Duran Duran / As The Lights Go Down

Paul, about which shows were used for this release. This show was released online in 2010 (as you mention) but also released as a fanclub-release DVD in 2016. Discogs has the following notes from the DVD : “Recorded live at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, USA – April 14, 1984 & N.E.C., Birmingham, UK – June 13, 1984.”

As you mention ab0ve DD did three shows in Oakland on 12,13 & 15 April 1984. Interestingly though, setlist.fm also lists 14 April 1984 with the following note : “Special afternoon set for a limited number of fans to shoot a concert video.”

Has Duran Duran ever even been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? This has to be the biggest oversight of the Hall.

This looks like yet another tester from a label or content owner to see how well a ‘limited’ product does in the secondary market to see if it’s worth releasing again in larger form or quantities. My girfriend who loves DD saw this and said ‘neat, but why don’t they just put out the whole shows?’. I guess some old music business habits die hard, and slowly. Cynical-sounding I know, but honestly in this day & age anyone producing any physical music product should just go ‘all or nothing’, especially in this care where the band & label have a chance to really treat a particular decades’ worth of recordings properly if they would just get started and start a campaign properly. Fingers crossed…..

…speaking of 90’s Duran Duran…

“Thanksgiving Live – The Ultra Chrome, Latex and Steel Tour” just popped up on the US iTunes store. It appears to be the complete show (it even includes to Opening Music + Intro before Medazzaland)

I managed to get the vinyl release that corresponded with the last record store day, but I was under the impression it may not have been a totally legit ‘official’ release

I’ll have to pick this up for sentimental reasons – I was actually at one of those three shows. Pricey, though.

Couldn’t agree more with you regarding the neglect of their 90’s catalog. I’ll be honest though and say that I’m not sure how economically viable it would be for the label to do it. I’m a massive fan of theirs and love their 90’s output but I’ve never personally spoken to another fan who liked that period. In most cases it turns out they really hadn’t listened to much from the era and just skipped it out of hand and never doubled back. Either way, this post is the largest collection of people I’ve ever heard of expressing love for the period, sad as that is. I’m in the States though and the 90’s material might have been bigger in Europe.

If what I suspect is true and economics are to blame then I wouldn’t mind a reissue of their classic era again, even minus the bonus content to some extent. The last round was sound awful, even worse than the original pressings which weren’t perfect to begin with. My point being that if it’s not going to work financially for the 90’s era to be revisited then at least get the 80’s era improved sonically. In the era of terrible sounding digital tracks it really pains me that what’s out there now could end up being all she wrote.

Unfortunately / fortunately for the band. I think a proper SDE of the 90’s stuff would sell more than a new album. There’ a huge amount of demo’s out there from 1990 -1997 as well as countless remixes & this is literally crying out to be released & perhaps more importantly reassessed by the wider public & music media. I think the band would welcome a reassessment of this time period! It’s long overdue! I was lucky enough to have been in New York when “Medazzaland” was released so was able to acquire it on CD. They went “alternative” ‘ it was a great album. I don’t want Vinyl, I don’t much care for downloads unless I have to so come on Duran Duran, give us what we want, we actually pay for your music!!!!!!

“The band’s entire 1990’s output (including the unreleased-in-the-UK Medazzaland) is now so neglected that surely there’s a case for alerting social services. ”

^ Very good turn of phrase there.

You have every right to be mad at Duran Duran, Paul. The band needs to get their act together and give the fans reissues. If they do not care then I can purchase another artist’s reissues.

For Record Store Day, this is nice. It is a nice item but not “essential” or new or rare content, so it fits the bill, I guess. I just wish they would stop with the etching thing. Put on some of the other recordings as bonus tracks… nobody needs to stare at a blank side of vinyl for too long. I’ve seen this from Human League, Depeche Mode, and more… but I don’t know who really cares for this sort of thing.

I am glad to see DD are progressing on the new album.

I do wish they would have continued with the album box sets from Liberty onward, in some fashion… though it is true that we got most of the b-sides on the boxes of singles… but those have all been out of print for a while now… and they kept the real b-sides for the Wedding Album off of that box set, too. At least one would think the Wedding Album in deluxe form would do well with b-sides, remixes and a dvd of videos and a live show. I would buy it, easy. I think most Duranies would.

I hope to see the Dvd of this concert, it was issued as a bonus Dvd on the deluxe edition of “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” but is out of print and have crazy price on ebay and discogs

I understand wanting blowouts of the band’s albums, but there should be no complaints about a deluxe edition from this particular era. The 2010 box set of Seven and the Ragged Tiger was very well done. Disc 1 was the album. Disc 2 was the B-sides, mixes and some live performances. Disc 3 was a high-quality DVD of this very show featured above, along with the music videos and Top of the Pops performances. There was a poster and high-quality pics of the members to boot. The band and label basically already gave you what you’re requesting.

