Let's call a spade a spade shall we: Duran Duran's 2004 comeback album Astronaut with all its original members back in tact was a big pile of rubbish. Instead of taking the world by storm yet again with their supposed return to the spotlight, Astronaut barely made a blip on the radar and those who even bothered to notice it surely discarded it post haste.

Three years later, LeBon and company with Red Carpet Massacre have made a move of utter desperation and LeBon has been the first to admit it in recent interviews. Duran Duran wants so badly to be relevant and on the radio that they went out and hired Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Tim's right hand man Danja to produce and come with something hip, fresh and exciting for Duran Duran's latest opus. Too bad Red Carpet Massacre ends up being an album that's made from recycled beats and ideas from Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds. It's so redundant that I wouldn't have a problem if Duran Duran pursued litigation for Timbaland and Danja ripping themselves off.

That's not to say that Massacre sounds bad, because it really doesn't. It's modern sounding that's for sure, but you've already heard it all before if you picked up Timberlake's last disc. But it's almost as if LeBon knows he's sold out hard because his vocals throughout most of Massacre sound completely lifeless. He hides behind the massive production that the big three have come up with and the band sound like hollow shells of themselves behind this concoction of drum machines and techno beats. It's not until the tail end of the album that LeBon peaks his head out a bit for a shining moment. "Zoom In" is one of LeBon's best vocal works since 1993's The Wedding Album and the next track "She's Too Much" isn't half bad either. "Dirty Little Monster" with its sax solo at the end is even down right edgy for these usually vanilla characters. But unfortunately by that point it's too little too late. Red Carpet Massacre isn't a giant failure by any means, but with all the talent involved it certainly stands out as one giant disappointment.