On hearing things that others aren't due to a better quality recording, some of that might be how people are listening to music. My nephews listen to music, but the concept of putting on headphones, laying on the bed or sofa, closing your eyes and ~listening~ to the music is a foreign concept to them. People aren't hearing things in the music, because they aren't listening the same way a lot of us did back then.
The perfect album, Brian. Just perfect. The intro for the opening track (Rio) was created by Nick Rhodes when he threw metal rods onto the strings of a piano. The sounds were recorded, but then reversed and slowed down to create that incredible, unique sound we all love. You are absolutely right, the album was heavily remixed for the American market when it was first released in the US, so the version you grew up listening to was very different from the original UK version from 1982. It was remixed by David Kershenbaum and he moved Simon's voice, David's words, 'front and centre'. I think the version I'm used to and the one remixed in 2009 has the guitars, drums, synths and bass much more 'forward' in the mix... but I could be wrong!
As an European I prefer the UK version. The mix is great, groovy and perfect for this music. Thanks to Colin Thurston. P.S. Rio was my first favorite album and I still like it.
I think you hit the nail on the head. People just didn’t know what to do with them. They were “too pretty” to be serious, brilliant musicians. I freaking LOVE this album. “New Religion” is my absolute favorite. That funk is fabulous and I guess that’s why I love NOTORIOUS so much. The beloved “Save a Prayer” is the song/video that snagged me into being such a huge fan. Definitely no skips on this album. I was recently listening to my original RIO on vinyl and I didn’t remember “Hungry Like the Wolf” having such a long intro. I know the Re-Mastered RIO on Spotify doesn’t have that nor does my Re-Mastered CD. I understand where you are coming from on hearing a different sound on Apple Music. If I really want to hear everything, I have to play the song on my iPhone with headphones. I usually use Spotify. Thanks for another great review.
Apple Music has a deluxe version of Rio that includes that awesome long intro version of HLTW that you speak of. It’s something like a full minute and change before Simon comes in.
I think the secret weapon of this album is how strong the lesser known tracks are. Of course it has the big famous hits but it’s astonishing how well crafted album tracks like New Religion, Hold Back the Rain, Last Chance in the Stairway, and The Chauffeur are. Brilliant album!
Awesome video Brian! My favorite DD album… so that makes it my favorite album PERIOD. Also has my 2 favorite Duran songs… Last Chance on the Stairway and The Chauffeur.
Great video as always Brian. Rio is an absolute masterpiece. Iconic singles / videos / and imagery on album artwork. Has a really good constant flow through the album and in my option the magnum opus of Duran Duran albums. Can’t fault any track on the album with no weak tracks in there just pure perfection. Bring on So Red the Rose my 2nd fave album of Duran/Arcadia.
When was the last time that you heard an ocarina on a song? "Wild Thing" by the Troggs comes to mind. The ocarina on "The Chauffeur" is absolutely brilliant.
@@janetskelton4196 Their debut has a lot of post-punk/new wave vibes. I love it! "Anyone out there" is the best song and the bass lines are driving the groove home.
Rio Is a modern masterpiece even tho it's 40 years next year. it's simply pop perfection. Every track on could've bn a single The weakest track is my own way but that's still great song. From drums to bass to driving guitar to synths. This is when duran were a rock band with synths. My favourite DD album LOVE IT 👍👍👍👍👍
It's funny nowadays to read some considerations about "Hold back the rain" made by Nick. He said that the album has been recorded too hasty (In those weeks they were going on sleeping just 3 hours per night btw) so he consider his synthesizer part in that song, a bit approximate. He could never forgive himself for that.
If Duran Duran was a new band, they would be called alternative and probably never cross over. Case in point: listen to any alternative station and the bands are heavily influenced by them or bands influenced by them. They've later admitted that pushing the teen idol thing here is what gave them the rep. At the time it was seen as a way to be popular.
Last Chance on the Stairway is my fave DD song of all time. Super dope!!! I prefer the heavy guitar rock version of Hold Back the Rain on the American album vs the Euro synth dance version on the UK album. The Chauffeur is a BRILLIANT ending to the album. RIO is nearly everyone's fave DD album.
