40 years ago (12 November 1984) in 1984, Duran Duran released their first live album, Arena.
Arena stands as a fascinating artefact of Duran Duran’s ascent to global superstardom. The live album, released by Parlophone, marked a pivotal moment in their career, capturing their explosive stage presence during a time when they dominated charts and teenage bedrooms alike. Despite being a live album, Arena isn’t merely a snapshot of concert performances—it’s a curated experience, polished in the studio to reflect the dazzling spectacle Duran Duran delivered onstage.
For many fans, the album’s centrepiece is “The Wild Boys,” a newly recorded studio track produced by Nile Rodgers. Its pulsating rhythm and audacious energy propelled it to number two on both the UK and US charts, ensuring Arena wasn’t dismissed as just a contractual obligation. The album itself peaked at number four in the US, making it their highest-charting album there, and it went on to sell over two million copies worldwide.
Duran Duran’s shows in 1984 were visual feasts, with state-of-the-art light displays and on-screen visuals bringing their music videos to life. As Stephen Thomas Erlewine aptly noted, the band’s reliance on these visuals limited the musical variations between live and studio recordings, leading to live performances that were near replicas of the originals. This meticulous attention to consistency was mirrored in Arena, where the live tracks retain the gloss and precision of the band’s studio work. However, as Erlewine points out, Simon Le Bon’s occasionally winded vocals hint at the sheer physicality of performing such a high-energy set.
Critically, the album sparked mixed reactions. Smash Hits reviewer Dave Rimmer gave it a respectable 7 out of 10, albeit with a backhanded compliment about its lack of “any kind of live feeling.” Nevertheless, fans embraced the album for its ability to bottle the adrenaline of a Duran Duran concert. For all its polish, Arena remains a vibrant showcase of their early ’80s hits, featuring tracks like “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save a Prayer,” and “The Union of the Snake.”
Adding to its mystique, Arena was part of a multimedia onslaught. The conceptual concert film Arena (An Absurd Notion) blended live footage with surreal narrative elements, highlighting the band’s flair for drama and theatricality. For those seeking a purer experience, As the Lights Go Down, an edited version of the film focusing solely on the live performances, stripped away the excess. There was even an Arena-themed board game, underscoring the band’s cultural ubiquity.
While some critics dismissed the album as inconsequential in the band’s discography, others, like the team behind Brutally Honest Rock Album Reviews, celebrated its energy and tracklist. Their 2021 retrospective review hailed Arena as “a triumph of style,” praising its ability to encapsulate the Duran Duran phenomenon in its prime. The review rightly pointed out that the live versions on Arena breathe new life into the songs, with Le Bon’s vocals brimming with an emotive quality that can sometimes be masked by studio perfection.
Indeed, the tracklist is a well-curated journey through the band’s greatest hits of the era. From the urgent cry of “Please, please tell me now” in “Is There Something I Should Know?” to the haunting allure of “The Chauffeur,” the album underscores the strength of Duran Duran’s melodies. Even tracks like “Careless Memories” gain a rawer, more dynamic edge in their live renditions.
Musically, Arena highlights the band’s underrated musicianship. While their early reliance on sequencers and programmed elements might have raised doubts about their live abilities, these performances reveal a group of skilled instrumentalists. John Taylor’s propulsive bass lines and Nick Rhodes’ lush synthesiser textures anchor the band’s sound, while Andy Taylor’s guitar work injects a rock edge that cuts through the sheen. Roger Taylor’s drumming adds an urgent backbone, ensuring the live arrangements retain their punch.
The production, overseen by the band and additional engineers, does smooth out the rough edges, but it’s a compromise that pays off for a band so intrinsically tied to a sense of polish and glamour. It’s also worth noting that this was the final album to feature Duran Duran’s original five-piece line-up before the group splintered into side projects like Arcadia and The Power Station.
Forty years on, Arena occupies a unique place in Duran Duran’s discography. While it may not hold the critical cachet of Rio or the emotional resonance of The Wedding Album, it remains an exuberant celebration of a band at the height of their powers. Whether you approach it as a nostalgic throwback or an introduction to their early hits, Arena is a vivid reminder of why Duran Duran were once the quintessential pop stars of their generation.
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