Duran Duran Album: “Arena [Remaster]”

Arena was a major disappointment in its original incarnation. Duran Duran, one of the world's biggest bands in 1984, had just completed a major world tour, and their fans deserved a proper live album as a representation of the concerts on that tour. Instead, they got Arena, which was mixed and edited much more like a studio album. With a distant audience sound, a recording that sounded more processed than live, and smoothed down fades and edits between songs, Arena actually lent credence to the lie that Duran Duran was nothing more than a studio band. Matters were not helped any by the fact that one of the best tracks on the original release was the studio single, "The Wild Boys." Although it is a terrific song, its inclusion on a live album was, and remains, totally out of place. Subtract "The Wild Boys," and you were left with precisely nine live songs totaling under forty-five minutes in length: hardly a definitive example of what a Duran Duran concert was like in person.

This remastered version does little to improve the situation. Although the remastering adds greater clarity, texture and immediacy to the existing sound, the lackluster mix and slick edits are the same, as are the original song selection and order. If anything, the improved sound somehow makes the whole album sound even more sterile, since it clarifies just how much effort was put into making this album as "un-live" as possible.

What makes this new disc worth having are the two bonus tracks, totally thrilling live versions of "Girls On Film" and "Rio." These two cuts possess what most of the rest of the album lacks: vigor, vitality, and a genuine interplay between band and audience. Along with "Careless Memories," they indicate just how good Arena could have been if it had been better conceived and executed. Tacked on to the end of the disc, however, these two tracks are true bonuses, doing nothing to improve the main body of the album.

Perhaps someday EMI/Capitol will see fit to release a totally new live album documenting Duran Duran's 1984 tour, one that does justice to what the band was actually doing on stage at that time. Arena, simply put, does not. It remains a must-have for die-hard fans only. Everyone else should look elsewhere for their Duran fix.

(EDIT: For the definitive live recording of the original lineup of Duran Duran, I would suggest purchasing the LIVE IN LONDON deluxe DVD/CD package available at Amazon. It was recorded at Wembley Arena in 2004 with Simon, Nick, Andy, John and Roger, and it's safe to say that Duran is actually better now than they were in the '80s or '90s. The sound on LIVE IN LONDON and the overall feel is miles ahead of what is found here on ARENA.)

First, a note about the trolls who come in here to post their "reviews"---the general public should ignore such pointless rants. (Why doesn't Amazon do a better job of filtering these?)

Anyway, I'm new to ARENA. I didn't buy it in the '80s, or in the '90s when it was put on CD. But with the recent resurgence of the original lineup of Duran Duran, and after thoroughly being blown away by seeing them live in concert on their 2005 arena tour, I decided to pick this up.

It's interesting---first, I was again impressed by how good of a live band Duran really is, as they are really solid instrumentally, and the hits come off a little 'harder' on this album being in a live setting and what not. Simon's voice sounds a little tired, but I understand the 1984 tour was quite rigorous.

However, where is the crowd? They are almost totally mixed out of the proceedings, which is ashame. You can hear them at the beginning and end of each song (most of the time), but otherwise, nothing!

Highlights: "Union of the Snake" (good on record but much better live, now and then!), "Careless Memories" (rocks!), "The Chauffeur", "Hungry Like the Wolf" (never tire of it), "Planet Earth", "Girls on Film" (wow!) and "Rio". Andy Hamilton on sax is great, and he still appears with the band in its concerts today.

Lowlights: the female background singers that occasionally appear (Andy and John on backing vocals are just as good!).

Also included is the studio version of "The Wild Boys", tacked on to this album and released as a single in 1984, climbing to #2.

The remastered sound is crisp and a hefty booklet accompanies the package.

You like The Killers? You like the rush of "new wave" influenced music currently underway? This is a great place to start to see where it all began.

Also recommended by Duran Duran for modern day "new wave" fans: albums like "Duran Duran" (their debut album), "Rio", "Astronaut", "The Singles 81-85" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger".

The original version of "Arena" was good, but I always felt like it was lacking something. The addition of the songs "Rio" and "Girls on Film" for this remastered version was a great move, as those are not only two of the band's biggest hits from the early '80s, but they're also two of their most energetic live songs.

In the classic sense, this is a very mediocre live album by Duran Duran. Many fans get irked by that statement, but it's the sad and honest truth. In 1984, when Duran Duran peaked in popularity, Capitol dropped this record instead of a studio LP to capitalize on the band's popularity. While the material here isn't terrible, performances of "New Religion," "Is There Something I Should Know," and "Union of the Snake" come across as perfunctory at best. Simon LeBon sings off-key one time too many, and the band members Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, and Andy Taylor perform with a clean efficency that strips the performances of any spontaneity. The only half-worthwhile track is a song that isn't even live: the killer studio cut "Wild Boys," which went to Number Two in the fall/winter of 1984. Take it from a fan of this group: skip "Arena" and leave it for the diehards and completists. Duran Duran's studio albums are way better than this.

hey you out there!!! Why don't you just go listen to a bootleg of the Arena tour??? Or something such the radio broadcast of their 1984 concert from madison square garden? You will then realize that this cd is LIVE. You don't know what you're talking about. Duran are a great live band, maybe you just should go out and buy a ticket for one of their concert, then you'll change your narrow narrow narrow mind.

This is a great cd.

Ste