Rio launched Duran Duran into permanent status in the music world. The original line-up (to quote Nick Rhodes) produced classics that all Duran Duran fans know just by sound. Critics from release on feel much stronger about the album than any die-hard Duranie - the 1983 debut reached #6 on the U.S. Top Twenty. Rio made Duran Duran a classic.
Such status was questioned when the band split. The original members left in different directions and took the separation as time to work on personal projects. They took their time. No one knew if Duran Duran as all know them as would reunite. This thought was devastating.
Until calls were made and hesitations were ironed out in the form of Astronaut. Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor came together in the recording studio to produce an album that simply spoke a story.
Astronaut was released on the heels of September 11, 2001. The album received high honors - #3 in the UK and #17 in the U.S.
The most remarkable and well-known song on the reunion album is "Reach Up for the Sunrise." In my eyes, this song gives hope to a newly-defined world. Critics felt just as positive - #1 on the Billboard U.S. Dance Chart and #5 on the UK Singles Chart (highest position since "A View to a Kill" in 1985).
The song "What Happens Tomorrow" is third on the cd. This song carries a massive punch - inspiration, hope, a feeling of not giving up, and finding good in anything. To me, the future is uncertain and no one can say what will happen one minute from now, one hour from now, one day from now, and so forth. We just have to hope that whatever happens tomorrow will be good and better than the day before.
Astronaut is first in my long album collection produced by Duran Duran. Therefore, the songs and disc hold a special place in my intrigued heart. The work is classic in sound, tone, and style. Although last as a work with all original five included, Astronaut remains a powerful album and one to cherish among the many others, past and present.
This is my review. If interested in Astronaut, please consider the Amazon.com link below.
(Note: All statistics come from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duran_Duran)
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