Duran Duran - Big Thing (CD)

All Music Guide

Big Thing is Duran Duran's most disappointing album, mainly because the band sounds cold and extremely isolated from their music. Both "I Don't Want Your Love" and "All She Wants Is" made it into the Top 40, but the album only climbed as high as number 24 on the charts. For Big Thing, Duran Duran chose novelty over pop conventionalism, giving "I Don't Want Your Love" a tawdry, unkempt feel that does emit droplets of pop charm, while "All She Wants Is" grinds and clanks along with a rather unfavorable tempo, which gained most of its attention because of its unorthodox style. Duran Duran was now making music apropos for seedy burlesque parlors while surrendering their pop roots, which many fans just couldn't get used to. Big Thing is short on inviting melodies, attractive rhythms, or hooks of any sort. Instead, the band opted for femme fatale lyrics and emotionless rhythms, lost in a bizarre no-man's land of danceclub pop/rock. Outside of the two singles, both "Do You Believe in Shame" (...a number 30 hit in the U.K.) and "Lake Shore Driving" hold up the best, but efforts such as "Palomino," "Too Late Marlene," and the title track lack an established feel, sounding more like experiments than rock songs. Throughout the whole of Big Thing, Duran Duran seems more interested in stringing together ambiguous, unconcentrated musical utterances than creating any form of pleasurable music. - Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide Read more Less