Liberty (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Liberty
Type = Album
Artist = Duran Duran


Released = start_date|1990|8|20
Recorded = 1989 & 1990
Genre = Rock
Length = 50:26
Label = Capitol/EMI
Producer = Duran Duran, Chris Kimsey
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|1|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lzaxqj5bojka link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/duranduran/albums/album/166502/review/5945792/liberty link]
Last album = ""
(1989)
This album = "Liberty"
(1990)
Next album = "Duran Duran"
(1993)
Misc = Singles
Name = Liberty
Type = album
single 1 = Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)
single 1 date = start_date|1990|7|8
single 2 = Serious
single 2 date = start_date|1990|10|1

"Liberty" is the sixth studio album by Duran Duran, released on start_date|1990|8|20. Although it garnered a surprise #6 hit for the single "Serious" in Japan, the album was not very successful, and was the first album for which Duran Duran did not perform a supporting concert tour.

Recording

"Liberty" is the first Duran Duran album to feature songwriting credits outside the original five band members. Guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell were made permanent band members and given songwriting credits, although Campbell would leave in early 1991, before the band began work on their subsequent hit "The Wedding Album".

Writing and rehearsing for the album took place intermittently between May and July 1989; demo sessions took place in August and September, and final recording began on October 9 at Olympic Studios, with producer Chris Kimsey and engineer Chris Potter. Recording, production and overdubbing of the many keyboard and vocal layers dragged on until March 1990, and the result was an album that many fans and critics considered bland and overproduced. [ [http://www.musicfolio.com/modernrock/duranduran.html Musicfolio Reviews: Duran Duran] ]

In a 1998 interview with "Goldmine" magazine, bassist John Taylor admitted that he was struggling with his drug addictions during recording of the album. He said, "When we were in rehearsal, it seemed like we had a great album, but we weren't able to parlay it into a great album in the studio, whatever. I can just remember smoking hash oil, that's all I can really remember about making that album." Green, Jo-Anne. " [http://www.lizardkingduran.com/gold.html Your Mission, Barbarella: Find Duran Duran] ." "Goldmine", Volume 24 Issue 456 (January 16, 1998)]

Vocalist Simon Le Bon commented "We went into a barn in Sussex and started jamming away, and before we got finished, it was like, 'Right we've got the album, let's go and record it now.' And I don't think we got it right; I don't think we were paying enough attention. We were quite self-conscious at the time as well, the way things had been going, and it kind of made us stand outside of ourselves to do the album. But out of that came two of the best songs Duran's ever come up with, 'Serious' and 'My Antarctica,' they're really, really beautiful songs. I don't think it's a bad album, but there's definitely weak spots on it, definitely. I mean, something like 'Violence Of Summer,' it just didn't have a proper chorus, great verse though. Just not paying enough attention, we just lost our concentration."

A bootleg recording of the demo sessions for the album, titled "Didn't Anybody Tell You?" surfaced in 1999. Many unreleased, scrapped songs from the "Liberty" sessions were heard by the public for the very first time:

*"Bottleneck"
*"Money on Your Side"
*"Dream Nation"
*"In Between Woman"
*"Worth Waiting For"
*"My Family" (played live 1989)

When asked about the bootleg, John Taylor said, "I like coming across things that I've forgotten about. That I've forgotten that we recorded. That's what's really exciting about the "Didn't Anybody Tell You" bootleg, because there's so many songs on there that never got finished. They just take me back to that moment. Actually, what I like about that album is that the "Liberty" album - when we were rehearsing it, when we were writing it was gonna be a great album. I really felt it was gonna be a great album. When we got in the studio I fell apart and the production just wasn't right. It turned out to be a very mediocre album, but at the demo stage, which is what that [bootleg] album is all about, I think there's a great album in there. Could have been great songs." [ [http://www.trusttheprocess.com/JTintv8.00.html Interview with John Taylor] , August 31, 2000. "Trust the Process" (Official John Taylor website).]

Track listing

# "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" – 4:22
# "Liberty" – 5:01
# "Hothead" – 3:31
# "Serious" – 4:21
# "All Along the Water" – 3:50
# "My Antarctica" – 5:01
# "First Impression" – 5:28
# "Read My Lips" – 4:30
# "Can You Deal With It" – 3:47
# "Venice Drowning" – 5:13
# "Downtown" – 5:23

Bonus disc (Japan only)

As with the previous release of "Big Thing", Toshiba-EMI would release "Liberty" in a two-disc set, with a 3-inch CD (CD3) of remixes:
# "Yo Bad Azizi" – 3:03
# "Throb" – 4:25
# "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over) (The Story Mix)" – 3:18

ingles

# "Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" (July 1990)
# "Serious" (October 1990)

Personnel

Duran Duran were:
* Simon Le Bon - Vocals
* Nick Rhodes - Keyboards
* John Taylor - Bass
* Warren Cuccurullo - Guitar
* Sterling Campbell - Drums

References