Duran Duran Announce Release Of 'A Diamond In The Mind' Live DVD & CD
Tuesday, 08 May 2012
Written by Jon Stickler
Following the phenomenal success of their recent 'All You Need Is Now' UK arena tour, and the announcement that they will be representing England as one of the headliners at the BT London Live Opening Ceremony Concert in Hyde Park, to celebrate the London 2012 games, iconic British band, Duran Duran, are shortly set to release 'A Diamond In The Mind' - a recording of one of the band’s live concert performances on DVD, Blu-ray and CD.
Slated to hit stores on Monday 2nd July 2012, 'A Diamond In The Mind' was filmed and recorded at Manchester’s MEN Arena in December of last year, where the band garnered some of the finest reviews of their career.
Shot in high definition by long-time Duran collaborator, director Gavin Elder, the recording of the show will be simultaneously released on multiple formats: standard DVD, Blu-ray, CD, and the triple-pack Deluxe Edition, containing all three formats (Blu-ray, DVD & CD) in an 8 panel digipack with bonus features, and an expanded 20 page booklet, all inside a foil blocked slip-case.
The band’s first live release in almost a decade, 'A Diamond In The Mind' bristles with classic hits alongside new tracks taken from their critically acclaimed album 'All You Need Is Now', which was produced by Grammy award winner Mark Ronson and hit the Number One spot on Download Charts in 15 countries (including the UK).
Known for their epic productions, amazing visuals, ground-breaking stage sets and iconic style, this is only the second time in ten years that the band have recorded one of their concerts in glorious high definition sound and vision, giving fans a rare and unique opportunity to relive the experience.
In addition to the songs themselves, both the DVD, Blu-Ray and Deluxe Edition releases also feature interviews with the band, alongside behind-the-scenes footage of the 2011 tour, together and bonus tracks 'Come Undone' and 'Is There Something I Should Know.'
Talking from Brazil, where the band are currently on the South American leg of their world tour, keyboardist, Nick Rhodes said: “We wanted to create a dynamic, interactive show, combining new technology with edgy design. The brief for our lighting designer was 'Pixel Punk'. This manifested itself in the convergence of hi-tech screens with a powerful, asymmetrical lighting rig. The primary aim was to re-invent our songs visually and introduce material from the new album as a unique sensory experience. With this in mind, the screens were populated by science fiction, supermodels, anime, psychedelic patterns and graphic design. Four massive mechanical arms were programmed to swoop down over the stage, firing beams of light, like the aliens in War of the Worlds. And the audience was integrated with the show, as live cameras were turned on them, projecting their images behind the band. Hanging high above the stage, four giant heads presented another dimension to the production, as they came alive as band members, skulls, robots and a girl transforming into a leopard.
The show is a journey. It was already our movie, but the challenge loomed to translate this into a film that tells the same story for those who were not there on the night. In this case we used many cameras, to ensure no detail escaped. We deployed both slow motion, animation and various stylized film grades, which give the performance a dreamlike quality in places; but most of all, I think A Diamond in the Mind truly captures the widescreen energy and vibrancy of what really transpired that night, when Duran Duran played live in Manchester.”
Adding to this, lead singer Simon Le Bon said: “The 2011 UK tour was particularly significant for all of us on a number of levels. In the early part of the year, I lost my voice and we were forced to cancel several months of touring, including all of our British dates. It was a really difficult time for us as a band as we had a new album out that we were just breaking in and loving playing live. When I blew my voice out in Cannes, at the film festival in mid-May, we weren’t sure when we would be able to resume and the summer wait was long and full of anxiety – especially for me. The UK shows which were finally rescheduled for December, proved to be some of the best we’ve ever done – so the year that had been rather a roller-coaster, ended on a really high note.”
Track-listing for the DVD, Blu-ray & Deluxe Edition includes:
1) Return To Now
2) Before The Rain
3) Planet Earth
4) View To A Kill
5) All You Need Is Now
6) Blame The Machines
7) Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment)
8) The Reflex
9) Man Who Stole A Leopard
10) Girl Panic!
11) White Lines
12) Careless Memories
13) Ordinary World
14) Notorious
15) Hungry Like The Wolf
16) (Reach Up For The) Sunrise
17) Wild Boys/Relax
18) Rio
19) A Diamond In The Mind
Bonus tracks are: 'Come Undone' and 'Is There Something I Should Know'
Track-listing for the Live CD includes:
1) Before The Rain
2) Planet Earth
3) View To A Kill
4) All You Need Is Now
5) Come Undone
6) Blame The Machines
7) The Reflex
8) Girl Panic!
9) Ordinary World
10) Notorious
11) Hungry Like The Wolf
12) (Reach Up For The) Sunrise
13) Wild Boys
14) Rio
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Slated to hit stores on Monday 2nd July 2012, 'A Diamond In The Mind' was filmed and recorded at Manchester’s MEN Arena in December of last year, where the band garnered some of the finest reviews of their career.