'Last Chance on the Stairway' is still such a fave of mine. 'Rio' has always been an album that I put on when I'm having a bad day, probably because it reminds me of simpler times back when I was kid and, really, it's just a fun album. In fact, I once got a speeding ticket to 'Last Chance...', because I was blasting it and singing along...and was going too fast! LOL Anyway, I think 'Last Chance...' REALLY captures musically the theme of the song -- meeting someone you're attracted to at a party, feeling awkward but elated by it like a high, and then later replaying your conversation and thinking about what you wish you would've said instead. I just TOTALLY FEEL that when I listen to it, especially that sublime last verse with the 'Wonder why...what makes me rise so high?' bit. SO GOOD.
(I don't know how I forgot about 'The Chauffeur', as that was my fave Duran song growing up! Such a masterpiece! Yeah, while not my personal favorite album of theirs -- that's 'Big Thing' for me -- it's hard not to go on about how freaking amazing 'Rio' is as a collection of songs and I wish it got more kudos than it does.)
I love Rio and I love Duran Duran. The album is flawless and probably their greatest work. But if you are looking for the album of 1982 it’s got to be ABC The Lexicon Of Love..... perfection💜
So excited for this one! Oh, and I have to say, while I grew up on the US Kershenbaum mix* and there's some sentimentality for that one for me, I MUCH PREFER the original mix, especially because Kershenbaum really buried a lot of John's bass in the mix, like in a song like 'Hold Back the Rain' where it's front and center in the UK mix, but barely there in the US mix. 😡 I was so happy that was remedied in the later CD version for the US, which was the original UK mix. * Funnily enough, in the early 80s my dad was still working for Capitol Records at that time and the promo version of the LP that I had from him was different than both the regular US version AND the UK version (verses were rearranged, some songs were shorter or longer, etc). I remember when I was 14 -- around 1987 -- and finally bought the US tape of the album (as I usually just used a recording of the vinyl in my Walkman) and was like: 'Woah, wait! These songs are all wrong!'. I told my then-best friend -- another fellow hardcore fan -- and played her the tape and she thought it sounded normal. So, then I bought my vinyl over to her house and we played that and she was stunned it was so different! So, yeah, all that to say, there's SO MANY versions of the 'Rio' album, that it's kinda funny! 😆
@@RedMugMusic Yeah, he was just in distribution, but we had a wall of records at home because of it! Probably why I became a music geek so early. But yeah, he started up in Pennsylvania (where he's from and where I was born) and that's why we all ended up in Atlanta in 1976 (when I was 3), he was transferred to the Capitol warehouse that was just off 85 and N Druid Hills at the time. I even learned to ride a bike in that parking lot! But with the advent of MTV, record sales basically plummeted and that warehouse closed back in 1982-83 or so and he went on to a less cool, normal warehouse-manager-for-a-clothing-store (Marshalls, I think) job -- LOL!
Even though Liberty will ALWAYS be my favorite DD album RIO was the 1st album that made me a fan of their music. For me its the videos. I had a VHS tape that had their 1st 10 videos. I absolutely fell in love with Lonely in your nightmare but the version that adds in some black and white footage. The scene where John walks up to the bench and sits down across from the model in the video is a favorite moment 4 me. As a collector of their music I have every video they have ever released with the exception of Arcadia's Say the Word video. I was not aware that the US vinyl pressing of RIO is different from the cd. The alternate version of Hungry Like the Wolf with the long keyboard intro is far superior to what we hear on the radio. My only complaint with the cd reissues are the box sets. I wish they would have released RIO like the other clamshell boxes but they released it as book style with a separate DVD box set. The Arcadia release was released in a cd fat box which also us different. Weird choices for releases that are basically the same. 2 cd and 1 dvd
RIO is almost a perfect album for me. Some oddities keep it from being perfect for me, though. I had seen the "Off the Record" concert prior to getting the album, so I was familiar with the single version of "My Own Way" first. That being the case, the album version feels a bit sluggish, like the album is set to the wrong RPM. That is an eternal struggle for me. Also, the version of "Save A Prayer" used for the video had much better pacing, but that version has never been released officially to my knowledge. Another very odd thing is that they released several versions of this album with different mixes. My personal LP has the extended version of "Hungry Like the Wolf" on it, as well as a different mix of "Hold Back the Rain." The official CD and remastered versions have a keyboard overlay in several parts my album didn't have, so that also always throws me off a bit. Isn't it funny how all of these decisions by the band or the label have made me feel like the album is now "less perfect" than it probably is? Loved this video, love hearing your take on the songs. Regardless my issues, it's still an album that is perfect to listen to from start to finish, without skipping a single song.
I very often here warping when listening to this album. It’s not enough to bother me a whole lot so I let it go. But I don’t hear anything that makes me think sluggish. But me listening to it on Apple Music with the lossless audio may help that quite a bit. If I listen to my LP version I probably wouldn’t think the same.
