Rocktrospectiva: The Underrated "Liberty" Turns 35

Released on 20 August 1990 "Liberty" was the 6th., studio album by English pop rock band Duran Duran, despite being considered the band's worst album to date, it peaked at No. 8 in the UK and spawned two singles "Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" & "Serious".

Duran Duran had emerged as one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, helping to both spearhead the so-called 'Second British Invasion' but by the mid 1980s, however, the band had lost both Roger and Andy Taylor, who had quit shortly after their 1985 Live Aid performance. Subsequent studio albums released including Notorious and Big Thing were not well received either critically or commercially, selling in far fewer quantities than their predecessors. Whilst the 1989 Decade compilation managed to chart in the Top 10 around the world, it was seen as a temporary stop-gap and an opportunity for the band to decide what musical direction they wanted to explore in the 1990s.

At the time, 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.

Ultimately though, he proved to be quite sanguine about the album as a whole, stating on its 25th anniversary in 2015: "I wouldn't go back and change anything though, I'd rather spend two weeks writing a new song than making changes to Liberty. It was a point in time for Duran Duran. I really do look back on Liberty with a lot of fondness.

According to John Taylor, the recording sessions dragged as the band members were unsure of the album's direction. Le Bon also suffered from writer's block and devoted more time to his wife and newborn daughter than recording. Liberty was the first Duran Duran album to credit guitarist Warren Cuccurullo as an official member. It is also drummer Sterling Campbell's sole credit as an official member of the band, as he left following the album's release.  

Despite Le Bon wasn't so impressed with the lead single "Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" for me, this was like and odd gem that will never get tired of it, the single peaker at No. 23 in the UK but failing to reach the top 60 in the US. The band themselves did not have faith in the single. In a 2020 interview with Paul Sinclar, the editor of website Super Deluxe Edition, Kimsey noted that either the songs "Serious" or "Liberty" should have been lead singles and the whole album may have seen more commercial success.  

As it was obvious, the critical reception to Liberty was mainly negative with a number of music journalists slating the album; described it as "a senseless collision of tuneless guitar raunch, Motown-inflected soul-pop and numbing dance grooves" whilst others suggested that only three tracks: "Liberty", "Serious" and "My Antarctica" were worthy of inclusion,  a view echoed in 2020 by producer Chris Kimsey, who said: "if you took all the crap off this album and had an EP, it would have been huge[...] the other stuff was, like, panic, pressure", even thought Spin had a positive review called the album as the most appealing form in years (...) Duran Duran once again successfully straddle the line between dance and rock". Blackwell noted that "the new songs are characteristically slick, yet stripped-down. Effects and samples are minimal. The guitar is prominently back and the music is diverse", while admitting that "a couple of the songs, like 'Hothead', are stupid and meaningless."

 

Liberty Track List: 

 

1. Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over)

2. Liberty

3. Hothead

4. Serious

5. All Along The Water

6. My Antarctica

7. First Impression

8. Read My Lips

9. Can You Deal With It

10. Venice Drowning

11. Downtown