|
Post by josefk on Oct 10, 2019 12:39:31 GMT -5
I have been following the DD song-by-song discussion on the Steve Hoffman Music Forum, and they have arrived at the Astronaut era. It’s fascinating to read the reactions to a song like “Beautiful Colours” that did not make it on the album but is included as a proper song by the thread starter (because it was donated to FIFA I guess.) My understanding was that the band considered it only a draft or demo even though it sounds finished to my ears from the YouTube video. Of course I have no way of knowing if it has been enhanced in any way to improve the audio quality.
As part of the discussion, others have brought up “Salt in the Rainbow” as another song that should have been included on the album. This one also sounds finished to me and worthy of inclusion. However, I think the total album run time is already long enough, and there are too many mid-tempo songs on it. It is unfortunate that these two songs were not included as b-sides to the singles to at least give them a wider exposure. What do you think - are they just demos or proper finished songs in their catalogue?
|
|
|
Post by americanscientist on Oct 10, 2019 12:47:10 GMT -5
I’ve been all over the Hoffman thread and it has been a blast to revisit these songs with clear eyes instead of nostalgia. I can’t believe I slept on Medazzaland for so long.
The versions you posted are definitely demos. The live version of BC I posted on Hoffman has more guitar but better lyrics. SITC’s lyrics are also clearly first draft.
As for the album length,, cut Bedroom Toys, Point of No Return and Taste the Summmer and you could easily accommodate BC, SITR and Lonely Business.
|
|
|
Post by goldengun on Oct 10, 2019 12:52:14 GMT -5
They both sound good to me - and I have heard 3 different version of SITR (all of them have either a different beginning or different ending).
They made a mistake with BC - it should have been included on the album, and it sounded "wicked hot" when played live. AT's guitar gave it the shot in the arm the song needed.
One thing I do remember from the days of the old DD.com site, is that these demos that were released, SONY told Duran to have different songs in their place on the album, so maybe SONY shoulders some of the blame for these tracks not making it to the final cut.
|
|
trevgreg
PAPER GOD
[Mo0:17]
Posts: 2,613
|
Post by trevgreg on Oct 10, 2019 13:00:57 GMT -5
Great question! And often one that I’ve posed myself when I hear other “unreleased” tracks by bands or go through recording stuff myself.
I think for a lot of these songs, it kind of comes down to how you define a “demo”. The common definition would probably be something that hasn’t been officially released in any capacity. However, the dictionary also defines it as something that’s done musically “in preparation for a full recording.”
More often than not though, it’s used as the former and is just a way to describe a song that wasn’t released on an album or as a b-side. If you’re trying to meet the definition of the latter, I’d probably through something more in the lines of a Dream Nation or a Take It to Me more than the Astronaut songs… in other words, a rough recording or something that wasn’t really developed more to the point of mixing and mastering probably.
For stuff like Beautiful Colours and Salt in the Rainbow, I’d more or less define them as songs that were pretty much “finished”, but ultimately weren’t ones the band chose to release in the end. If they did, I’d assume they would have made a few changes and paid a few thousand to have someone like Spike Stent mix, as opposed to being mixed and mastered by an engineer in the studio (but who can do a pretty good job on it alone, just like many people in a bedroom writing on a laptop can do these days).
For Beautiful Colours, the band always said it as either "unfinished" or not quite there. And rather than literally missing a part or two, I think it just meant that they were never entirely happy with the final product, which happens to a lot of songs people write and mix correctly anyway. It's just a bit odd since they chose to play it at most of their 2003-04 gigs in the first place!
Nevertheless, I’m glad they’re out there anyway, and that we can enjoy around under a few dozen songs from that particular era of the band!
|
|
|
Post by madoldlu on Oct 10, 2019 13:32:26 GMT -5
I LOVE Beautiful Colours. Possibly my favorite from Astro (along with maybe Nice). I think it sounds perfectly complete. I actually really like the lyrics! I love the line "life isn't standard issue it's customized". I personally think it's by far the best of the demos, which I actually don't like too much.
