Customer Reviews

Seven & the Ragged Tiger (2 CD/DVD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

Just an early review on the 2010 remastered version of S.A.T.R.T. I had been looking forward to this for quite a while, but when I popped the CD in, I was less than impressed. My first thought was, Where did the snare go? I was hoping for this album to have a real kick, but I'm afraid it did quite the opposite. Like lots of newly remastered albums, this one suffers from severe over compression, which equals everything losing a punch and a squashed dynamic range. I have not looked at the waveforms to support this claim, but I know what I hear. I compared it to the old CD version to make sure my ears weren't decieving me, but they were not. The old version has a nice loud snare that sounds like a snare and not a tambourine (you'll hear what I mean). It also had soft parts and loud parts. The new remaster sounds kind of the same all the time. Not loud, not quiet, just the same volume throughout. It almost sounds like a third generation cassette copy you would make back in the day (remember those?). There is sort of a hiss that is present on top of the music. Normally this is the trait of a bad remastering job, which I'm sad to say might be the case here. You might find it to be ok, so don't let me stop you from buying this. This is just one man's opinion, but if you compare the new with the old, I think you will agree that this new one lacks balls.
As far as the packaging, it looks great. There's tons of B-sides,etc. I'm not the most diehardd DD fan, so I'm not sure if they missed a 12" version here or there, I'm sure others will be able to report if there is a rare version that was not included here, I really don't know. I haven't had a chance to look at the DVD yet, so I can't comment there. But I am familiar with the original CD release, and the verdict I'm afraid, is that overall this is NOT an improvement. I really wanted it to be, but it just isn't. It might still be worth it to pick up, due to the DVD and the bounus tracks, I'm not saying it isn't worth it for those reasons, but if you're main reason for picking this up is to get a great sounding remaster of a this great album, then stick with the old CD, which in comparison, sounds pretty good.

If you're a fan of the Notorious band Duran Duran, then this box set of Seven And The Ragged Tiger is a must-have! The re-released and re-mastered audio CDs along with bonus tracks and tons of near remixes sound amazing and clean. The DVD with videos from the era of this album plus a few before and after to fill the space make a great collector's item as well and are a fun watch if you want to be transported right back to the 80's to relive the bizarre era of concept videos and DD's specific anthem-style videography. Also includes some interesting throwbacks like individual mini-posters of each of the band members which came with a rare edition of the original LP album, includes the jewel case booklet from the original CD case as well. The box is well produced, neatly printed, and conveniently fits into any CD rack. Excellent buy!

I have read a lot of reviews complaining about remastering jobs and I have usually disagreed with them. This one, though, is just atrocious. The sound is so squashed that the highs are unnerving and there's no dynamics whatsoever. It's totally horrendous.

What makes little sense to me is that I picked up Big Thing and Notorious remastered and they sound good. This hurt my ears. The songs from this album sounded much better on the Greatest album. Even the bonus disc comes out worse for wear. I just don't understand how the engineers involved couldn't hear how bad they made this sound. What a waste.

The DVD, however, has an interesting show, but it appears the music isn't live or there were copious overdubs done afterward.

I've just loved to review some DD old videos, especially the movie version for New Moon on Monday. Í strong recommend it for DD fans!!!

Everything you've always wanted and more in Duran Duran. I heard tracks on there that I never heard before and they are awesome! It was worth the wait!!! GREAT JOB GUYS!!!

Sadly I was disappointed in the small amount of videos on this set. When I first ordered it, they listed all the songs that Tiger Tiger covered. In my haste - I thought it was the videos. "Tiger Tiger" is actually the concert.
While that's my fault, the next item that irked me was the packaging. The case is nice, but the disks are stored in cardboard sleeves which can scratch the edges. I'll have to move all 3 disks into cases.
If you're a fan, do buy this. It's not "Dancing On The Valentine", but the quality is breathtakingly sharp and clear. It actually more vivid than my memories of the videos.
Adding the short "movie" that New Moon On Monday was shot for was a nice bonus.

The sound on this release is just awful. It is WAY, WAY overcompressed, to the point of distortion in some places. A completely amateur job. A high school kid could do better on his PC. Seriously. The orginal dynamic range is completely squashed away. It sounds like an old cassette recording from FM radio that was recorded at too high a volume.

I actually imported "The Reflex" into an audio program and the sound wave peaks are literally clipped, not just compressed, but actually CUT OFF. No professional sound engineer should ever have approved that for a master. It's inexcusable. I am at a loss for words about how this "remaster" could have gotten approval by quality control at EMI.

My original CD release sounds MUCH better, and that is what I will listen to.

I a bit bewildered by all the good reviews here. Did these people actually listen to the CD first? Or are they just swept away by nostalgia? If you read the reviews on Amazon UK, people are very unhappy, as they should be.

On the plus side, the content is good, even if it sounds terrible. Remixes and B-Sides are all here (no demos unfortunately). But they are all over compressed as well. The DVD has "As the Lights Go Down", which I enjoyed seeing again in good quality, and all of the videos are on here (though it seems strange they did not include "Wild Boys"). So it might be worth it for "As the Lights Go Down", the videos and the TV performances, but the audio CDs are a complete disaster. I am so disappointed.

I bought the first 3 "remastered" DD albums blindly, Rio was good, Duran Duran was bad and this is abysmal. I will wait for reviews before I purchase any more in the series.

WOW, wish i would have paid attention to the other reviews about the sound quality... IT SUCKS.

i'm so disappointed, the original CD actually sounds better in my PC.