of sorts. “Danse Macabre” is a playful celebration of Halloween and all things ‘spooky’ but only six and a half of the 13 tracks are covers of other people’s songs. The rest are either brand new songs (three tracks) or reinterpretations of the band’s own songs.
The new versions of numbers from Duran Duran’s back catalogue, include debut album track ‘Night Boat’, ‘Union of the Snake’ B-side ‘Secret Oktober’ (now ‘Secret Oktober 31st’), a re-spelt ‘Love Voudou’ from “The Wedding Album”, and “Rio’s” ‘Lonely in Your Nightmare’, which is mashed up with with a cover of Rick James’ ‘Super Freak’ for a song called ‘Super Lonely Freak’. In total, nine of the album’s 13 tracks were performed for last year’s Halloween show.
This record sees the original line-up back together for many of the tracks as Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor, John Taylor, and Simon Le Bon reunite for the first time since 2004’s “Astronaut!” Fans of ’90s-era Duran will be further delighted to see the return of guitarist Warren Cuccurullo who guests on a couple of songs (including the title track), making this the first Duran Duran album since 1986’s “Notorious” to feature the guitar playing of both Andy Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo.
The Fat Angel Sings 