I can’t believe this will be any different from the audio thats on the original Lights go down TV special or subsequent DVD release. So that will be all the “visual audio cues”.

You all know the story. For the Arena movie, the Oakland concert was filmed and then only so much of the live concert footage was used for the movie. Subsequently the live concert footage was put back together for the 57 minute TV special.

Depeche Mode did the same thing with the 101 movie and the Rose Bowl concert footage. Guess it was a “thing” back then …

Can’t wait to hold it!

It seems Duran Duran do not give a damn to the remaster reissue program. The first album will be 40th in 2020. Let’s wait for something to happen to the whole back catalogue then.

31 comments and no laughabout the mental picture of the reissue dyke? Duran are all too serious obviously but cracking line!

kind of pleased there is nothing in the rsd to really tempt me to queue and that is someone who IS a morning person!

Most DD fans are a bit older and hence still buying cd’s as opposed to getting into the digital thing. At least looking at myself and my friends, we are the 80’s crowd that loved DD back then and still buying CD’s today.
Anyway, sounds like DD will not be putting out any SDE’s any time soon. Shame, and missed opportunity, as probably half of this community would buy their stuff no questions asked.

If they go to the trouble of making great artwork, why not release the whole concert, in order! The people who presumably will buy this are serious DD fans & completists & if I bought records still that is what I want. As for the last lot of reissues in the little boxes ( going way back in ancient history… ) for “Notorious” & “Big thing” , they were great! Great extras & never released on DVD concerts & postcards. Could’be been more comprehensive ( band documentary of the time period / replica tour programmes / demos ) but nonetheless, pretty good. This is a band with a lot of collectors who would buy a well done boxset to the standard of the Tears for Fears & Simple Minds recent ones. Maybe, just maybe it’s all being kept back for next years 40th anniversary. I hope to god they don’t cock that up because if they do, they might as well pack it in.

Torn between ‘its a new Duran product’ and ‘but its something they’ve already released and I bet it will be £40 and itll be at least 2x on eBay, I hate RSD x 10….’. At least Warners are showing some interest but I think the ‘Ask Katy’ response was a nail in the coffin – they just aren’t bothered. Such a shame when the average Duranie needs more of the 1980 demos, the original SATRT / ITSISK mixes, Don’t Look Back, the Arcadia missing instrumental, the missing Big Thing album remixes in the can – and that’s before Reportage and the rest of the 1990-now period!

I’m looking forward to this. Taped the show off the telly back in the day and subsequently transferred it to DVD. It was a good set list, albeit with the video for The Reflex dropped in.
If it is close to the £30 mark then that’s the nature of the beast; it won’t stop me buying it. From the rumours about this year’s releases, this might be one of the diamonds in the rough

God we need a decent Singles collection. All the singles in their UK single versions in chronological order over 2 CD’s. Mastered properly. Obviously that would include the excellent and very long forgotten ‘Burning the ground’!

The problem is that the digital version is completely ripped from the audio of the As the Lights Go Down live show as found on the Ragged Tiger boxset. As such you get the annoying interludes and extra audio missing such as tiger roars and policemen etc, as seen on the film. I’ve got a funny feeling they wont have gone back to the existing audio. They never fixed the missing first note on the Seventh Stranger Arena reissue, never fixed Girls on Film and so on. Hopes are not high.

Surely the worst album cover ever?

Two consecutive RSD releases from Duran Duran might mean that Warner might be interested in reissuing all their back catalogue? Hopefully they could start from scratch, taking care of the audios, artworks, and the still-to-be expanded/reissues of their 90s albums. It would be a dream come true for all Duran Duran fans and collectors.

There are certain bands and artists who, while their peak period might’ve been in the 80s or 90s, seem to think they’re still relevant and current and don’t wish to dwell on the past. Springsteen churns out so many new albums, yet his fans probably wish he would slow down! And does anybody really go to see the Stones to hear new material? But I guess it’s something the band feel they need to do to justify still going. They must tire of only playing old hits and they want to move on and do something new.

For some, it’s welcome. Each new Sparks album just gets better and better. And The Divine Comedy have continued to produce solid material, long after the 90’s hits dried up. But for the likes of Duran Duran, I feel, whether they like it/accept it or not, their fans will always love their 80’s and 90’s material and will be lukewarm to their new offerings. And their fan base are of the generation that would still buy a CD reissue, not just stream on Spotify. They’re fools to themselves.

