Disco de Duran Duran: “Seven And The Ragged Tiger”

Originally released in 1983, 1 year after the ultra-popular "RIO", this album was a must have for every teenager at my high school and probably most others world-wide. Hit songs like "Union of The Snake", "New Moon On Monday" and who could forget "The Reflex", were played on MTV, radio, and every walkman, boombox and car stereo for at least a good 2 years by these British heartthrobs who seemed unstoppable at the time. Sadly, this would prove to be the last studio album, little did the fans know, by the original Fab 5 hitmakers, but what a way to go out. The non-single, album tracks flow finely along with the hits, but I imagine the casual listener would probably skip right through the songs. All in all I'll admit the songs are over produced with a few too many layered keyboard parts, but it's a great sounding album with some well written pop songs and the usual moody Duran style ballads. Now, the real gems here for the true Duran fans are the bonus disc of remastered remixes and the long awaited "As The Lights Go Down", a 1984 concert film recorded in Oakland, California that has been a much sought after item that for the first time ever is finally on DVD. All the videos are also included as well as some great TV sing along spots too. But the goldmine here is the concert. Every hit song performed with much energy is here for your audio and visual enjoyment. Sit in front of your HDTV, crank up that Home Stereo System and enjoy Duran Duran at their musical peak. A little expensive anywhere else but as usual, Amazon offers the lowest price that I've seen anywhere.

I had been waiting in anticipation of the Collector's Edition of "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" for quite some time and I was glad that the band finally released it in the US (The original release date was supposed to have been back in March, but for some reason, it was pushed back to May). I think the sound quality sounds fantastic and I did not notice any hissing or popping and it does in fact sound much better than the original CD quality volume that came several years ago.

As far as the selection goes, DD could have selected some unreleased demos to really bump up the collectibility of this volume. Don't get me wrong, the inclusion of "Is There Something I Should Know" and "Faith In This Colour" are assets to the strength of this collection. However, years ago, I heard a bootleg of a demo of a DD song actually called "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" (it sounded like a cross between "To The Shore" and "Union Of The Snake") However, the sound quality of this demo track was so horrendous, I only hoped that one day the band would officially release this lost gem.

The other shortcoming is that the band could have thrown in "The Wild Boys" and "A View To A Kill". Now, before all of the Duranies jump me by saying that "The Wild Boys" was originally on the live album, "Arena" and "AVTAK" was on the James Bond soundtrack of the same name, then why was "Is There Something I Should Know?" included in this volume? For those fans who were not around in 1983 when "Is There Something I Should Know?" was released as a standalone single, the band decided to bump "To The Shore" off of the debut DD album and replaced it with "Is There Something I Should Know?" and re-released the first Duran Duran album in an effort to boost record sales for the debut album and "Rio" while "Seven And The Ragged Tiger" was getting ready to be released. (After all, DD was very slow to catch on in the US and did not really catch until this time period - they were bigger in the UK before hitting it big in the US). So, all in all, since the next DD Collector's Edition is going to be "Notorious", they could have included the hit songs, "The Wild Boys" and "AVTAK" in this edition and would have completed the 1983 - 1985 DD heyday period in the US. (I would have rated this 5 stars had those two songs been included, but I still rate it 4 stars).

At any rate, even though all of the tracks on this edition are previously released material, it is still a great album to purchase for your collection, especially if you are a true DD fan, which I am since about 1981! Great Job to EMI and the band, but for the upcoming "Notorious" and "Big Thing" collector's editions, try to include some never before released tracks or demo versions to enhance the collectibility value of the editions.

John Taylor: "We were just drunk [on our new-found success] by this point. We were so into living the dream...and part of the dream was that you made at least one of your albums on the French Riveria."

Nick Rhodes: "I thought the thing was never going to get finished. It really took a long time. There was a lot of different feelings in the band about the direction we should take."

Simon LeBon: "We started off in the south of France, then we went to Mt. Surratt, came back to the U.K. briefly and ended up finishing it off in Austrailia...Sydney. It was a difficult time. It really was."

John Taylor: "We re-recorded it like three times. We did it once and said, 'Nah, this isn't right.' Did it again, said, 'Eh.'"

Nick Rhodes: "To me that album, more than any of them, on the surface of it seems like there's a lot of pretty songs on there, but then underneath there there's this sort of not quite controllable hysteria scratching away at the surface."

Although this album may not have aged QUITE as well as Rio, it is a masterpiece. It was the overblown, overproduced, overly-poppy album that Duran Duran absolutely had to do -- and they did it perfectly.

Seven and the Ragged Tiger could have benefitted from some "breathing room" somewhere in the track listing (as in a spacious, breezy, tempo-free song), but at this point in their careers, the members of Duran Duran had no such "breathing room" in their chaotic lives, so I can see why this was reflected in the album.

I am a songwriter and have analyzed the theory behind these songs...let me just say, from a musical point of view, the chords and melodies are fascinating and incredibly original. The sheer number of key changes that go on in these songs, oftentimes without the listener even knowing, is hard to comprehend.

Duran Duran are infamous for not knowing the strength of their own songs. I've seen the set list of their current tour, with that God-forsaken Timbaland/Timberlake record they just released, and I think that these guys just don't know which of their classic songs to play. In terms of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the biggest blunder of this kind was not including "Secret Oktober" on the album. It is one of the greatest recordings ever made.

Oh, and don't blame Simon for cryptic lyrics. I mean, come on, sometimes even MY head is "full of chopstick." Such lyrics were just his style...and not everyone can be Morrissey.

By the time Duran Duran's 1983 "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" came out, its platinum success was all but guaranteed. At that point, the Birmingham-based group was already a staple on MTV and had their first two albums in Billboard's Top Ten. Typically, each Duran Duran album sounds different from the one that preceded it, and the weirdly named "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" is no exception. They replaced producer Colin Thurston (who did the first two records) with Alex Sadkin and Ian Little, who were responsible for Duran Duran's smash hit "Is There Something I Should Know." The result is a slightly arty, more sophisticated sound that bears no resemblance to their 1981 self-titled debut. The record spawned three top ten singles, one of which, "The Reflex," went on to become their first American Number One single. Other interesting album cuts are the dynamic "Of Crime and Passion," "Shadows on Your Side," and the sax-flavored instrumental "Tiger Tiger." "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" has been remastered (there are no bonus tracks), and the sound quality is a decent improvement over the original CD pressing. Narrow-minded rock connoisseurs may scoff at both this band and this album, but "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" is still a fine effort from Duran Duran in its original, five-member lineup.