After a summer hiatus, we are back doing our semi-regular reviews. We’re determined to get through the catalog before the band retires permanently. (which means the band had better be planning to wait a while!) This week, we are reviewing Tel Aviv…and by Tel Aviv we mean the album version, not the original demo version that many of us have heard off of the recently released CD remasters.
Rhonda:
Musicality: I have to say that for the longest time, I just never got the point of this song. I was young (very young) when I first heard Tel Aviv, and in my eleven or twelve year old mind, I just couldn’t understand why the band would “waste” a spot on their album for just an instrumental. Funny how I couldn’t quite get it, and yet at the time I was in an orchestra myself – so it wasn’t like I wasn’t exposed to such things. Ah, the mind of the young. Nowadays, I almost treasure the instrumentals. In my opinion, Tel Aviv is quite unique because throughout nearly the entire piece, you can hear a fabulous string section and then Andy’s soaring guitar in perfect balance. It should be noted that this is the first time that Duran Duran worked with an orchestra. I can hear drums, bass…even Simon’s haunting vocals in the background behind the sequencer and keyboards. Many times since Tel Aviv, when an instrumental is included on an album, invariably there is one instrument being highlighted with others being left out. Not so with this one, and I applaud that. While yes, it’s clear that there is a melody line – I encourage listeners to spend time listening to each instrument as each adds a very clear and present voice to the story. When I think of the song, the word that comes to mind is atmospheric. While each instrument has a clear intention in the work, for me the song has this wonderfully hazy ethereal quality to it – I can just sit back, relax and let the song drift over me, taking me to somewhere, anywhere but here in the present. (Sometimes such as today, I desperately need that escape.) At 5 minutes and 17 seconds, it’s not a short song – but it’s not overly lengthy. I feel as though the songs ends as aptly as it begins – fading out into the distance.
Vocals: It’s my opinion that the mark of a truly great singer is one where the singer gets his/her point across without words – and Simon does that beautifully without fail every time. He hasn’t a single real lyric or word in this piece, but yet the vocals that he adds give this song a stunningly haunting quality without sounding contrived at all. It’s added exactly where it should be, and rather than standing out like a sore thumb – his vocals are layered softly in the background as as ghostly figure wafting above the heights. I recognize that has as much to do with production quality as it does Simon’s talent, but in this case – I firmly believe it has everything to do with Simon as a singer. His vocal quality here is remarkable, and I just don’t think any other singer could have produced the same effect. The dark timbre as well as the almost operatic quality is perfect.
Production: I think I sound like a broken record when it comes to this album – but the production is perfect. I’ve listened with rapt attention, trying to find a place where the production is lagging, overdone or simply makes an editing mistake and I can’t find a single place. I still believe that less really is more, and I believe there is something to be said for allowing the music to come together sounding seamless (I mean, who really wants to hear all of the editing and errors, am I right??) and smoothed over – but not changed and muted to the point where it’s nearly impossible to pick out instrumentation. Naturally, I’m no expert when it comes to music engineering or production – I’m just a clarinet player, and as a rule – I’m not autotuned when I’ve been recorded live. That said, I know what I like – and I miss records such as this one when, even though I am cognitively aware somewhere in my head that much production has been done, I’m not recognizing it in every measure of the music. Well done.
Overall: Back in 1982 or 1983 (whenever I first got this album – being in the states I actually bought Rio first, and then bought Duran Duran after Rio when it came out with Is There Something I Should Know included on it instead of To The Shore), I would skip this song nearly every time I put the album on the turntable. I just thought of it as boring. (How sad!!) Nowadays, there are times when I will go looking specifically for this song to play as I’m blogging, writing or even reading. I just think it’s beautiful in every way. That’s something unique, in my opinion, about DD’s music in general. I have matured to enjoy more and more of it as time has gone on. Songs that started out meaning one thing to me have since evolved, and my tastes for what I would list as my “favorites” have grown as well. While of course I have a soft spot for many of their songs that have lyrics, Tel Aviv is a song that I have come to appreciate far more now that I’m older. I love the melody line, and I appreciate the complexity of a song that has a classical quality to it that not only includes a gorgeous string section, but also keyboards, bass, guitar, drums and even vocals. It is truly stunning and a piece that fans should take the time to really listen. This isn’t a song I listen to every day, I need to be in the right mood to truly appreciate it – it’s like having a good bottle of wine rather than just a Corona Light for me, but I still find myself looking for it from time to time.
Cocktail Rating: 4.5 cocktails!