A lot of people say it's a "perfect" album. It's not a perfect album (for me). The one track that makes it less-than-perfect is, "Last Chance on the Stairway". I put "All You Need Is Now" and "Medazzaland" before this. I will always remember the joy and awe during this period with the songs, videos, and video album. So, so, life transforming for me.
@@RedMugMusic I get you my friend 😀 Great review. Musically and melody wise Rio is one the greatest albums of all time. It's simply a faultless piece of music from beginning to end. It sounds like nothing if heard before or since and nothing sounds like it before or since Its Unique. If you get me 👍
Best album but only for the USA version of this. Songs are better "detailed " (best album in history od music with Notoriuos, Wedding, Be here now (Oasis) and Please (PSB))
Rio is a awesome album but it was way over played by me and on radio. I like the first album more. "Save a Prayer" was taken from Gordon Lightfoot "if you could read my mind love." If you listen to the Gordon Lightfoot you will notice the similarities between the two songs. New Religion sounds like a Pink Floyd song. Rio is a awesome album but way over played. It ranks #2 IMO. I really don't need to rediscover Rio because it plays out in my head and heart.
I *love* the first album. It has a kind of roughness to it and lacks the polish of Rio, but that's part of the charm to me. I certainly love it more than Seven and the Ragged Tiger
The album of my lifetime ❤️
On hearing things that others aren't due to a better quality recording, some of that might be how people are listening to music. My nephews listen to music, but the concept of putting on headphones, laying on the bed or sofa, closing your eyes and ~listening~ to the music is a foreign concept to them. People aren't hearing things in the music, because they aren't listening the same way a lot of us did back then.
I have Rio behind the Beatles with Rubber Soul and Revolver as my third favorite album of all time.
The perfect album, Brian. Just perfect.
The intro for the opening track (Rio) was created by Nick Rhodes when he threw metal rods onto the strings of a piano. The sounds were recorded, but then reversed and slowed down to create that incredible, unique sound we all love.
You are absolutely right, the album was heavily remixed for the American market when it was first released in the US, so the version you grew up listening to was very different from the original UK version from 1982. It was remixed by David Kershenbaum and he moved Simon's voice, David's words, 'front and centre'. I think the version I'm used to and the one remixed in 2009 has the guitars, drums, synths and bass much more 'forward' in the mix... but I could be wrong!
As an European I prefer the UK version. The mix is great, groovy and perfect for this music. Thanks to Colin Thurston.
P.S.
Rio was my first favorite album and I still like it.
After hearing both versions I think I prefer the original
I think you hit the nail on the head. People just didn’t know what to do with them. They were “too pretty” to be serious, brilliant musicians.
I freaking LOVE this album. “New Religion” is my absolute favorite. That funk is fabulous and I guess that’s why I love NOTORIOUS so much. The beloved “Save a Prayer” is the song/video that snagged me into being such a huge fan. Definitely no skips on this album.
I was recently listening to my original RIO on vinyl and I didn’t remember “Hungry Like the Wolf” having such a long intro. I know the Re-Mastered RIO on Spotify doesn’t have that nor does my Re-Mastered CD. I understand where you are coming from on hearing a different sound on Apple Music. If I really want to hear everything, I have to play the song on my iPhone with headphones. I usually use Spotify.
Thanks for another great review.
Thank YOU for another great comment!!!
They were too pretty, to talented, to young. The critics couldn't accept it, they broke their world view.
Apple Music has a deluxe version of Rio that includes that awesome long intro version of HLTW that you speak of. It’s something like a full minute and change before Simon comes in.
@@kfitz2711 yep that’s what I’m talking about. Thanks for the Apple info.
I think the secret weapon of this album is how strong the lesser known tracks are. Of course it has the big famous hits but it’s astonishing how well crafted album tracks like New Religion, Hold Back the Rain, Last Chance in the Stairway, and The Chauffeur are.
Brilliant album!
Rio, Hungry Like The Wolf, Lonely In Your Nightmare, Hold Back The Rain, My Own Way, Save A Prayer are my favourites
Awesome video Brian! My favorite DD album… so that makes it my favorite album PERIOD. Also has my 2 favorite Duran songs… Last Chance on the Stairway and The Chauffeur.
These are two great songs!!! My favorite is New Religion.
Great video as always Brian.
Rio is an absolute masterpiece.
Iconic singles / videos / and imagery on album artwork.
