Duran Duran: No Thanks

DURAN DURAN; “Thank You” ( Capitol ) *

Duran Duran might forgive the community of rock, soul and rap greats if they don’t respond with a collective “you’re welcome” when they hear just what form the English group’s gratitude takes in “Thank You.” All too expectedly, this tribute to the band’s favorite artists and tunes, from Dylan to Iggy Pop, is less appreciation than depreciation.

At least the blokes had the sense to invite Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel to handle the rapping on “White Lines,” which (like “I Want to Take You Higher” and “Ball of Confusion”) has been turned into something of an ‘80s-style guitar anthem plus busy rhythm. But on Public Enemy’s “911 Is a Joke,” Simon Le Bon himself cheekily attempts to play Ghetto Boy; that he changes the my to your in “my neighborhood” scarcely disguises the buffoonery of the conceit.

The group is certainly more in its element with the misty romanticism of Doors and Zeppelin ballads, but even here Le Bon sounds more parodistic than laudatory.

And if Elvis Costello hated Linda Ronstadt’s covering his material, Duran’s dumbed-down “Watching the Detectives” may suggest to him four even more suitable candidates for lake-dragging.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).