ARCADIA - SO RED THE ROSE

Arcadia was a side project by Duran Duran members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor undertaken while the band was on break.  The sound of the music is virtually indistinguishable from Duran Duran at the time.  I remember reading somewhere that Arcadia was the best Duran Duran album they didn't release.  And in many ways, this ranks up there with the best Duran Duran material.

Right off the bat you get the big hit single 'Election Day'.  I can't even begin to tell you how often I see this song online listed as a Duran Duran track.  People just don't think of it as anything but.  This is a fantastic song and to make it even more brilliant than it already is, flamboyant pop diva Grace Jones appears on this track to deliver a spoken word bridge halfway through the song.  Her presence takes this track from amazing to A-maz-za-ing!!!! 

'Keep Me In The Dark' starts off with some tense Asian sounding chords.  It evolves into a full on song with a decent melody and Le Bon delivers a soulful vocal performance.  You can hear his yearning and desire.  I think this is a great number for showing off his skills as a singer.  There are all kinds of blurps and blips throughout the song and they're wonderful.  I enjoy the arrangement from start to finish.

Around this same time, Duran Duran recorded a track for a James Bond film, 'A View To A Kill'.  I know that was the title of the movie and the song is pretty good.  But honestly, 'Goodbye Is Forever' is far and away the best Bond theme song that never was.  Not only is it an awesome title for a Bond movie, but it's so thematic.  The tune swells and churns through an orchestra synth chord sweeping behind the vocals making the entire song intensely dramatic.  I can't listen to this song and not imagine it as a Bond theme.  I just can't.

'The Flame' begins with Le Bon singing.  Once the music kicks in, you get some interesting sounds but frankly, this is a song I'm not overly impressed with.  It's not bad, but it doesn't stand out either.  Next up is 'Missing'.  This minimal sounding track is light and mysterious.  Even the saxophone sounds like a piece of percussion on this number.  It all kinda clinks and rolls along while Simon seems to call from a distance.  Honestly, this song reminds me of Tears For Fears and I can almost hear them singing.

'Rose Arcana' is a segue introduction to 'The Promise'.  It sounds like drums, chimes and gongs playing outside of an ancient Chinese temple.  A thin, delicate synth line kicks in and suddenly you're enveloped in sound.  Arguably the best song on the disc, 'The Promise' is a 7 minute mood that washes over you like an uncontrolled feeling.  Fear, despair, sadness...  "Heaven hide your eyes, Heaven's eyes will never dry".  It's a piece of musical magic and Sting appears as a guest vocalist backing up Le Bon on the chorus.  This pairing is astounding and utterly harmonious.  I remember this is a song I heard on an old radio program called "Rock Over London".  It came on once a week and would play New Wave songs by British bands.  I used to sit in my mom's bathroom holding the radio antennae because that was the only way I could get a clear signal and hear the program.  This was one of the songs I heard on that show and I fell in love with it.  I bought this album years later because I'd always loved this song and I wanted to have it in my collection.  I've enjoyed Duran Duran, but I never felt obsessive about them the way I have with other bands.  Still, Arcadia presented me with a chance to jump on and jump back off.  I still have some Duran Duran albums I really love and I'll eventually buy them.  That's beside the point and I'm rambling now.  I just can't think of more good things to say about this amazing song.  It's truly a great moment in pop music history.

'El Diablo' is the 8th track on this disc and it starts out sounding like a gypsy violin and then transforms into a pop song with South American flute playing.  This song reminds me of the Duran Duran tune, 'Cracks In The Pavement'.  I lose interest in it because I actually prefer 'Cracks In The Pavement' to this and 'El Diablo' sounds like a cheap copy to me.  I hate to say that because I find the disc very compelling, but I can't get past this one.  By far, my least favorite track on the disc.

The final track is 'Lady Ice'.  It sorta has a spooky start with a lot of ambient background noise playing over a sustained keyboard note.  It's a very somber sounding piece and even the small twinkle sounds that emerge sound sinister.  After some dull explosions, the basic song takes shape and you get a swelling synth motif rising and falling behind Le Bon's distant sounding voice.  At this point, we feel like we're on a battlefield after the fighting has ended.  The chorus almost feels like sun breaking through a dense cloud cover.  The tune never breaks with its soft, gradual tempo.  It's a fitting final track and for some reason, when I listen to it, the picture on the front cover of the CD seems to make perfect sense.  She is the 'Lady Ice' and all of this has happened at her bidding.  Everything kinda fades away and you're left wondering if it was all just a dream.