Has a really good constant flow through the album and in my option the magnum opus of Duran Duran albums.
Can’t fault any track on the album with no weak tracks in there just pure perfection.
Bring on So Red the Rose my 2nd fave album of Duran/Arcadia.
Not sure about nick singing backing vocals, although he did mix the entire album.
When was the last time that you heard an ocarina on a song? "Wild Thing" by the Troggs comes to mind. The ocarina on "The Chauffeur" is absolutely brilliant.
Great channel, I enjoy it every time! And I also can not tell you, if Rio or Notorious is the better album. They are are so different and so great!
I agree that those are their two best albums with, for me, their debut album. I think those three are interchangeable on my “list”.
@@janetskelton4196 Their debut has a lot of post-punk/new wave vibes. I love it! "Anyone out there" is the best song and the bass lines are driving the groove home.
Rio
Is a modern masterpiece even tho it's 40 years next year.
it's simply pop perfection.
Every track on could've bn a single
The weakest track is my own way but that's still great song.
From drums to bass to driving guitar to synths.
This is when duran were a rock band with synths.
My favourite DD album
LOVE IT
👍👍👍👍👍
It's funny nowadays to read some considerations about "Hold back the rain" made by Nick. He said that the album has been recorded too hasty (In those weeks they were going on sleeping just 3 hours per night btw) so he consider his synthesizer part in that song, a bit approximate. He could never forgive himself for that.
If Duran Duran was a new band, they would be called alternative and probably never cross over. Case in point: listen to any alternative station and the bands are heavily influenced by them or bands influenced by them. They've later admitted that pushing the teen idol thing here is what gave them the rep. At the time it was seen as a way to be popular.
Last Chance on the Stairway is my fave DD song of all time. Super dope!!! I prefer the heavy guitar rock version of Hold Back the Rain on the American album vs the Euro synth dance version on the UK album. The Chauffeur is a BRILLIANT ending to the album. RIO is nearly everyone's fave DD album.
I Love the Song Last Chance in the stairway.
Only Word for the LP "Rio" is masterpice
'Last Chance on the Stairway' is still such a fave of mine. 'Rio' has always been an album that I put on when I'm having a bad day, probably because it reminds me of simpler times back when I was kid and, really, it's just a fun album. In fact, I once got a speeding ticket to 'Last Chance...', because I was blasting it and singing along...and was going too fast! LOL
Anyway, I think 'Last Chance...' REALLY captures musically the theme of the song -- meeting someone you're attracted to at a party, feeling awkward but elated by it like a high, and then later replaying your conversation and thinking about what you wish you would've said instead. I just TOTALLY FEEL that when I listen to it, especially that sublime last verse with the 'Wonder why...what makes me rise so high?' bit. SO GOOD.
(I don't know how I forgot about 'The Chauffeur', as that was my fave Duran song growing up! Such a masterpiece! Yeah, while not my personal favorite album of theirs -- that's 'Big Thing' for me -- it's hard not to go on about how freaking amazing 'Rio' is as a collection of songs and I wish it got more kudos than it does.)
Another suggestion
David Bowie’s - Low album rediscover
So important and so influential
That's my fave Bowie album! SOOO GOOD!
I love Rio and I love Duran Duran. The album is flawless and probably their greatest work. But if you are looking for the album of 1982 it’s got to be ABC The Lexicon Of Love..... perfection💜
I prefer arena’s version but yes it’s perfect album
So excited for this one! Oh, and I have to say, while I grew up on the US Kershenbaum mix* and there's some sentimentality for that one for me, I MUCH PREFER the original mix, especially because Kershenbaum really buried a lot of John's bass in the mix, like in a song like 'Hold Back the Rain' where it's front and center in the UK mix, but barely there in the US mix. 😡 I was so happy that was remedied in the later CD version for the US, which was the original UK mix.
* Funnily enough, in the early 80s my dad was still working for Capitol Records at that time and the promo version of the LP that I had from him was different than both the regular US version AND the UK version (verses were rearranged, some songs were shorter or longer, etc). I remember when I was 14 -- around 1987 -- and finally bought the US tape of the album (as I usually just used a recording of the vinyl in my Walkman) and was like: 'Woah, wait! These songs are all wrong!'. I told my then-best friend -- another fellow hardcore fan -- and played her the tape and she thought it sounded normal. So, then I bought my vinyl over to her house and we played that and she was stunned it was so different! So, yeah, all that to say, there's SO MANY versions of the 'Rio' album, that it's kinda funny! 😆
You dad worked for Capital Records?!? also it’s never good to bury John bass.