I kinda like Pretty Ones. I think the guitars on it are FANTASTIC! But I really dislike the chorus! It just takes such a turn at the chorus and doesn't do justice to the verses. So it really takes the whole song down several notches for me. SITR, TV vs Radio, Virus are all fairly "meh" to me.
The whole Astro album was a letdown for me. I guess I had my hopes way too high with the original 5 getting back together. Really thought Sunrise was bland and trying way too hard to sound positive and anthemic. I much prefer BC as their inspirational uplifting song. I hate Simon's climbing notes in the chorus "put your haaAANDS in to the biiIIGG sky"(he does it again in Last Night In the City--UGH! Someone tell him to stop doing that!).
Anyway, I'll stop there before I rag on the rest of the album!
|
|
oakey
PAPER GOD
Posts: 2,600
|
Post by oakey on Oct 10, 2019 14:40:37 GMT -5
To me, Beatiful Colours ranks among their best work, certainly post 1993, but maybe even in their entire career. I do not hear an "unfinished" song. That song alone is of a class that is vastly superior to all the pop trash of the late 90s and even most of Astronaut (an album which I also like very much). It's a shame it is was not played on any of the 2003 gigs that were released on the Bootleg series. Comparing it to Virus, BC sounds much more like a finished product, I hate the sound effects in the beginning of Virus, whereas BC is a beatifully crafted song. Virus is decent B-side material at best.
|
|
redmumba
PAPER GOD
Nonabuser of ellipsis
Posts: 3,535
|
Post by redmumba on Oct 10, 2019 19:06:29 GMT -5
The thing with Beautiful Colours is that, besides being a great song, Simon and / or the band's assertion that the song isn't quite finished is total horseshit. I mean, if it wasn't ready, then why'd they "donate" it to FIFA? Also, the short clip on youtube titled Duran Duran - Beautiful Colors (official promo) is a different version than the demo that's out there. Start at the 39 second mark and compare. Here's the video:
|
|
trevgreg
PAPER GOD
[Mo0:17]
Posts: 2,613
|
Post by trevgreg on Oct 10, 2019 19:14:27 GMT -5
The thing with Beautiful Colours is that, besides being a great song, Simon and / or the band's assertion that the song isn't quite finished is total horseshit. I mean, if it wasn't ready, then why'd they "donate" it to FIFA? Also, the short clip on youtube titled Duran Duran - Beautiful Colors (official promo) is a different version than the demo that's out there. Start at the 39 second mark and compare. Here's the video: Yeah, they definitely had a version with the live lyric being sung by Simon in the studio.
|
|
|
Post by durandy567 on Oct 10, 2019 20:27:38 GMT -5
The thing with Beautiful Colours is that, besides being a great song, Simon and / or the band's assertion that the song isn't quite finished is total horseshit. I mean, if it wasn't ready, then why'd they "donate" it to FIFA? Also, the short clip on youtube titled Duran Duran - Beautiful Colors (official promo) is a different version than the demo that's out there. Start at the 39 second mark and compare. Here's the video: Yeah, they definitely had a version with the live lyric being sung by Simon in the studio. Does the full version exist somewhere?
|
|
trevgreg
PAPER GOD
[Mo0:17]
Posts: 2,613
|
Post by trevgreg on Oct 10, 2019 20:58:59 GMT -5
I don't believe so, no. At least anywhere we can access it.
I remember the fans being a bit surprised when that video leaked out in the first place. I believe it was a clip from the background video they would play during the song at the 2004 UK-Ireland dates.
Doesn't seem like it was much different from the leaked "demo" that came out that same year though., aside from the slight difference in lyrics during the chorus. I'm guessing the "ashes to understanding" line (vs. "ashes to supernova") probably exist in some studio take as well.
|
|