I think Arcadia was a highly effective side project for these band members and it's probably my favorite of all music released by Duran Duran or its members.  I think it's brilliant and I highly recommend it.  My final words:  A SINGLE SHOT OF PERFECTION FROM A BAND OF 80'S SUPERSTARS!  NOT TO BE MISSED.

ARCADIA - SO RED THE ROSE
01. Election Day
02. Keep Me In The Dark
03. Goodbye Is Forever
04. The Flame
05. Missing
06. Rose Arcana
07. The Promise
08. El Diablo
09. Lady Ice

TRACI LORDS - 1,000 FIRES

Traci Lords...  Who doesn't know that name?  She's infamous.  Of course for a gay kid, she was infamous in a fabulous way.  I was more impressed that she fooled an entire industry rather than turned on by her.  So for me, Ms. Lords was more of an icon.

At the time this album came out, I was really into Juno Reactor.  I was desperate for new material.  I'd search online for any and all information concerning them.  When I found out about this disc I was a bit shocked.  For a couple of reasons.  1) I realized I already had it.  I'd been given a copy at a release party, and 2) I hadn't listened to it.  I immediately put it in and for that year... 1995 or 96, this record was everywhere.  At least in Vegas.  'Control' and 'Fallen Angel' mixes were played at clubs and the songs appeared on movie soundtracks.  Traci was everywhere.

I think you can probably tell I like this record.  Both 'Control' and 'Fallen Angel' are amazing songs and both are collaborations with Juno Reactor.  An instrumental version of 'Control' appears in the "Mortal Kombat" film and 'Fallen Angel' appears in "Virtuosity".  The third track is another Juno number, 'Good-N-Evil'.  The change on the third is different and relies on some strange beat counts.  The music incorporates a horn sound giving it an old film score sound.  There's a bass heavy synth sound droning along under the main beat that drives the song forward.  I like it, but it's unusual.  Next up is 'Fly'.  She did this one with Babble, a band formed from members of the defunct 80's trio, The Thompson Twins.  'Fly' lacks a lot of the rave quality of the first three tracks and mellows the album out quite a bit.

'Distant Land' could be considered the first ballad of the album.  Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones is up to bat for this one.  The tune is subdued and mellow.  It's followed by another Juno Reactor collaboration, 'Outlaw Lover'...  I kinda consider this song the forerunner to 'Pistolero', a Juno track from one of their albums.  It's actually quite exciting and I love it!  Next up, you have another Babble tune, 'I Want You'.  One thing you start to realize quickly is that Babble and Mike Edwards all contribute slower beats and more trippy tunes than the rave material Juno Reactor provide.  

'Say Something' is about as fast paced as it gets for Mike Edwards.  It's a lightly arranged tune and quite groovy.  I really like this tune.  'Father's Field' is a collaboration with Babble and tells the story of a young woman being raped in a field.  It's a stark and abrupt.  The subject matter alone is controversial.  Whether or not the song is autobiographical is unknown, but if it is...  Very disturbing.  'Okey Dokey' rounds off the album and is Mike Edwards final cut.  It's a loose, fast paced, fun little number with nonsensical lyrics and Lords giving an impromptu Oscar acceptance speech.  It's light-hearted and completely at odds with the previous track.

So Lords is a complicated woman.  She transitioned from the porn industry to make an even bigger name for herself in other media genres.  She's smart, talented and if this album gives us any indication, she's deep and thoughtful.  Instead of taking the sure bet by creating dreamy dance tunes with happy-go-lucky subject matter, she challenges us with controversial tracks like 'Control' (which basically suggests getting over a broken heart by surrendering your will to another person....  Hardly standard or traditionally accepted form of treatment), and 'Father's Field'...  Wow.

One thing is certain, Lords is not going to be held to any standard we can think of.  She'll choose to challenge and defy.  In the grand tradition of Grace Jones, I think Lords could have a very successful career in music if she stayed focused on it.  My final words:  AN AMAZING FRESHMAN EFFORT...  LET'S SEE MORE.

TRACI LORDS - 1,000 FIRES
01. Control
02. Fallen Angel
03. Good-N-Evil
04. Fly
05. Distant Land
06. Outlaw Lover
07. I Want You
08. Say Something
09. Father's Field
10. Okey Dokey