Duran Duran
Big Thing (Ltd. Special Edition)
Capitol/EMI
Nov 02, 2010
Duran Duran
1988’s Big Thing is widely regarded as the worst Duran Duran album. But similar to Notorious, released two years earlier, the music on Big Thing sounds better now than it did 20 years ago. Both albums resulted in a shrinking fanbase who felt alienated by the less pop-oriented sound the band were testing out. It would have been hard for anyone to match the success Duran Duran had experienced with their first three albums. So given that Big Thing represents the group at their most experimental, it’s as deserving as any other record in the catalog of a deluxe reissue. And deluxe it is. Big Thing is preserved here as a three-disc set including the original album, singles, B-sides, extended mixes, and remixes. Disc three documents the 1988 concert Big Thing Live and the music videos for “I Don’t Want Your Love,” “All She Wants Is,” and “Do You Believe In Shame.” All of the audio is meticulously remastered and the package is rounded out with five postcards and a poster.
Lead single “I Don’t Want Your Love” remains the album’s high point and with the remastering it sounds better than ever. “All She Wants Is” sounds as clunky and uninspired now as it did 22 years ago, and the same goes for “Do You Believe In Shame.” Title track “Big Thing” pretends to be way harder than it actually is and makes for a pretty small way to start off an album called Big Thing.
Reissues of this magnitude don’t really lend themselves to any meaningful analysis. It’s a question of how well the artifact has been preserved. Big Thing works in every way a great reissue should: it looks great, it sounds great, and it’s overflowing with meaningful and relevant bonus material. (www.duranduran.com)
Author rating: 6/10
Average reader rating: 7/10
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December 4th 2010
8:47am
Well, actually Liberty is the one regarded as the worst Duran Duran album. Big Thing is a sadly underrated album, mostly because people weren’t expecting a experimental album at that time. And as with their later albums, they may be harder to digest, but more rewarding if you actually take your time to listen to them.