As a long time Duran Duran fan, I reluctantly give "Liberty" a negative review. Aside from 3 or 4 really good songs, most of "Liberty" is disposable disco music, with little of the New Romantic flair that set Duran apart from the other New Wave bands of the 1980s.

"Liberty" sounds like the work of three different bands: a trendy dance group, a party rock band, and a polished art-rock outfit. Unfortunately, the songs don't segue well from one to another, nor are the lines of demarcation drawn as well as on their previous effort, "Big Thing." The overall impression is more of confusion than of versatility. Duran flourished in the 80s by integrating diverse styles into a cohesive sound. On "Liberty," their signature style is subsumed in uninspired mimicry.

The first three tracks demonstrate the record's conflicting styles. Duran immediately breaks new ground with "Violence of Summer," a bouncy rock anthem. It's catchy and fun, but raises false expectations for the rest of the album. The title track features a hypnotic piano groove and atmospheric pre-chorus, but the chorus is anticlimactic and the outro drags on too long. "Hothead" symbolizes the band's cynical efforts to capitalize on dance music, and unfortunately typifies the majority of "Liberty's" material.

The rest of "Liberty" mainly consists of uninspired dance music, with three notable exceptions. "Serious" is a mature and well-crafted mid-tempo number, with a catchy chorus and dynamic instrumental break. "My Antarctica" is a moody, textured track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Bryan Ferry solo album. "First Impression" gives guitarist Warren Cuccurullo a chance to display his considerable chops. The guitar hero aesthetic of "First Impression" hasn't aged well, but "Serious" and "My Antarctica" qualify as genuine sleepers; they alone justify a place for "Liberty" in the Duranie's collection.

In a way, it's a blessing in disguise that "Liberty" gained little attention. It bombed quietly, allowing the band to regroup and build up anticipation for their 1993 comeback smash "Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)," by far their strongest effort since 1982's "Rio."

"Liberty" remains a curio in Duran Duran's discography, space filler in the five-year gap between "Big Thing" and "The Wedding Album." Most of it is forgettable, but a handful of songs make it worthwhile for the Duran fan.

Please fans, tell me why this is not a great Duran Duran record. Take any track...

"Downtown"? amazing!

The song "Liberty". PERFECT !

Simon's vocals on "My antartica"? You thought Palomino was good on 'Big thing'? "My Antartica" is like a part II.

"Serious" never got airplay in the USA ?

Please tell me why. For example, what were they playing on MTV in 1990? Nelson? Wilson Phillips? That's insane.

I guess probably a difficult year to be big in for any band. You weren't in the 80s and you weren't really known for the 90s yet either. Liberty is clearly the best kept secret of 1990.

Sometimes, when musical acts have been around for a while, they go through a period of uncertainty. Sometimes, unfortunately, albums are recorded during these periods. David Bowie's "Never Let Me Down" and Depeche Mode's "Songs of Faith and Devotion," which are both decidedly mixed bags as albums, immediately come to mind. Alas, so does Duran Duran's "Liberty." In this particular case, you get should-have-been classics (Violence of Summer & My Antarctica), right-on popsters (Liberty & Serious), surprisingly strong rockers (All Along the Water & First Impression), curiosities (Venice Drowning & Downtown), album filler (Can You Deal With It), and horrible, awful mistakes (Read My Lips & Hothead). What does this mean to the listener? If he or she is a Duran Duran fan, the good songs will be well worth buying the entire CD. Heck, even if you cared less about Duran during the early 90's when this album came out, but you're in to them now, you'll like the good songs. However, if you've never been sure about Duran Duran, stay far, far away from Liberty. Instead, pick up their still great self-titled debut, their amazing self-titled comeback album of 1993, the sadly neglected but excellent Medazzaland, the classic Rio, or better yet 2000's Pop Trash for an idea of just how great a band Duran Duran actually can be.

I don't know why people say that this is probably the weakest and poorest Duran Duran album... It just can't be ! This is probably one of their best ! "Serious" just takes you on a trip, "Violence of summer" is quite funny and takes you on a kinda sunny funny holiday, on a beach ; "My Antarctica" is just their most beautiful song with their deepest lyric ; "Venice drowning" builds a mystery ; "Downtown" is a catchy track with a slow sexy beat , "Liberty" is a song that has to be listened in a car... Every song is great, and unfortunately the commercial success was poor. I can't understand it

It'a great suite for the BIG THING of 1988, and starts the Nineties with a catchy and upbeating sound. After having listened to this album, you will find the Wedding Album (with hits like Ordinary World or Come Undone) a bit... poor or... too commercial to be true. Liberty isn't as uninspired.

Enjoy it !

Okay...so Duran Duran were falling out of favor around 1990. Sure, it would be another three years before they made a staggering comeback with "The Wedding Album," but "Liberty" is a solid, and sadly overlooked, gem.

True, the CD lacks focus, and it's obvious the band wasn't sure where to go stylistically at the time (this CD also introduced a couple of new band members), but there are some excellent tracks here...."Violence of Summer" is odd but catchy as hell, and "Serious" is a straightforward pop ballad...one of the best songs the Duranies have ever done.

The album as a whole, as previously mentioned, goes all over the place stylistically, and suffers a bit from Chris Kimsey's bloated production. But "Liberty" is far better than "Seven and the Ragged Tiger," a horrible mess that remains one of their most popular albums. "Liberty" has a bad rep from critics and three people may have actually bought the thing, but it truly is worth the time and money.