Seven and the Ragged Tiger

*Seven and the Ragged Tiger* is the sound of a band fully embracing their superstar status. Duran Duran\'s third album finds the Brits sanding off their quirkier edges and moving toward a more overtly commercial sound. Not that their earlier albums were exactly avant-garde, but the artier, more obscure cuts on the first two records find no parallels here. This album is a straight-up radio-friendly pop party, from the earworm \"why-yi-yi\" hook of \"The Reflex\" to the cosmopolitan funk groove and serpentine, sensual vibe of \"Union of the Snake.\" That the band pull it all off with such class shows the level of pop mastery they\'d achieved.

For the first time since 1992,Rolling Stone'sdefinitive classic returns to the scene, completely updated and revised to include the past decade's artists and sounds. When it comes to sorting the truly great from the merely mediocre, the enduring from the fleeting,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideprovides music buffs and amateurs alike with authoritative guidance from the best voices in the field. Filled with insightful commentary, it not only reviews the most influential albums of all time, but also features biographical overviews of key artists' careers, giving readers a look at the personalities behind the music.This fourth edition contains an impressive -- 70 percent -- amount of new material. Readers will find fresh updates to entries on established artists, hundreds of brand-new entries on the people and recordings that epitomize the '90s and the sounds of the 21st century -- from Beck to OutKast to the White Stripes and beyond -- along with a new introduction detailing changes in the music industry.Celebrating the diversity of popular music and its constant metamorphoses, with thousands of entries and reviews on every sound from blues to techno,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideis the only resource music lovers need to read.

Despite the fact that Seven and the Ragged Tiger couldn't match the unrestrained pop/rock ebullience of 1982's Rio, Duran Duran put three of the album's singles in the Top Ten, taking it to number one in the U.K. Even though "The Reflex" gave the band their first number one hit, there's an overabundance of fancy glitz and dancefloor flamboyancy running through it, unlike "New Moon on Monday"'s straight-ahead appeal or "Union of the Snake"'s mysterious, almost taboo flair.