To be fair, this album was considered something odd and full of apathy at the time it was released, bur it didn’t actually fare that badly in the charts,
reaching the top 20 in both the UK and the US. The singles did less
well. The critics gave Thank You a fairly uniform hammering, with the legacy casting a long shadow over the rest of their career, certain mags called it the worst record of all time, having had 11 years to make that considered opinion.
But 30 years later, thinking it about this potpourri of styles and statements wasn't too bad after all, actually the album isn’t half as bad as medias used to believe, and some of the tracks are really rather good. The first thing worth saying is to note quite how many extra musicians got crammed into Duran Duran. Original members Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor were joined, once again, by Warren Cucurullo, the ex-Zappa sideman who took Andy Taylor’s place in 1986.
They band didn’t even have an official drummer; once and future stickman Roger Taylor only appears on a couple of tracks. Indeed, no one drummer appears on more than a few tracks, with five other individuals getting various whacks in. A full string section gets to appear across several tracks, and a whole bevy of additional singers and, ominously, rappers are bolted on the give a greater heft.
The album kicks off with Melle Mel’s "White Lines (Don’t Do It)." LeBon can’t rap for toffee, so it is a relief to find the full Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Melle Mel included, are present to relieve him of an excruciating first attempt. If unfamiliar with the original, it’s OK, and that isn’t as unkind as it sounds. Straight from that anti-drugs statement, the band launch into a spirited take on Sly Stone’s "I Wanna Take You Higher," possibly a message in the polar opposite direction,
Lou Reed is on record as saying that the Duran Duran version of "Perfect Day" is by far, the best of the many versions ever released, with a hazy, psychedelic hue, perhaps as it was originally conceived. Treated keyboards and vocals shimmer and sway, the orchestration adding to the overall sense of disengagement, Tessa Niles wailing away convincingly towards the close. "Watching The Detectives," labeled as easy listening, which is harsh. I like the dubby feel the band gifted it, with LeBon’s phrasing pleasingly off-kilter, the harmony with Niles adding a sense of momentum possibly lacking from the original. Cucurullo adds another of his idiosyncratically angular guitar solos, his playing actually a highpoint throughout, and Oskar adds a wondrous melodica like harmonica solo. "Lay Lady Lay" doesn’t seem an obvious song for the Older New Romantics to cover, but this too gets a good shot. Uncertain who is adding the duet vocals, but this lifts it beyond the humdrum.
Back to the good old days of school of rap for "911 Is a Joke," going out on a limb, this time they interpret rather than copy, and they’re to be credited for that. LeBon still can’t rap, mind, but it’s a better effort. "Success," one of the songs David Bowie wrote for Iggy Pop, unrecognizable from that original, or even anything ever done by the band, it becomes a well constructed 1970’s glam-rock stomper.
The Doors’ "Crystal Ship" was next up. it being a serviceable version, and the backing has a slightly ramshackle feel to it, taking attention away from the original. "Ball of Confusion" is just, sorry, dire, a play-that-funky-music attempt to display their versatility that falls fully flat on its face, an affront to the Temptations. I suppose I should say that at least they tried to do something different to it.
"Drive By" isn’t a cover at all, but a bit of moody soundtrack noir to pass a few moments and buff up the band royalties. You’ll flinch as soon as the spoken word begins, but given it feels inspired by "La Folie," the Stranglers song, and if you wear that mindset, the total bonkers of it actually works, "Ruby Tuesday" style recorder at the end. Could even be my favorite. (Actually described as an alternate version of "The Chauffeur." A second version of "I Want To Take You Higher" closes things, helpfully parenthesized with "Again." it isn’t merely a reprise and seems a tidier version, unless the listener has just been worn down by exposure. It is the a version to which I would return.
Later editions of Thank You included David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" and Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale," so the job would not be done if these were not addressed, and, for good measure, the version of "Needle and the Damage Done" that graced the B-side of "Perfect Day," one of the singles. The first of these, "Diamond Dogs" should have graced the original, it strays little from the original, but the vocal sounds more in the groove than many of the cuts that were included, and is sung less robotically than Bowie was at that time.
As a conclusion, a fairly good record, that definitely is no the worst record of all time as it was described 30 years ago. a little bit flawed, but it has enough bangers to rock the house. Maybe because the 1990s were an odd time, and Duran Duran was stuck in a dip between declines back then.
Thank You tracklisting:
1. White Lines (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five cover)
2. I Wanna Take You Higher (Sly & the Family Stone cover)
3. Perfect Day (Lou Reed cover)
4. Watching The Detectives (Elvis Costello cover)
5. Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan cover)
6. 911 Is A Joke (Public Enemy cover)
7. Success (Iggy Pop cover)
8. Crystal Ship (The Doors cover)
9. Ball Of Confusion (Temptations cover)
10. Thank You (Led Zeppelin cover)
11. Drive By (original)
12. I Wanna Take You Higher (Again) (Sly & the Family Stone cover)
Bonus Tracks:
13. Diamond Dogs (David Bowie cover)
14.Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground cover)
15. The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young cover)
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