Duran Duran’s second studio album Rio is somewhat of an amalgamation of what made the 80’s so insane. There is samples of crackling ice cubes, cigarettes being lit, background vocals of people yelling, saxophone solos, synthesizer leads, disco beats aplenty, and utterly bizarre lyrics– lead vocalist Simon Le Bon gushes over a woman who is a “bird of paradise with a cherry ice cream smile” (“Rio”), waxes poetic for lost love by saying “there’s heat beneath your winter, let me in” (“Lonely In Your Nightmare”), and proudly exclaims “I smell like I sound, I’m lost in a crowd” as he yearns for female companionship. I’m convinced no one knew wtf he was talking about in the studio when they cut this entire album because they were all blasted out of their minds, but damn does it still sound pretty good despite it all.
Rio is one of those albums I enjoyed more than I probably should for the sheer audacity of it all. The 80’s were a wild time in music history, probably the most experimental of eras in totality, and Rio does a great job of encapsulating the idiosyncrasies that made that era so obscenely self-indulgent and enthralling. Plus the cover art is legitimately great. And that’s gotta count for something.
Standout Songs: “Hungry Like The Wolf”, “Rio”, “New Religion”
