Hungry Like the Wolf

Pure adrenaline disguised as a pop song — the production here is almost aggressive in its forward motion, Simon Le Bon's vocals pushed to their limit in the verses before the chorus opens like a physical release. The synthesizers are bright and slightly jagged, the rhythm section locked in with a precision that makes it sound engineered for maximum physical response. Lyrically it's a predator-prey narrative that the band deliver with complete conviction, the hunting metaphor not subtle but somehow completely earned by the performance's energy. It captures early MTV-era Duran Duran at their most potent: gorgeous, slightly dangerous, absolutely committed to surface pleasures that run deeper than they appear. For anyone who was young in 1982 this song is practically a hormonal memory. Put it on now and the tempo does something involuntary to the nervous system.