Duran Duran's 1981 debut arrived as the New Romantic movement crested, marrying disco's propulsion to post-punk's angular severity through Colin Thurston's pristine production. Planet Earth and Girls on Film became blueprints for MTV-era stardom, the latter's provocative video cementing the band's understanding that pop music now required cinematic ambition.

Nick Rhodes' icy synthesisers and John Taylor's fluid basslines created a template that balanced dancefloor urgency with art school pretension. The album's sleek surface suggested substance was optional when style cut this sharp.