Franz Ferdinand burst on the scene in 2004 with the second single from their self-titled debut.
The meaning of the song has long been debated. Some believe it to be about a sniper that’s about to kill his target while others believe it’s about romantic love.
Whatever it’s about — it’s a great, rocking tune. I love the guitar throughout and the shifts in tempo. The latter is tough to pull off, but the band does it well.
After testing the waters with last year’s super-expansive relaunch of Duran Duran’s seminal 1982 album Rio, Capitol plays the ‘reissue, repackage, repackage’ game with the rest of the big sellers in the band’s catalog, and to their credit, they have been extremely thorough in their archiving. Most modern-day reissues are fond of providing ‘unreleased’ content like crap homemade demos in favor of assembling a comprehensive collection of released but rare material. (The Cure’s The Head on the Door, we’re looking in your direction.) Capitol does not make that mistake here; every remix, B-side and even 7″ edit that Duran ever released is here, along with some unreleased remixes and demo versions that, in one instance, are absolutely mind-blowing.
Look at those pups. Leather pants! Warhol bed head! Don’t let these old pictures fool you, though; these guys could play. Indeed, they even rocked at one point in time. Time to get in the wayback machine. First stop: 1981…
Duran Duran: Duran Duran
RIYL: New Romantics looking for the TV sound
Rio is largely considered to be the Duran Duran’s watershed moment, but one could make a very strong case for their eponymous debut as the best album they’ve ever done. There isn’t a duff track in the bunch, and the album’s three singles (“Planet Earth,” “Girls on Film,” “Careless Memories”) are pound for pound the best batch of singles from any album in the band’s catalog. The most interesting facet of the album in retrospect is how well balanced it is; everyone gets their chance to shine, from John Taylor’s slinky bass lines to Nick Rhodes’ icy, flanged keyboard treatments to Andy Taylor’s forceful guitar riffs. It is the marginalization of that last one that would prove to be the band’s undoing down the road.
The new remastering job adds the high end that the original recordings lacked, though it feels as though the songs lost a little groove in the process. Still, as iPod-era mix jobs go, it works. And if the remaster job wasn’t enough to get people to pony up for a new copy, the bonus disc surely will. We’ve never found demo versions or unreleased recordings of songs to be particularly interesting (the lone exception: the Beatles’ Anthology collections), but the AIR Studios versions of “Girls on Film” and “Tel Aviv” have to be heard to be believed. Recorded in the summer of 1980, the specter of ’70s rock, both of the classic and art variety, permeates these tracks. “Girls on Film” is filled with gargantuan guitar riffs, and “Tel Aviv,” well, it’s not even the same song that appears on the album. It begins as a wistful ballad in 6/4 time, only to morph into a full-scale Roxy Music freakout at the two-and-a-half-minute mark, and back to the 6/4 stuff 90 seconds later. It’s a jaw-dropper, and one wonders if that version of the band still exists in some parallel dimension. The other demos are not too dissimilar from the final versions, though the version of “Planet Earth” here has a third verse. Who knew?
If you’re enticed by the claim of “unreleased” remixes of “Planet Earth” and “Girls on Film,” relax. They’re nearly identical to the Night Versions that you know and love. The DVD contains all of the videos from the album, all of which are on the “Greatest” DVD, along with a handful of TV appearances, most of which are lip sync jobs. The band’s appearance on “The Old Grey Whistle Test,” though, is a keeper.
Duran Duran: Seven and the Ragged Tiger
RIYL: Using it, bruising it, losing it
Only two years removed from their debut, Duran Duran’s third album completes the transformation from rock band to pop act, and while the band was never more successful than they were here, time has not been kind to Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The backup singers, the percussionist…it all seems a little silly now, doesn’t it? In truth, the band could have released any old piece of junk at this time – and some would argue that they did – and it would have sold like hotcakes, but in their defense, the band did brew up a few truly great tunes. “New Moon on Monday” is arguably the band’s most underrated single, and “Shadows on Your Side” contains that dark edge that made earlier songs like “Night Boat” so haunting. And “The Seventh Stranger,” for all its bombast, is still a hell of a closer.
Ah, but whither Andy Taylor? His presence is seriously downsized here, to the point where repeat listens to “I Take the Dice” – not recommended for the faint of heart – do not reveal a single guitar lick. His power chords were replaced by scratch guitar riffs, and he gets one solo. No wonder he was so eager to form the Power Station. Also, while “Union of the Snake” and “The Reflex” are two of the band’s biggest hits (the latter is one of their two #1 singles), neither has aged well, at all. Nile Rodgers did a great job of giving “The Reflex” some punch for the 12″ single, but the album version, well, is pretty lame.
Why give the album three and a half stars, then? For the bonus bits. Every remix and B-side from the period, including in-between single “Is There Something I Should Know?,” is here, and the DVD includes all of the music videos (and two versions of “New Moon on Monday”), as well as Russell Mulcahy’s film “As the Lights Go Down,” which chronicles the band’s tour supporting this album. The album itself is a three-star affair, but the extras kick it up a notch, as it were.
