
Back in the early nineties, I didn’t really have a developed taste in music (some might say I still don’t). I was relying on whatever was around, listening to radio, trying to establish my own sense of taste. I ended up with a super-eclectic collection of albums – Mariah Carey’s Music Box (“Dream Lover” was my jam), Nirvana’s Nevermind, MC Hammer’s Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em to name three – and a handful of compilations.
The first compilation I owned was called Kickin’ 2: A Dance Compilation, featuring such hits as Haddaway’s “What Is Love” and M-People’s “One Night In Heaven”. But my favourite, by far, was Now That’s What I Call Music 3. I’ve mentioned this album before; I would say its one of the most influential albums in my own personal music history, opening with Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes”, Ace Of Base’s “All That She Wants”, Lenny Kravitz’ “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” (one of my favourite songs ever), and Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World”, the best song on that album, and maybe the best on this album.
This is Duran Duran’s second self-titled album, nicknamed The Wedding Album because of the cover featuring photos from the band members’ parent’s weddings. It is an album very much of its time: a holdover of Duran Duran’s new wave tendencies combined with some of the electronic/dance trends I might have heard on Kickin’ 2 back in the day. I can’t say it holds up, but its pretty good for the time. And it’s bolstered by a pair of phenomenal singles: the aforementioned “Ordinary World”, one of my ride-or-die favourites of all time, and “Come Undone”, a piece of early nineties pop genius.
I can’t honestly say that this is an album worth checking out. But any day that I get to listen to those two singles, and throw myself back to 1993, is a good day.
…
CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.
Leave a Reply