Rio (Remastered)

Duran Duran's debut earned them plenty of attention, but the follow-up, Rio, made them international stars. It took all the ideas introduced on the first LP and polished them to an ear-popping sheen. The rich production here makes more use of Nick Rhodes' synth textures than before, and the tunes' elegantly arcing melodies are perfectly framed by the graceful arrangements, expanding on the Bowie/Roxy Music side of the band's influences. The perfect pop confections of the title track and "Hungry Like the Wolf" helped put Duran Duran's faces on teenage bedroom walls the world over, but artful cuts like "The Chauffeur" showed something deeper.