Whatever I want to buy on RSD is too damn expensive so I always go home empty-handed.

It’s supposed to be a boost for record shops. In reality it just leads to an undignified scramble to post things on eBay.

If this was £14.99 or even £19.99 I might consider it. But I bet it’ll pop up at between £34.99 and £40, so again too rich for me.

Has anyone noticed that the record sleeve design is very similar to New Order’s Procession/Everything’s Gone Green 7″ Single released back in 1981?

They should go back and redo the reissue campaign from scratch starting next year or the year after, the CD/DVD combo the remastering was shot to bits, tinny and shrill just like the Spandau one’s (done by the same tone deaf person).

Not sure what fan base Duran will be aiming towards in next 20 years as most of us and them won’t be here anymore and what legacy will they have left? None perhaps. I guess they don’t care and in the end the fans won’t care.

Doing quality reissues, vinyl and otherwise would be strongly advised. If not directly by the band, then appoint someone who is a fan, runs a website and knows a thing or two about writing liner notes and going through the archives to achieve a fan worthy product.

Nick Rhodes looking as comfortable behind a stack of keyboards as Andy Fletcher ever did…

I have the digital reissue from a wee while back, it is perfectly fine I guess. Shall we have a raffle to guess the price? Put we down for £39.99…see you in the queues

I had the Madison Square Gardens concert from Radio 1,on tale for years & I’ m sure I have it on CD too. Bootleg of course! Now can we please have all the 90’s albums reissued / re packaged in all singing all dancing box sets?!I suspect that’s what the fans REALLY want if anyone connected with the band actually pays any attention… Yes, that means CD box sets!

It’s a bit of a weird one this as the album is pretty much the same as the reissued “Arena” live album. The order of the tracks is different as is the actual mix (percussion is much higher in the mix), but essentially the same album. However, the reissued and remastered Arena album (with bonus tracks RIO and Girls On Film) was really poor. The sound quality was like a wet blanket, unlike As The Lights Go Down.

With regards to DD reissues, a question was posed by a fan on their website (“Ask Katy” section) where they asked about the later material receiving a reissue on CD:

Those Special Edition CD/DVD’s that the band put out for the first five albums were amazing! Do the boys plan to release these same Special Editions for their remaining albums? Adam P. Cray

“Hello Adam, we have always tried to meticulous about our packaging and especially re-packaging wherever we do control the releases. Regarding CDs, as the format is now fading, it is unlikely that record labels will do many special editions. In fact, vinyl is much more likely at this stage. Personally, I still love beautiful products. Even though the world consumes most music digitally now, there is nothing quite like a records so I am at least happy this format is growing in popularity again , particularly amongst audiophiles. Nick”

Disappointing to say the least. As we know, there is still life in the old CD, especially Super Deluxe editions. My disappointment also applies to their recent output; collaborations with “hip” artists that do nothing but dilute the band’s sound and that take an age to produce. Two albums in nearly ten years is pretty poor. At least an EP or two would be nice. As a long-time fan of the band, my love for them is slowly fading.

This is certainly a very nice looking release for Duran Duran vinyl collectors for RSD –
hopefully it’s not too expensive like a lot of these RSD releases often are.

Aren’t these 11 live performances the same recordings that were previously issued on
different editions of the Arena live album? – ie. I think it’s essentially the same tracks
as the 2004 remastered Arena CD, minus the Wild Boys studio recording…

Yes, I did question Paul’s comment that the audio of as the lights go down had never been released. It was released digitally and in fact is still available on iTunes for £6.99.

It DOES look superb but like you say Paul – why not revisit the whole back catalogue? Don’t they want our money?? Also why are these releases usually only vinyl?? Record shops sell CD’s too so make it available on CD too! In fact make it an across the board vinyl/CD/DVD/BR release available everywhere! (NOT vinyl and CD in one package though please!) I hate these ‘hipster’ releases!

it looks great but why only 11 tracks and nothing on side 4

Track listing doesn’t seem too different to the ‘Arena’ album. Would’ve liked at least a couple of different tracks (New Moon On Monday, The Reflex)

I also want the Dvd!!!
(the one in the deluxe edition of “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” is out of print and on ebay and discogs the price is crazy for this edition)

I’d have prefered a besides record store day release much the same as madness did last year

Probably the same audio as this 2010 digital release:

https://www.discogs.com/Duran-Duran-As-The-Lights-Go-Down-Live/release/3467923

Really looking forward to this one – it looks lovely too. God bless Duran Duran!