Seven and the Ragged Tiger
This morning I was listening to Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Duran Duran’s third album. This is a unique combination of insane popularity mixed with the digital age. As I’ve referenced here before, 1982 was the last year for analog, and by that I mean exclusively analog. The digital synths took over instantly in ’83, and you can hear it here.
Also, you can hear a lot of sampling. They could afford a Synclavier or something like it. That’s why “The Reflex” sounds so ridiculous. I don’t even know how you do a riff like that. It’s like someone fell over and hit the keyboard and they kept it.
I think with all that fame and all that whatever-it-was, the songs stopped coming. That’s why Notorious, a few years later, was such a relief, knowing that they could still do it.
They’ve never had insane deep cuts after the first record, and there certainly aren’t many on Seven and the Ragged Tiger, but I would put “Union of the Snake” up against any song of the period. “New Moon on Monday” is so sweetly nostalgic. “The Reflex” is obviously kind of hilarious, but good.
There are songs on this record that I honestly don’t remember hearing, but there are pieces that I want to cut up for different parts and DJ sets because they’re so hokey and of the time.
Speaking of time, I would’ve never imagined that, out of all the bands, Duran Duran would still be going and still producing good music. I was a huge fan, always stood by them, and when you fought for stuff like that when you were young, I would definitely fight for them.
But with the third album, they were light on songs and probably not loving each other. I think one thing I’ve been able to pick up on is that Nick Rhodes never liked Andy Taylor. He probably loves him, but doesn’t like him. Anyone with parents knows what this means at different times in your life.
His wanting to rock and not be Duran Duran, but wanting to be in Duran Duran as the guitarist, his being Andy Taylor, was such a vital part of the early era of the band. When he and drummer Roger Taylor left for the next record, they were missed, but the band was also able to refresh what they were doing.
One thing this third album does do is encapsulate the sound of the times. I really did close my eyes and just kind of get taken right back to where I was then. These corny album-filler songs are really great for that on this record, so I heartily stand by the whole thing, but not for the reasons that would be immediately apparent.
I don’t know what the values are now, but you used to be able to find the vinyl records for nothing, kind of like Genesis records. There were millions printed, millions upon millions.
I bet it’s great on cassette too. I would’ve had it on record and then dubbed it.
I still think I have my copy from back in the day. I definitely have my copy of Arena, which is pretty ridiculous in itself.
And, as I like to say, that’s a whole other entry.