It’s been a year!

The other day I was trying to remember exactly when I first heard All You Need is Now.  I’m horrible about dates and things like that.  Amanda is much better – I don’t know how she does it, but she keeps track somehow.  My excuse – and this is the one I honestly use on a daily basis – is that my brain is full.  Every time I ask it to remember something new, it pitches other things into the garbage bin. Sometimes this could be useless information, such as the phone number I had while growing up in my parents house (don’t really need that anymore), and other times, its things like remembering I have to take my youngest to dance class on Wednesday afternoons. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  Amanda though… she even has made a daily Duran Duran calendar for me that I use.  Each day of the year has it’s own Duran “event” that she has somehow made note of and keeps track over their history, and even though I’ve used the calendar for a couple years now, I still like seeing what each day has down as the event.  My guess (and yes, this is a HINT to my dear friend Amanda) is that it’s time to update the calendar since we’ve had a few things happen since she last printed it.  I’m so helpful, aren’t I?  😀   So, as I was wracking my brain trying to remember what month I heard the album (yes, my memory really IS that bad), I happened to come across a post or something somewhere that indicated the album had been released on iTunes last December (I thought so!).  That’s when I decided to Google the question.  (thank goodness for Google)  The song was released December 14th of last year, and the album came out on December 21st.  What a year it has been.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this year has felt like a complete whirlwind.  It really doesn’t feel like its been all that long since I reviewed the album, watched the band play at the Super Bowl pre-party thing on TV, kept track of them during SXSW in Austin, traveled to the UK the first time, sat here biting my nails all summer wondering if the band would ever be able to play again, saw a couple shows in the fall and then went back to the UK again….I’m tired just thinking about it all, and that’s just my “Duranie” life!!  It all just seems to have happened so fast, and what drives me crazy is that no matter how often I remind myself to enjoy the journey and stop looking ahead for more, its all over before I know it.  The UK tour is coming to a close, the holidays are upon us, and we’re staring into 2012…hoping for a better year.

I remember when I heard the album for the first time.  Hell, I remember hearing All You Need is Now for the first time.  I’m not an emotional person – I hate crying.  Yes, I really hate it and will do just about anything to stop the tears from coming.  Well, when I heard the song, I didn’t cry – but I did break into about the biggest grin I’ve had in years.  I remember saying to myself and even tweeting the band saying “My band is back”.  That’s really how I felt.  I’ll admit that I did find certain parts of the song a bit jarring at first – but what’s funny is that now after having seen them play it live several times, I love that song.  It’s perfect and contains just the right message for the right time.  I think *I* needed to hear that song as much as they needed to write it, and that’s the one thing about this band that I have always loved: they just seem to know what we need.   The day I heard the whole album though – that was truly epic.  Song after song, all I could think of was that they finally found themselves again.  The band had come nearly full circle and FINALLY realized that they needed to own up to whom they really were – and in my opinion, they did just that in spades.  That day, I did end up in tears.  Very big, very happy tears of joy and pride.  I love music.

The song that put me completely over the edge was Mediterranea, though.

I don’t know what exactly it is about that song that did it, but I can remember not even being able to get through the entire song the first time. More dang tears.  In hindsight I think it was the perfect blending of guitar and synth that did it.  After all of this time, they finally got it right.  They learned how to use their guitarist to their benefit and yet still allow the synths to give atmosphere in a way that only Nick Rhodes can really do. I still love that song and it completely annoys me that they don’t play it live more often although I know why they don’t – it slows the show in a way that SAP just never seems to do. (I just think they need to figure out where to put it in the setlist and how to work it to their advantage because the song is PERFECT and it showcases….well…certain members that may or may not have a 1966 Epiphone that is to die for.)  That said, I did get to hear it in Brighton and I think I soaked up as much as I could have from that performance.  However, if they wish to play it again….I’ll gladly swoon.  😀

Since I seem to be doing a bit of a retrospect here, when Amanda and I were on the train going from Birmingham to Edinburgh, I had a lot of time to just sit, listen to music and think.  I almost NEVER have that opportunity at home, so this time was welcome. I sat there looking out the window, thinking back to which song off of the album has changed for me the most in the past year.  I don’t know how to explain this very well – but basically what I mean is that when I first heard the album, I formed certain opinions rather quickly and then reviewed the songs.  Its been a year now and I think things change over time – especially when we’re talking about an album that I’ve grown to love even more now than I did when I first heard it.  So, which song has really changed the most??  I went back and re-read my reviews to see if anything has really changed.  I was actually surprised how well my reviews have stood the test of time, so I really can’t pick out any one song based on my reviews.  However, I have to say that based on pure feeling – the one song that has really changed for me is Before the Rain.  It’s still haunting, its still pure genius in my opinion, but I have an affinity for the song that I didn’t before.  Several fans have said that they don’t like this song as an opener for their live shows, and I can understand where they’re coming from, but I have to say – I LOVE IT.  I think of this song as the affirmation that all really is well in the world of Duran.  I love that it’s slightly dark and mysterious, and I do think it works for the opener.  I don’t think they have to always have this as the opening number, but for now – its beautiful.

Now, if you ask me what song in their entire catalog means something different to me now than it did a year ago…that would be a totally different answer.  If you’ve read my blogs lately, you might have a clue.  Silly guitar players….

-R