Duran Duran: Astronaut : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

In their decadent heyday, the pretty boys of Duran Duran were the crown princes of a fledgling MTV, but drugs, hubris and a few dodgy albums reduced this supergroup to has-beens. Now, twenty-one years since the original Fab Five's last studio album together, the band's classic lineup has returned. The bleach jobs and posturing remain, but the band has thankfully ditched the "Wild Boys" pomp rock that was its undoing. Instead, Astronaut revitalizes Duran's early synth-pop magic. The lush, moody tones of "Point of No Return" and uplifting charm of "Finest Hour" recall the seductive sounds of Rio and remind us that Duran always had a knack for radiant melodies. On "Sunrise," the catchy first single, only Simon LeBon and Co.'s sneering harmonies could turn unabashedly ridiculous lyrics such as "Put your hands into the big sky. . . ./Feel the new day enter your life" into rousing stadium fodder. Astronaut's feel-good pop just made the dawn brighter for Duranies.