Reviews Written by Eric
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June 1, 2004
As Good As It Gets
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: Everything.
Cons: Absolutely nothing.
Five stars. I agree that this is Duran Duran's peak album. They definitely seemed to grow between their debut album and this now-classic album, without seeming to sell out or get pretentious (as the art-rock crowd is so wont to do). "New Religion" is my favorite Duran Duran song of all time (as it is with many hardcore Duran Duran fans I know). This album showcases the band's collective talent at songwriting, Simon's Morrisonesque lyrical style at its best, John Taylor's nearly godlike command of the electric bass and somehow even manages to make Andy's tepid style of guitar playing sound right for the music. There are no bad songs on this album. There are nothing but great songs on this album. The only song which comes close to being not-quite-great is the average b-side "Like An Angel," which is surprising because their overall b-side record ends up being very strong. The cover of this album is a classic, also, with a recognition-factor second only to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. ...
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June 1, 2004
Not As Bad as Some Would Have You Believe
Pros: If Nick is your favorite, this album is where it's at.
Cons: Overdone. Way overdone.
Somehow the world has turned upside down. Liberty manages to scrabble up respect for its awful collection of steamy crap while the same people who were buying Duran Duran US Tour T-shirts and dancing to "The Reflex" at the senior prom in 1984 like to pretend that they never listened to this one. It makes me angry, because this is where I jumped onto the Duran Duran bandwagon, and this is the stuff that first got me hooked. It's by no means their best, but there are only two truly awful songs on it - "I Take The Dice" and "Cracks in the Pavement." The others range from catchy to downright gorgeous but are FAR from being embarrassing like, oh, say... "Hothead?" Anyway, I give this one a 4, and I'd give it a 4 even if the only song on it was "The Seventh Stranger," because that song is one of their absolute best ever. Alex Sadkin (who also produced the gorgeous "Arcadia" debut - and I say debut, because I would LOVE to see another Arcadia album) gave this one a trademark polish unequalled - perfect for the time it was released - and this album made an indelible mark on American pop culture. ...
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June 1, 2004
Really Nifty, Experimental Album
Pros: It was right for its time.
Cons: Contains one of the worst Duran Duran songs ever written.
I have to disagree with the expert reviewer. Between Notorious and Big Thing, George Michael had released Faith and Information Society's debut album was tearing up the charts. Duran Duran's well made response to this was "I Don't Want Your Love," and the Shep Pettibone mix of this song gave the Duran's their first serious radio success since "A View to a Kill." It's not the strongest song on Big Thing, though. "All She Wants Is," is a GREAT song, an experimental and artistic endeavor which hits the mark on all levels, as far as I'm concerned. The title track is pretty experimental too - I thought this album was not their best by far, but definitely an interesting listen. The mellow tunes don't do much for me, but the melodies to tracks like "Palomino" and "Too Late Marlene" are memorable beyond question. In my opinion, "Do You Believe In Shame?" is their finest "serious" song ever. I give this album a 4 as well. I'd consider a 5 if it weren't for the truly awful "Drug," second only to "Hothead" (from Liberty) as the worst Duran Duran song ever penned. ...
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June 1, 2004
A Pretty Good Effort From a Band In Cris
Pros: Andy was still around for a few songs!
Cons: Two of the three singles released really suck.
After the fact, I really enjoy this album, but when it was released, the title-track single was misleading, because it sounded very Duran Duran-ish and the rest of the album (I thought at the time) did not, being too funky and American. Nowadays, I have to admit that songs like "Hold Me" and "Proposition" hold up very well against the rest of the body of Duran Duran's work, and that this album has an overall maturity to it that no other Duran albums have ever seemed to meet, though I'm not sure that's a good thing. "Skin Trade" is just plain stupid, but "Meet El Presidente" makes "Skin Trade" sound like the most thoughtful song ever written. Why on Earth Duran Duran chose to release BOTH of these songs as singles from an album that contained "Vertigo," I'll never know. Isn't this the point where they gave their managers the heave-ho? No wonder they disagreed with their management! Management wanted to release the GOOD songs! I give this one a 4. It is not a better album than Seven and the Ragged Tiger. As an aside, anyone else notice that John Taylor seemed to forget how to play all but the most rudimentary bass lines starting here? From this point until he quit at Medazzaland, John's bass lines show none of the creativity and punch of the work he did on Rio, and indeed, they could have been played by a monkey. ...
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June 1, 2004
Worth a Listen!
Pros: The best track is one of the best DD tracks ever.
Cons: Serious band apathy is apparent
The track of which I speak is "Playing With Uranium," one of the most sonically complex songs the band has ever done, even if it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Duran Duran that people are used to remembering from "Rio." Aside from this track, though, there are a number of sonically pleasing tracks, "Lava Lamp" and the obligatory "Ordinary World of the Moment:" "Someone Else Not Me." There's also quite a bit of the experimentation we've been used to seeing since "Big Thing," evident in spades in the track "Hallucinating Elvis." The problem is that none of these tracks sounds like anybody in the band is trying very hard, and sure enough, shortly on the heels of this album we were given the news that the original band lineup had reunited and that Warren Cucurillo was out. After "Pop Trash," no one was terribly shocked at the news. ...
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A Strong Start For A Creative Band
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpfulPros: It was the 80's.
Cons: It was the 80's.
I give this one a 4, for sheer creativity. People like to dismiss Duran Duran as "the embodiment of the 80's" but in reality they started out with quite a bit of integrity and originality. It's easy to forget that the 80's weren't reviled until after the fact, and that a world embroiled in Donna Summer and the Brothers Gibb had never seen stuff like this before. We're all too doggone jaded to appreciate just how stunning this album sounded in 1980, but it sounded stunning nonetheless, and like "Rio," Duran Duran's debut album still holds up well. They started their trend of really wonderful b-side originals with this album as well, which gave us "Late Bar," "Khanada" and "Faster Than light" - all gems. My favorite moment: "Careless Memories." ...