[Official Video] Duran Duran - Girl Panic!

These days, 'extended' cuts of music videos are ten-a-penny. Not content to let the song in itself do the talking, bands plough ever-increasing amounts of cash and time into creating videos that are not so much promo events and more fully blown films. Now, normally I'm not that big a fan of this style of video-vignette; I find the cuts between song and 'extra-narrative' jarring, breaking up a perfectly decent pop track. But with Duran Duran... well, I'm more than happy to make an exception.

You see, what they have delivered in the form of Girl Panic! is the extended music video to end all other extended music videos. We're talking a nine and a half minute beast here. Yup, NINE and a half minutes. Oh, and did we mention they've packed a load of dolled-up supermodels in as substitutes for the band, including none other than Naomi Campbell?

On paper, the concept already sounds incredible - in reality, it's positively jaw-dropping. Duran Duran play up to every aspect of themselves, touting picture-postcard images of London, dropping product placements for the Savoy hotel, Swarovski and Harper's Bazaar plus a sly montage of their past hits. Come into the video half-way through and you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the latest glossy M&S fashion ad - all smouldering eyes and vibrant lippy.

As for Girl Panic! itself, it's good to see another single release from the band's sublime All You Need Is Now album. Around its original digital release in December last year, there was a mass of hype over its Mark Ronson production and it was rightly hailed as a real return to form. But since then, things had gone a little hushed and with the band's cancelled UK tour dates, it seemed that the album might already have shut up shop.

As with any band of their era, Duran Duran face the trouble of mass exposure for their single releases, and be association, chart positions to match their glory days. The likes of Radio 1 refuse to play them, millions of potential listeners written off at the drop of a hat. But with a promo video of this scale, and with obvious viral-esque appeal, maybe - just maybe - Girl Panic! might just manage to snowball itself into a surprise hit. God knows, it deserves to.

Bonus edition Ahoy!

'Extended', 're-release', 'bonus', 'deluxe'. These are all words that have been occuring rather often recently. A top chart act releases an album and it does well. So how do you squeeze a few more sales out of that 'era'? Easy! Release a bonus version of it with MORE content. It's a win, win situation.

Currently I'm getting excited over the exclusive HMV edition of Duran Duran's All You Need Is Now which comes with a bonus remix CD. There's also the bonus version of Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns which is packaged with a DVD of the band playing live in Madrid. This release is rather awesomely titled A Thousand Suns +, with emphasis on the 'PLUS'. It's like those TV ads for razors. Properly amazing.

And just look at the cover. THOSE COLOURS! It's like someone got high and then went crazy on Photoshop. I love it.

Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

If I had a pound for every time Duran Duran’s newest album All You Need Is Now is ‘the next Rio’, I’d be a millionaire. But, the thing is, it really is. Not since that marvellous, seminal album have the band sounded quite this good. And not just that, for Duran have released plenty of good tracks since then (though quite how many is rather debatable, depending on how big of a fan you are) – but on this album, they sound energetic, re-invigorated, and most importantly – fun.

2004’s Astronaut was an amazing album, but in many ways, it did not sound like Duran Duran. It was futuristic in the extreme, consistent to the extreme and packed full of immaculately produced pop-rock classics. 2007’s Red Carpet Massacre was a miss-step, a rash grasp at ever-changing musical trends, the band latching onto man of the moment, Timbaland. The result was a jarring and rushed sounding end-product that just didn’t grab you the way you wanted it to. The singles were in place, but the makings of a good album were not.

Perhaps this is why All You Need Is Now comes as such a breath of fresh air then. It’s got that classic, Duran Duran youthful charm to it; that killer element that have kept them alive and innovative when so many other bands of their era have long since fallen. The title track is a brilliant introduction to the album, a cracking blend of old and new – something that defines this album. You’ll hear hints of instruments and sounds that you would swear came straight from Rio.

There’s contemporary touches here too, with producer Mark Ronson at the helm. Important note though: those coming to the album expecting a re-hash of Ronson’s Verion album, all horns and Zutons covers, will be surprised. He’s kept his touches on the band’s sound minimal, serving instead to pull everything together, a commanding force to better ensure the continuity of the final album. Oh, and there’s brilliant guest vocals from the Scissor Sister’s Ana Matronic and Kelis. The latter’s contribution is especially impressive on the epic, hypnotic, irresistible pull of The Man Who Stole A Leopard. It’s easily the band’s best ballad since Ordinary World.

Girl Panic!  is another favourite of mine, harking back to the likes of Careless Memories, displaying an aggressiveness the band haven’t played to in years. Most importantly, as an album, All You Need Is Now is a firm reminder that a band never comes with a sell by date. For Duran to be putting an album this good out 13 LP’s into their career is astounding. And judging by the top 10 position the album surged to on iTunes stores across the globe in its release week, the public tend to agree. Stunning, wonderful stuff.