Arena (album)

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Arena
Arena cover
Live album by Duran Duran
Released November, 1984
1 June 2004
Recorded 'around the world 1984'
Genre Dance-New Wave
Length 47:54
Label Capitol Records
Producer(s)  ???
Professional reviews
Duran Duran chronology
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
(1983)		 Arena
(1984)		 Notorious
(1986)


Arena is a live album by Duran Duran, originally released worldwide in 1984 (see 1984 in music), and reissued with two bonus tracks in 2004, (see 2004 in music).

Contents

[edit] Background

To cap off the band's highly successful 1983/1984 "Sing Blue Silver" World Tour, EMI released a live album, which according to the sleeve was "Recorded Around The World 1984".

The album featured most of the band's big hits in a live environment, as well as some album tracks from Rio (1982) and Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983), and a new studio track "The Wild Boys" produced by Nile Rodgers, who had previously remixed the single "The Reflex".

"The Wild Boys" single was issued with six separate covers - one featuring each individual band member and one of the band collectively.

At the time of release, critics were suspicious that the mix was too polished for a live album, as most of the audience was muted. The unique song arrangements and adlibs like "Is anybody hungry?" indicated that this was indeed a live effort.

Other criticism arose from the omission of some of the band's biggest songs like "The Reflex", "Girls On Film" and "Rio". However, Arena still managed to peak at #6 in the UK (November 24) and #4 in the US (December 1).

The album was eventually re-issued 1 June 2004 and included two bonus tracks "Girls On Film" and "Rio".

Arena would be the only full-length live Duran Duran release until the 2003 Encore Series of official bootleg recordings from shows in Japan and the West Coast of the USA.

[edit] Further events

Capitalising on the band's success, EMI turned the album's release into a multimedia event. The concert film Arena (An Absurd Notion) on long form VHS was quickly followed by The Making of Arena. These videos featured Duran Duran performing live in Oakland, California between Apr 12-15, 1984 while Milo O'Shea reprised his role as the evil Dr. Durand Durand from the movie Barbarella (1968).

The Arena video also featured the extended video for "The Wild Boys", as directed by Russell Mulcahy. It was meant to be a teaser for a full-length feature film of the same name, based on the 1971 novel "The Wild Boys: A Book Of The Dead" by William S. Burroughs. The film would never get made.

Also released during this period for the Arena multi-media event were a board game called Into The Arena, a series of collectible cards, the tour documentary Sing Blue Silver and a book about the tour featuring photography by Denis O'Regan, also called Sing Blue Silver. Both the Sing Blue Silver documentary and Arena were reissued on DVD in 2004; the Arena DVD features The Making Of Arena as an extra.

[edit] Other live material

Two further live cuts from the 1984 world tour were released as B-sides to singles in 1984: "New Religion (Live in LA)" on the North American single for "The Reflex" and the live "Cracks in the Pavement (1984)" on "The Wild Boys".

"New Religion" was recorded 9 February at The Forum, Los Angeles, and "Cracks in the Pavement" was recorded at the 5 March 1984 show at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. This is the same concert where the video for "The Reflex" was filmed.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] 1984 release

All songs written and arranged by Duran Duran.

  1. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:34
  2. "Hungry Like The Wolf" – 4:01
  3. "New Religion" – 5:37
  4. "Save A Prayer" – 6:12
  5. "The Wild Boys" – 4:18
  1. "The Seventh Stranger" – 5:05
  2. "The Chauffeur" – 5:23
  3. "The Union Of The Snake" – 4:09
  4. "Planet Earth" – 4:31
  5. "Careless Memories" – 4:07

[edit] 2004 Reissue

All songs written and arranged by Duran Duran.

  1. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:34
  2. "Hungry Like The Wolf" – 4:01
  3. "New Religion" – 5:37
  4. "Save A Prayer" – 6:12
  5. "The Wild Boys" – 4:18
  6. "The Seventh Stranger" – 5:05
  7. "The Chauffeur" – 5:23
  8. "The Union Of The Snake" – 4:09
  9. "Planet Earth" – 4:31
  10. "Careless Memories" – 4:07
  11. "Girls On Film" – 5:59
  12. "Rio" – 5:55

[edit] Singles

  • "The Wild Boys" (October 1984)
  • "Save A Prayer (Live from the Arena)" (January 1985)

[edit] Personnel

Duran Duran are:

Also credited [Live material]:

  • Jason Corsaro - engineer and mixer
  • George Tukto - engineer
  • Duran Duran - producer

Also credited ["The Wild Boys"]:

  • Nile Rodgers - producer
  • Jason Corsaro - engineer and mixer
Duran Duran
Simon Le Bon | Nick Rhodes | John Taylor | Roger Taylor
Andy Taylor | Warren Cuccurullo | Sterling Campbell
Discography
Albums and extended plays: Duran Duran | Rio | Carnival | Seven and the Ragged Tiger | Arena | Notorious | Big Thing | Liberty | Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) | Thank You | Medazzaland | Pop Trash | Astronaut
Compilations and remix albums: Decade: Greatest Hits | Greatest | Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran | Strange Behaviour | Singles Box Set 1981-1985 | Singles Box Set 1986-1995
Singles: "Planet Earth" | "Careless Memories" | "Girls on Film" | "My Own Way" | "Hungry Like the Wolf" | "Save A Prayer" | "Rio" | "Is There Something I Should Know?" | "Union of the Snake" | "New Moon on Monday" | "The Reflex" | "The Wild Boys" | "A View to a Kill" | "Notorious" | "Skin Trade" | "Meet El Presidente" | "I Don't Want Your Love" | "All She Wants Is" | "Do You Believe In Shame?" | "Burning The Ground" | "Violence of Summer" | "Serious" | "Ordinary World" | "Come Undone" | "Too Much Information" | "Perfect Day" | "White Lines" | "Out Of My Mind" | "Electric Barbarella" | "Someone Else, Not Me" | "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise" | "What Happens Tomorrow" |
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