Customer Reviews

Arena

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

WHAT IS IT? The 20th anniversary reissue of Duran Duran's live CD, digitally remastered and with two bonus tracks: the live versions of "Girls on Film" and "Rio."

THE PROS: Thanks to the remastering, the sound quality is a huge improvement over the original 1984 recording. The bonus tracks, especially the dynamic live version of "Girls on Film," are so good that they're almost worth the price of this CD. It makes you wonder why they weren't included in the first place. And, of course, we have the Nile Rodgers-produced "Wild Boys," a killer studio track that went to Number Two in the fall of 1984.

THE CONS: With a few exceptions, the audience is eliminated from the recording. As a result, you don't really feel a connection between the band and their fans. Also, the live versions are, for the most part, note-for-note replicas of the originals, although the kickass "Careless Memories" is a true standout.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Worth a purchase only for Duran Duran fans, even if they already have the original release. While its flaws remain, the remastering is top-notch, and the two extra tracks are worth checking out.

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.

"Arena" is the only official U.S. release of a live Duran Duran music. I bought it twenty years ago and I recently purchased the remaster. I have always loved "Arena" for several reasons. For one, Simon's voice sounds awesome live. Two, it is always nice to hear your favorites songs slightly different than the way they sound on the studio albums. My absolute favorite song on the album is "Careless Memories," I love this song live. The addition of "Rio" and "Girls on Film" really make this set complete. I always wondered why they would include lesser known songs like "The Chauffeur" and "The Seventh Stranger" on this set vs. more popular songs, now we have them all. It's just a great album to listen to when driving too.

In 1984, with three studio albums under their belts - Duran Duran released their first live album called "Arena". Just four albums into their young, but successful careers - it might seem early to release a live album, however at this time Duran Duran was as hot as any group. Their last two studio albums ("Rio" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger") had made them the toast of MTV and Top 40 radio. In addition, the band had embarked on a very successful world tour, so it seemed a wise move to release the live album. This collection includes 9 tracks from that world tour as well as a new studio track called "Wildboys". A lot of people were very critical on the quintet's effort on "Arena". Some of this criticism is justifiable. Some of this criticism is unfair because there is some good work on this album that was done by the band.

First for some of the bad news about "Arena" album. Arena makes some of the fundamental mistakes that many live albums make. This main mistake is not capturing the magic of one great performance, but rather forming a "best of" compilation of live performances from the band. I find when this is done, something is taken away from the individual live performances that are on here. It also immediately takes away from the continuity and flow of the CD. Since this isn't a single performance, we aren't made aware of what would have been the opening song, closing song, encore songs, etc. If you listen to other live albums like Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance" and Rush's "Rush in Rio", these capture most or all of the live performance on CD and stick to the original flow. The result is something magical and intangible - something that "Arena" really lacks. What is worse is the studio track, "Wildboys" is stuck right in the middle of the live tracks.

Another key point is we don't know where these recordings came from. The live recordings are credited from "recorded around the world". Yes all of the tour locations are listed by the month - but no specific tour dates and no specifics on where each track was recorded from. The only exception is the studio track - "Wildboys" is credited to being recorded in London.

Unfortunately for "Arena" there are some other problems beyond the mistakes listed above. This collection just doesn't feel like a live CD. There is a minimum of crowd noise. There isn't a lot of interaction happening with the crowd (possibly the only part where there is true interaction is when Simon Le Bon asks the audience before "Hungry Like the Wolf" - 'Is Anybody Hungry?' - but even that doesn't get me doing handstands) Duran Duran had the reputation for being a very high energy band in the 1980s, yet most of this album doesn't have the high energy of a Duran Duran concert.

However, despite the shortcomings above, there are some good things to point out about this collection. The set does a nice job at balancing out the works from the 3 studio albums - 3 songs from "Duran Duran", 4 songs from "Rio", and 2 from "Seven and the Ragged Tiger". I am disappointed that "The Reflex" or "New Moon on Mondays" were not included with this collection, but I think it also was a good thing to not include too much material from the last studio album.

The opening track is "Is There Something I Should Know". It isn't my favorite Duran Duran track, but I like that there is some horn music integrated toward the end of this song. To a lesser extent, "Planet Earth" and "Careless Memories" have some nice horns that give this a new spin to these tunes. WhatI find very interesting is on "Arena" the band tends to do a better job on the lesser known tunes. Tracks such as "New Religion", "Careless Memories", and "The Chauffeur" are terrific. The more popular tracks are also nicely done - "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Union of the Snake", "Save a Prayer", and "Planet Earth". I think one of the more creative things is the segue that is done between "The Seventh Stranger" and "The Chauffeur". While these songs are from two distinct albums, Duran Duran makes them seem like one seemless song. It's hard to tell that this is a product of the editing of the collection or if this is the way they were actually performed during the Tour. I think "The Chauffeur" is the most underrated track on this collection - it really has a true "haunting" quality as you listen to it. I think the real issue where I have with "Arena" is that Duran Duran does a nice job with the music on this collection - but it could have been so much more. This could have captured the passion and energy of the live concert much more consistently.

As for the new track "Wildboys". I don't think it's the best Duran Duran track, however I don't feel it's the worst. What I do notice is that Roger Taylor's drumming becomes more promient on this track and this seemed to carry over into when they would release the James Bond soundtrack song "A View to a Kill".

As for the liner notes - not terrific. There are some pictures of each of the band members that look like they were taken for teen magainzes. There are no lyrics. The band members and studio musicians are listed, but are not credited with any instruments. As mentioned above Tour Cities are listed.

The best way to summarize is that this isn't a terrible live album, but it isn't terrific. This is a live album that could have been so much more. If you love Duran Duran, this album probably won't disappoint - otherwise, this may not be a collection of interest.

(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".

This is the live album that sounds like anything but. Cool arrangements and drama on some of the songs, like "The Chauffeur," but when I buy a LIVE album, I do so to get into the excitement of the crowd. Here.. it's just a hiss. Also, would have been better had the concert not been chopped up. Catch "As The Lights Go Down," or better yet, buy a ticket to a live show instead.

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.

First of all I want to say that I got all the duran albums and singles. This one is really the worst.
It doesn't sound live at all infact, as the durans themselves said, they recorded a lot in the studio.
There are a lot of much better live bootlegs.

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