Scenes from anime shown during "Careless Memories" on Duran Duran's 2006 live tour

A couple of months ago, EMI released remastered versions of Duran Duran’s first three albums, along with Arcadia’s So Red the Rose. Fans around the world rejoiced and emptied out their piggy banks for the premium disks. For many fans, however, the joy quickly turned to bitterness… and when EMI issued a statement this week via Duran Duran’s official website, the bitterness morphed into outrage.

After some delay, consumers finally obtained the hotly anticipated reissues a couple of months ago and immediately began reporting via Amazon.com reviews and numerous Duran Duran message boards about glitches and sound compression issues. According to one poster, “These new remasters have lost all of their dynamic range, have been compressed into a big brick wall of garbage, and the high range/trebles pushed so high that it’s literally painful on the ears to listen to.” While some fans were more than happy to have things like previously unreleased tracks and the bonus DVDs, others felt duped and disgusted that EMI would release such an an obviously faulty product. Questions were asked, and vitriol was spewed. Hell hath no fury like a Duranie scorned.

This week, the following statement was posted on Duran Duran’s web site, curiously nestled in the Ask Katy feature responding to a fan’s enquiry about whether or not EMI would care to comment on the controversy :

FROM EMI: “It has come to our attention that some fans have suggested that the mastering on the recently reissued editions of ‘Duran Duran’ and ‘Seven And The Ragged Tiger’ is incorrect. Mastering is always subjective, and we acknowledge that the mastering on these versions is different to that of previous remasters, however that does not necessarily make it wrong. We have received both positive and negative comments about the mastering which is usual for any project – although those that don’t like the sound of these new records are by far in the minority. We will always take on board constructive criticism and act upon it, where we believe it appropriate, and we respect the opinions of the fans. However, in this case there have been some personal comments about the mastering engineer that were highly offensive, wholly inappropriate and unjustified.

There is a glitch due to tape deterioration in the camera clicks at the very start of Girls On Film on the Duran Duran album. Whilst this glitch is not ideal, as it is in the camera clicks and not within the main body of the music, there are no plans to replace any discs.”

While I’ve never had the pleasure of working in the EMI mail room, I’m willing to bet that they received a few more letters from folks complaining about the remastering issues than they got mash notes thanking the label for doing such a fantastic job. Combined with the already desperate opener of “just because something is different doesn’t make it wrong” argument, EMI jumped into this controversy with the wrong foot.

After the obligatory PR spin of respecting the consumer opinion, EMI continued to flounder with indignation over an engineer’s feelings being hurt. While it truly embarrasses me as a fan that someone would take criticism to a personal level, is seems wholly inappropriate to whine about it in a corporate statement. By doing so, EMI paints Duran Duran fans as naughty children who need to be scolded instead of valued, educated customers of a company that is currently in deep financial distress.

After delivering a good spanking, the final bit sends Duranies to bed with no supper. What EMI appears to be saying here is that some parts of the music matter more than others, so it’s perfectly acceptable if the less important bits are not treated with the same care as the parts that the corporation considers to be meaningful.  While remastering one of the most iconic songs of the late twentieth century, EMI could not be bothered to use an un-damaged tape (perhaps the 2002 remaster) and instead chose to release a faulty product, admit to the glitch post-release, and dismissively reject public outcry for a recall.

After executing this poorly thought out plan, I can only imagine that EMI’s mailbox will again be overflowing with letters, which according to their math will be mostly from Duranies thanking the label for respecting them as fans and honoring Duran Duran’s artistry by producing “not wrong” remasters.

In May, Nick Rhodes made some disparaging remarks about the finished products during a short Katy Kafe and stated  that the band was not consulted by EMI on the reissues. While most of his criticism pertained to the terribly unfortunate packaging of So Red the Rose, which he described as a “pigs ear,” Nick went on to say that some of the material included was “superfluous and inferior to the other tracks from the original album.” The conversation stemmed from discussion of a recent lawsuit filed by Pink Floyd against EMI for breaking the terms of its contract by not honoring the singular album concept and selling songs individually. Nick was “very, very happy” to see that Pink Floyd was victorious in the case, saying that it was “wrong of EMI to have treated it another way without getting permission, and unfortunately, that’s one of the major objections I have to the way that record labels have behaved in more recent years… they really ought to consult artists about what they want to do with the product that the artists have created.”

Conversely, in another chat John Taylor spoke of  how “fantastic” the reissues are, waxing poetic about how wonderful the vinyl edition of Seven and the Ragged Tiger sounds and how he was “knocked out by the presentation of the first three albums.” As I noted in an earlier article, this lavish praise seemed suspiciously insincere after being preceded by John saying, “I’d like to be reunited with our back catalog (which is owned by EMI). That’s the best way forward for us, so we’re going to try to make that happen.”

Former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor weighed in early on the debate with strong criticism several weeks ago via Twitter, saying “Sounds like it was done down the pub.” Posting on Facebook today Andy said, “Sad really that it comes to this – Yes mastering is subjective, but there is also a certain level of quality that one should maintain regardless of the personality of the engineer. Having said that its not right to have a go at the mastering engineer personally, because some knuckle-head okayed these remasterings and evidently did not spot the glitches… But for sure EMI should replace any bad or disappointing copies, but don’t hold your breath!!!” Andy also added, “I can’t believe that EMI, who are not exactly the most solid of labels currently, think they can get away with this… Their statement is very disingenuous & to refuse to refund a faulty product is outrageous, plus I am rather proud of our work & a little bit annoyed that they have done this, actually a lot annoyed…” Andy decided to take liberty of fixing the track himself, providing a link here .

Aside from these personal comments from individual members, there has been no official statement from the band or their management regarding the controversy. In light of this, I view Duran Duran’s decision to release EMI’s statement directly on the band’s official web site without any additional commentary or context as complicit agreement with EMI’s dismissive stance towards Duran Duran’s music as well as their fans.

By issuing this poorly conceived and inflammatory statement through, as one fan put it, such an “opaque gesture,”  both Duran Duran and EMI have ensured that this controversy will not blow over any time soon. The story is gaining momentum in the press, and the roar of indignant consumers is only growing louder. With two more Duran Duran re-issues slated for release this fall (Notorious and Big Thing) many fans will be registering their disapproval with their pocketbook, and EMI may end up with more than just their feelings hurt.

Related stories:
EMI defends Duran Duran remasters – The Guardian
EMI Defends Controversial Duran Duran Remastering After Fan Uproar – Exclaim

Contact information for EMI’s Abbey Road Studios