Arcadia-So Red The Rose

I personally think anyone with an interest in 80's pop should definitely let there ears get warped by the shameless extravagance displayed on this album.
The story goes Duran Duran were at breaking point after the wild success of the first three albums (Duran Duran, Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger), with two of the Taylor's (John and Andy) on the decline due to mass cocaine abuse and Simon LeBon's infamous bum-note during the 1985 Live Aid; the troupe decided to disband and go their own ways.
Duran Duran split in half (literally) with John and Andy joining Robert Palmer forming The Power Station and Simon and Nick Rhodes forming Arcadia. Roger Taylor hurt by the split, left the music scene completely.
Arcadia took the avant garde of Duran Duran and went crazy with power (and EMI's budget) making one of the most expensive albums ever made (it reportedly cost over $7,000,000 in mid-1980's money). With all of that aside there are plenty of guest appearances of the likes of Sting, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Grace Jones and Herbie Hancock.
The album itself wasn't very accessible to the general public making the album flop, therefore losing support from EMI and destroying any possibility of Arcadia being an ongoing band. This makes So Red The Rose a one off. A very special one off.
The album from start to finish is densely layered with all types of textures and melodies and Simon Lebon's vocals shine like never before. Nick Rhodes in this instance is probably at par with Brian Eno in terms of sound production and experimenting. David Gilmour's contribution to "The Promise" is brilliant, he fills the track with his trade mark soaring lead guitar. "Goodbye is forever", Election Day", "Lady Ice" are other stand out tracks to a stand out album that time has forgotten.
I suggest you listen to this album all the way through with head phones so you wont miss the instrumental layering and the dark, brooding, sexy vibe it has about it. Very Ahead of its time.