Seven and the Ragged Tiger

by

Duran Duran

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I'm a Duran Duran fan from way, way back. Like many of the reviewers here, I always felt that one of the band's strong suits had to be Simon Le Bon's lyrics. Nowhere is his gift more evident, to me, than on "Seventh Stranger." Here's just one example from that song: "A year of Sundays seems to have drifted right by, I could have sworn, in one evening."

I do think the album deserves a repeat listen lo, these many years later. I always felt that DD got a bum rap, simply because they came in on the same wave that brought in other, very lightweight, synthpop bands. But listen to their lyrics, folks. Here, they are second to none in the genre. George Michael probably still broods that he couldn't come up with comparable lyrics while in Wham!

I wish the band had decided to include "Secret Oktober" ("Union of the Snake" B side) in this album--it would have been a strong addition. The song is just over 2 minutes in length, but is a finely crafted work--again with incredible lyrics. "Racing on a shining plane--tomorrow we'll be content to watch as the lightning plays along the wires and you wonder..." It's an exquisite image.

DD was an unusual band for many reasons, not least of which was that each member of the group was good at what he did. I think that's borne out in this album, and in "Astronaut." Some bands have an instrumental weak link, but DD never did. But, because of some of the company they kept on the charts and in the clubs, somehow, a lot of the critics managed to overlook the talent, preferring to focus on their penchant for odd clothes and hair dye.

"Seven and the Ragged Tiger" is not a perfect album. But it is certainly in the top five of its genre. It also holds up surprisingly well this many years down the line. Even "The Reflex" really doesn't sound dated. The album deserves to be more than a musical footnote--it did define a sound. It's still worth a listen.

John Taylor: "We were just drunk [on our new-found success] by this point. We were so into living the dream...and part of the dream was that you made at least one of your albums on the French Riveria."

Nick Rhodes: "I thought the thing was never going to get finished. It really took a long time. There was a lot of different feelings in the band about the direction we should take."

Simon LeBon: "We started off in the south of France, then we went to Mt. Surratt, came back to the U.K. briefly and ended up finishing it off in Austrailia...Sydney. It was a difficult time. It really was."

John Taylor: "We re-recorded it like three times. We did it once and said, 'Nah, this isn't right.' Did it again, said, 'Eh.'"

Nick Rhodes: "To me that album, more than any of them, on the surface of it seems like there's a lot of pretty songs on there, but then underneath there there's this sort of not quite controllable hysteria scratching away at the surface."