Amanda:
Musicality: One of the things I love about this first album or any album of Duran’s when they get it right is how they work to create a mood, a mood that is both inescapable and all-consuming. We talked about it when we reviewed a song like Anyone Out There or Nightboat. In my opinion, the musicality of this song fits perfectly with those other two in terms of creating a mood. AOT might give a sense of loneliness and NB might give a sense of eerie, but this one gives a sense of drama, of emotion to me. The musical quality leads me to think that this drama is playing out in the future, in space. Perhaps, the band was going after this sci-fi like quality as was fitting at the time. Nonetheless, as I listen to the very first sounds, I’m immediately transformed to a different world. Then, of course, as the song moves on the layers of instruments come in, including those strings that Rhonda mentioned building up to the majority of the song. One of the things I truly love about this piece is the ebb and flow. The music seems to build up then backs away only to build up again until the very end when the song seems to have gone over the musical cliff to an ending. It is the perfect way to end this album.
Vocals: Despite not having clear lyrics, there are definitely vocals. In fact, this atmosphere, this mood I was just talking about wouldn’t be so strong, so encompassing without the throaty moans of Simon. I wonder how that conversation went, since we now know that there were lyrics, originally. Who’s idea was it to take out the clear lyrics for these atmospheric vocals? How did they know that this kind of vocal quality would fit so well? Simon’s voice adds to this story that this song conveys and he does it well. I can almost sense his drama background in this one. Again, I can’t help but to think of some sci-fi story with the hero going through many tough, painful situations as he travels throughout space on some worldly adventure. Now, of course, all of you are probably thinking that this song makes me think ______. I’m sure that’s true. While this story of a space adventurer is what I see and feel when I hear Tel Aviv, I’m betting that there are thousands of other images that are created for people when they listen to it. That’s the beauty of good Duran. Anyway, as much as I like the version with lyrics, it creates such a different picture and feeling. In my opinion, the album version is perfection, especially with Simon’s vocals as they are.
Production: Like Rhonda, I feel like a broken record when discussing production on this album. The ability to both showcase different instrumentation while still allowing the instruments to blend to create an overall sound is probably not an easy one. Yet, the production was able to do that on this song as well. The production then went up a bit by including Simon’s vocals like this. They had to know how and where to include Simon’s moans. If not, the song would become silly and not something to take serious. This could have gone very, very badly, but, instead turned out to be a solid piece of work.
Overall: Like Rhonda, I don’t remember loving this one as a kid. In fact, I might go so far to say that it scared me in some ways. The opening sounds and Simon’s vocals freaked me out. I liked songs, at that time, that were obvious and seemed fun. This seemed the exact opposite. I don’t see or feel a lot of brightness coming from this one. Yet, as an adult, I adore it. I love most of Duran’s instrumentals but I truly do adore the dark quality of this one. The feelings it creates in me makes it so I can’t ignore it. Even if I’m not paying close attention to the song, it still affects me. It moves me to feel. The sci-fi element appeals to me as well!
Cocktail Rating: 4.5 cocktails!
oooh, I like this segment of the blog (I had to go back and read some of your back posts). As I may have admitted before, I know nothing about the technicalities of music. What does it mean when a song is “over produced”? I hear that criticism often, but I never know what it is pointing to. If you ever hear it in a Duran song, be sure to point it out. (thanks!)
I completely concur with your early assessments of this song. I alas was the same way. When I was a teen, I figured that they made it as the last song on the album because it was not all that important 😛 I never got the sci-fi vibe from it though, interestingly enough. I knew that Simon had spent time in his youth on a Kibbutz, I figured that the song was somehow related to that experience. It is very brave to include an instrumental though. They are one of the few bands that I listen to, that regularly include them.
This album is on regular rotation for me…it just never feels outdated in some respects. 🙂
We are going to try and make reviews a more regular part again. We were doing good for awhile. As for overproduced, Rhonda will be better able to describe it, but I think it sounds too perfect, too glossy. You want a Duran example: Red Carpet Massacre, the album.
This album never feels outdated to me, either. 🙂
-A
Great review! Totally agree on all counts- definitely a song that I kept at arm's length growing up but have learned to appreciate since.
I'll do you one better: for an example of over-production, see Liberty!
-Chris @poptrashed
Liberty is a great example! I also think overproduction is something that has been on the increase as time goes by.
-A
I agree with all you said. I liked it when I was a kid but I don't think I really appreciated it until I got older, especially how everything is so well balanced and the “story” the song tells even though this version has no actual lyrics. Great song.