@@RedMugMusic Yeah, he was just in distribution, but we had a wall of records at home because of it! Probably why I became a music geek so early.
But yeah, he started up in Pennsylvania (where he's from and where I was born) and that's why we all ended up in Atlanta in 1976 (when I was 3), he was transferred to the Capitol warehouse that was just off 85 and N Druid Hills at the time. I even learned to ride a bike in that parking lot!
But with the advent of MTV, record sales basically plummeted and that warehouse closed back in 1982-83 or so and he went on to a less cool, normal warehouse-manager-for-a-clothing-store (Marshalls, I think) job -- LOL!
Even though Liberty will ALWAYS be my favorite DD album RIO was the 1st album that made me a fan of their music. For me its the videos. I had a VHS tape that had their 1st 10 videos. I absolutely fell in love with Lonely in your nightmare but the version that adds in some black and white footage. The scene where John walks up to the bench and sits down across from the model in the video is a favorite moment 4 me. As a collector of their music I have every video they have ever released with the exception of Arcadia's Say the Word video. I was not aware that the US vinyl pressing of RIO is different from the cd. The alternate version of Hungry Like the Wolf with the long keyboard intro is far superior to what we hear on the radio. My only complaint with the cd reissues are the box sets. I wish they would have released RIO like the other clamshell boxes but they released it as book style with a separate DVD box set. The Arcadia release was released in a cd fat box which also us different. Weird choices for releases that are basically the same. 2 cd and 1 dvd
Nothing to add. "Hold back" the rain is my top on the album.
RIO is almost a perfect album for me. Some oddities keep it from being perfect for me, though. I had seen the "Off the Record" concert prior to getting the album, so I was familiar with the single version of "My Own Way" first. That being the case, the album version feels a bit sluggish, like the album is set to the wrong RPM. That is an eternal struggle for me. Also, the version of "Save A Prayer" used for the video had much better pacing, but that version has never been released officially to my knowledge. Another very odd thing is that they released several versions of this album with different mixes. My personal LP has the extended version of "Hungry Like the Wolf" on it, as well as a different mix of "Hold Back the Rain." The official CD and remastered versions have a keyboard overlay in several parts my album didn't have, so that also always throws me off a bit. Isn't it funny how all of these decisions by the band or the label have made me feel like the album is now "less perfect" than it probably is? Loved this video, love hearing your take on the songs. Regardless my issues, it's still an album that is perfect to listen to from start to finish, without skipping a single song.
I very often here warping when listening to this album. It’s not enough to bother me a whole lot so I let it go. But I don’t hear anything that makes me think sluggish. But me listening to it on Apple Music with the lossless audio may help that quite a bit. If I listen to my LP version I probably wouldn’t think the same.
A lot of people say it's a "perfect" album. It's not a perfect album (for me). The one track that makes it less-than-perfect is, "Last Chance on the Stairway". I put "All You Need Is Now" and "Medazzaland" before this. I will always remember the joy and awe during this period with the songs, videos, and video album. So, so, life transforming for me.
Last Chance on the Stairway is a fantastic song. Get your head checked.
@@111highgh Look whose talking 🤣
Don't know if I've got you wrong but nile wasn't involved with band until early 84.
Right. I wasn’t implying that he was playing on this album. I just said that once he played later on his style matched up with Andy’s
@@RedMugMusic
I get you my friend
😀
Great review.
Musically and melody wise Rio is one the greatest albums of all time.
It's simply a faultless piece of music from beginning to end.
It sounds like nothing if heard before or since and nothing sounds like it before or since
Its Unique.
If you get me
👍
Best album but only for the USA version of this. Songs are better "detailed " (best album in history od music with Notoriuos, Wedding, Be here now (Oasis) and Please (PSB))
Rio is a awesome album but it was way over played by me and on radio. I like the first album more. "Save a Prayer" was taken from Gordon Lightfoot "if you could read my mind love." If you listen to the Gordon Lightfoot you will notice the similarities between the two songs. New Religion sounds like a Pink Floyd song. Rio is a awesome album but way over played. It ranks #2 IMO. I really don't need to rediscover Rio because it plays out in my head and heart.
I *love* the first album. It has a kind of roughness to it and lacks the polish of Rio, but that's part of the charm to me. I certainly love it more than Seven and the Ragged Tiger
@@richardlitchfield1387 that's why I like the first album for it's raw texture. Rio is a bit too polished but still a overall good album.