Album Review: Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

For Duran Duran's 13th album, producer Mark Ronson decided that his intention was to make a follow-up to the band's 1982 record Rio - the point at which Ronson (rather cheekily) decided it all went wrong for the Brummie five piece.

The result is All You Need Is Now, a brilliant but puzzling record. On one hand, this album sounds exactly like the lost Rio sessions - pulsating, catchy Duran Duran at their 80s finest. However, at other times it is a very modern record, managing to work in 2011 without ever once letting you forget that it's a bunch of fifty-something popsters.

Bits of it are extraordinarily familiar - there are shades of Save a Prayer on Meditteranea and Leave A Light On - whilst the upbeat songs sound like they should be remixes of Is There Something I Should Know? Title track All You Need Is Now is classic Duran, and is cleverly reintroduced throughout the album in a manner reminiscent of John Barry's finest Bond soundtracks.

All You Need Is Now is a real surprise. Managing to be both brilliantly retro and entirely current, Ronson has pulled off a bit of a masterstroke here. Great stuff.