Everyone knows that Duran Duran was the premier singles band of the 1980s. But "Singles Box Set 1986-1995" shows that the post-"classic" period was nothing to sneeze at. This is a 14-CD collection of the band's singles from 1986-1995, including remixes and B-sides. While it may disappoint some hardcore fans, this boxed set serves as a long-overdue retrospective of an era that has gotten short shrift on other Duran compilations.

Unlike the earlier boxed set, which consisted of vinyl-era singles featuring only 2 to 4 tracks, this compilation features generous CD-era singles consisting of 3 to 10 songs each. Late 80s singles such as "Notorious," "Skin Trade," and "Do You Believe in Shame" illustrate the maturing of Duran's style after the departure of original guitarist Andy Taylor. And 1990s hits like "Ordinary World," "Come Undone," and "White Lines" demonstrate that Duran Duran's staying power extended far beyond the "MTV decade."

Beyond the singles, diehard Duran Duran fans may find it frustrating to get to the good stuff. You have to wade through endless dance mixes and previously released album tracks to find the real nuggets here, which include "We Need You," "I Believe/All I Need to Know," the Simon LeBon spoken word pieces "God" and "This Is How A Road Gets Made," and a cover of Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done."

Despite the generous running time, there are some egregious omissions, particularly "Stop Dead" and "Time for Temptation" (outtakes from 1993's "The Wedding Album"). Just about any serious Duran fan would have preferred these over the nine-millionth remix of "Violence of Summer" or "White Lines.". Did we really need two live versions of "Notorious" - especially when the band is obviously out of tune on the second one?

Durannies will argue endlessly about the set list, and rightly so. But in the end, the value of "Singles Box Set 1986-1995" justifies the purchase price. You're paying a little over $3 per disc, which is far less than you would have spent over the years to acquire the individual CD-singles. It's a worthwhile - if maddening - addition to any Duran Duran fan's collection.

The fact that the Durannies continued after their barrage of hits with true musical masterpieces like these is amazing. The new album "Astronaut" is also an aural masterpiece. These guys WRITE the music and lyrics and PLAY the instruments! I find this era of their output the most sumptuous and adventurous. It as also made me revisit their "covers" album 'Thank You' - and I have now actually understood it! They're not the beatles but there is something really intrinsic about the way the put it all together and make art. Thanks, guys.

Glad to hear some of these great songs for the first time on CD, but disappointed as usual with the "filler" and as usual the omission of several tracks from the US singles which were only available on cassette. Most notably, "Time for Temptation" and "Stop Dead", b-sides from the Wedding Album, were omitted, just to name a couple off the top of my head. These would have been more appropriate than the repetitive remixes they included.

As a faithful fan since the early days, I stuck with Duran Duran even after Roger & Andy split during their 1985 peak. I continued to snatch up every 12" single, album, 45, cd-single, & cassette single I could get my hands on. To now have most of this material consolidated into one package, on one format, is a fan's dream come true.

This boxed set starts off with the band's first appearance as a trio, the "comeback" hit "Notorious." From that moment on, Duran Duran had a hit-or-miss career, as Simon, Nick, & John shyed away from their original new wave sound & explored a more Americanized, dance-rock-funk style- sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Regardless, there is enough good stuff here to make any Duran Duran fan happy- remixes, b-sides, live tracks & other rarities.

The packaging is almost identical to the last boxed set, The Singles: 1981-1985- a small flip-top box with each cd in its own sleeve, featuring the original artwork for each single (although the track listing has been removed on the back of each). Unlike the last boxed set, however, there is no fold-out poster of the band, but instead, there is a booklet with a track-by-track list of credits. Sadly, no photos.

Here are some of the most interesting rarities that I did not have until now:

"God (London)" & "This Is How A Road Gets Made" are both short, spoken-word bits of poetry by Simon from 1988/89.

"Water Babies" is actually a dance remix of "All Along The Water" from the 1990 album Liberty. Rumor has it that the title was a mistake on the pressing of the import single for "Serious."

"Come Undone (La Fin DeSiecle)" is a haunting, vocal & strings-only, ambient re-working of the 1993 hit.

"Ordinary World (acoustic version: Simon Mayo show)" reveals a somber, heartfelt live vocal by Simon & guitar by Warren.

The only complaint I have about the track listing here, is that 3 b-sides from the Wedding Album-era have been omitted: "Time For Temptation," "Stop Dead," & "Falling Angel" are sadly missing. The exclusion of these rare tracks seems odd when there is so much space wasted on older hits that were crammed onto the end of so many of these singles- do fans really need more re-appearances of old hits like "Save A Prayer" & "Rio," when these songs are from an entirely different era of the band? Apparantly the track selection here is based on the U.K. versions of these singles, whose track lists must have varied greatly from the U.S. versions.

All in all, this collection is a must-have for Duran collectors. No more dragging out the old crates of 80's vinyl to hear those long-lost b-sides & remixes! As for the inconvenience of 14 cd's, just get on your computer & make your own CD of favorite tracks! Enjoy!

Much like the first installment of singles, seeing these remixes and b-sides come out on CD in ANY form was a welcome sign.

There are so many good tracks here like "We Need You," "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" and several excellent live recordings that its hard to overpraise the music contained herein.

The packaging however is tough. All single CDs... I am sure I am not the only one to quickly make a compilation CD of the rare tracks and put the nostaglia sleeves away for safe keeping.

Wish they would have done that for me.....