Arcadia: So Red the Rose
RIYL: Art for art’s sake, money for God’s sake
In stark contrast to Seven and the Ragged Tiger, So Red the Rose, the Duran spinoff group formed by Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor while John and Andy formed the Power Station, has held up remarkably well. Yes, Alex Sadkin’s production leaves much to be desired, namely the lack of a bottom end to these songs. (Once again, Nile Rodgers came to the rescue and remixed third single “The Flame.”) But “Side II” of So Red the Rose remains a fascinating listen. With Andy out of the way, LeBon and Rhodes were allowed to explore their art rock tendencies without resistance, and in the process created three songs that bested half of the album their idol Bryan Ferry released the same year. “Election Day” and “Goodbye Is Forever” were the radio hits, but they’re the least interesting moments here. “Keep Me in the Dark” is the band’s love letter to Roxy Music’s Avalon, and “El Diablo,” which inspired the pen name for “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody, is as theatrical a moment as the band’s ever made.
Keeping with their goal to include everything from the era, the 7″ mixes from the album’s singles, even the import singles, are tacked onto the end of Disc I, along with “Say the Word,” which appeared on the soundtrack for “Playing for Keeps.” Disc II is remixes, remixes and more remixes, including the import mixes of “The Promise” and “Rose Arcana.” (On a personal front, we were thrilled to see the Yo Homeboy mix of “The Flame” and Early Rough mix of “Election Day” included.) The DVD contains “The Making of Arcadia,” which features lengthy pre-production footage of making each promo video, and then the video in question. This includes the videos for “The Promise” and “Missing,” which MTV never showed at the time. This is worth watching for two things: the video for “The Flame,” where LeBon plays the Barry Bostwick character in a murder mystery, and the pre-video footage of “Missing,” where director Dean Chamberlain is wearing one of the gaudiest shirts ever made.
Next up: Duran’s next two albums, Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). One has to think they’ll stop there, though they could certainly fill a bonus disc and DVD with material from their 1993 Wedding Album. Either way, we’re guessing that Liberty will not be given the reissue treatment, and to be honest, it’s just as well. (Capitol 2010)
Duran Duran MySpace page
Click to buy Duran Duran: Special Edition from Amazon
Click to buy Seven and the Ragged Tiger: Special Edition from Amazon
Click to buy So Red the Rose: Special Edition from Amazon
Here’s a great photo of Slash as he performs at the sixth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert to celebrate Women In Recovery, held in honor of former first lady Betty Ford and the Betty Ford Center at Club Nokia in Los Angeles last week.
Rockers and politicians are no strangers to each other of late, with top artists like Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Will.I.Am and more campaigning during the last two presidential elections. But punk and heavy metal icons like Slash, X’s Exene Cervenka, Motorhead’s Lemmy, Kiss’ Ace Frehley, Nashville Pussy’s Corey Parks, Billy Corgan and the Runaways’ Cherie Curie appearing at a tribute to former First Lady Betty Ford is a different kind of event altogether.
The incredible lineup honored the wife of late President Gerald Ford at the Grammy Foundation’s annual MAP/MusiCares concert, held at L.A.’s Club Nokia. Even Ford’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, the current Chairman of the famed Betty Ford Center, a home for drug and alcohol treatment, was in disbelief. “I’m really proud of that and the fact that she is being honored by this group even though she is 92 years of age,” Ford told Spinner before the event. “It’s a real honor for her that they acknowledge her and what she’s done for women.”
RIYL: P.O.D., Soulfly, Black Sabbath
Diamond Eyes delivers a concise, effective and heavy record. The Deftones have been the most interesting band to emerge from the ’90s and has consistently delivered music that entertains, provokes and never bores. Currently in heavy rotation, the title track is the perfect opening to an excellent 41-minute ride. Alternating between Sabbath-esque deep riffs and a soaring chorus, “Diamond Eyes” sets the tone for the rest of the record.
The evolution of Diamond Eyes needs to be noted. Originally, the Deftones started recording a still-unreleased record titled Eros (as a follow up to 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist) but shelved it shortly after bassist Chi Cheng was in serious car accident, leaving him in a coma. Feeling the need to go in a completely different artistic direction, the band started constructing Diamond Eyes. With Cheng’s condition unchanged, Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega stepped in, played on the current record and is a touring. One would expect a bunch of songs about the angst surrounding the tragedy; instead the lyrics are more abstract and enigmatic while accompanied by the atmospheric, heavy and borderline progressive arrangements. Occasionally, the music is reminiscent of a much heavier and hookier Pink Floyd (on cuts like “Sextape” and “976-Evil”) but Chino and the boys offer enough guitar crunch to meet your metal jones and the record has just enough screaming to be effective without being obnoxious.
Diamond Eyes is akin to the brilliant P.O.D.’s 2008 When Angels and Serpents Dance, which was an example of a band evolving, perfecting and deepening their sound. Diamond Eyes is the same. The Deftones have a unique sound, most of it due to Chino Marino’s hypnotic vocals contrasting with the harder arrangements. Marino can scream, hit the highs and flat out sing when he feels like it. Diamond Eyes is satisfying enough at 41 minutes but leaves you wanting just a bit more. Isn’t that the way it should be? (Reprise 2010)
The last in our five-part series, where the festival puts the ‘jazz’ in Jazzfest.
Delfayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, WWOZ Jazz Tent
I was the first one up after obtaining maybe five hours of sleep, and I quickly rushed back off to the fairgrounds. It would have been nice to get more sleep, but I didn’t want to miss Delfayo Marsalis. The skies were still overcast and threatening rain, and it misted throughout the day. But, in a great gift from the music gods, it didn’t actually rain until about 20 minutes after the end of the festival.
The tent was packed for this 1:35 pm set and rightfully so, as the trombone ace from New Orleans’ first family of jazz led a 15-piece horn section through a set of swinging jazz numbers with a classic and classy vibe. Younger brother Jason Marsalis played drums and the set featured one crowd-pleasing number after another, with round after round of applause. This was the best jazz set of the weekend in this reporter’s view.
Ellis Marsalis, WWOZ Jazz Tent
Pianist Ellis Marsalis followed his son’s group with his own quartet for another great set, again featuring Jason Marsalis on drums. The songs were a little more subdued than Delfayo’s set, but the playing continued to sparkle. Jason delivered a stellar drum solo during one tune that won a huge round of applause, while all the band members soloed with great skill on a superb reading of “My Favorite Things.” It’s too bad that Wynton and Branford couldn’t be summoned for an all-Marsalis family jam, but getting to see Delfayo and Ellis in succession with Jason was another great Jazzfest treat.
The Dead Weather, Gentilly Stage
Jack White led his new group on drums in a hot set before a big crowd in the mist at the Gentilly Stage. White is a snappy drummer and every project he’s involved in oozes the blues, but the Dead Weather mix that old school blues vibe with a heavy indie rock sound that is just plain tantalizing thanks to lead vocalist Allison Mosshart. The former singer of the Kills appeared as some sort of dark, avenging angel, and she captivated the crowd on every tune. The new “Hustle and Cuss” featured a groovy syncopation that went over well. The set peaked with “Treat Me Like Your Mother” from the band’s first album, a flat-out bad-ass rocker that saw the energy soar as Mosshart owned the stage. White also played guitar on one tune, treating fans to some of his bluesy shredding, before he and Mosshart sang a duet on a slow, dark simmering blues to end the set in haunting yet breathtaking fashion.
Los Po-Boy-Citos, Lagniappe Stage
I never would have found this hidden gem of a stage inside the racetrack concourse if a friend hadn’t pointed it out, and I was glad he did. It’s one of the most intimate stages, but easy to miss if you don’t venture into the concourse. It’s got a little courtyard with the stage in the center and Los Po-Boy-Citos were funking it up in a big way. You could take advantage of seats to relax, or dance in the middle of the courtyard as many fans did.
Wayne Shorter Quartet, WWOZ Jazz Tent
This was a highly anticipated set for anyone who is a fan of the sax legend’s seminal work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and with Miles Davis on several mid-‘60s classic albums like ESP and Miles Smiles. It was a tough call for funk fans since the Neville Brothers were on the main stage at the same time in the festival’s final time slot, but I’d never seen Shorter before so I had to check some of this out. The quartet features Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez, and is surely a great unit. But it seemed liked it was taking them a while to warm up, as the first 20 minutes of the set were of a slow, ambient variety. If this had been in another time slot I probably would have stayed. But I was still feeling energized from the epic Galactic show the night before and felt like some high-energy music was necessary to close out the fest. I also wanted to see Cyrille Neville again, so I made my way over to the main stage.
The Neville Brothers, Acura Stage
The New Orleans legends were funking it up to a big crowd on the classic “Iko-Iko” when I arrived, with Cyril Neville leading the way on vocals and percussion. “Hey Pocky Way” and “Fiyo on the Bayou” kept the funky good times rolling, as the band of brothers did their best to pump up the crowd on what was now becoming a dreary day. The band was rocking, although they definitely were not approaching the energy that Galactic had been putting out. These guys are all over 60, however, and their voices still sound great. But I definitely felt blessed to have caught Cyril Neville doing his thing with a backing band like Galactic the night before.
A friend advised that I catch some of the Wild Magnolias at the smaller stage that had featured brass bands all weekend, saying that the group was a great one to close out the festival with. After a while I decided to take a look.
Big Chief Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias, Jazz & Heritage Stage
This band of Mardis Gras Indians was funking it up big time with a high energy sound that had the crowd moving and grooving. With their elaborate costumes and funky sounds, it was plain to see why this group is considered a local classic. It was amazing to think that all this music was going on at the same time – not just Wayne Shorter, the Neville Brothers and Wild Magnolias, but also the Radiators, B.B. King and Richie Havens as well. So much music, so little time.
I’d been to New Orleans before, but never for Jazzfest, which caused me to fall in love with the Big Easy all over again. There’s no doubt that Jazzfest is one of the greatest music events in the world, at least comparable with any other festival. Many would argue that Jazzfest is the greatest festival of all and it’s definitely something that any serious music fan should make a point to experience. Viva New Orleans!
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