Duran Duran: Big Thing (Ltd. Special Edition) (Capitol/EMI) | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Thursday, September 21st, 2023  

Duran Duran

Big Thing (Ltd. Special Edition)

Capitol/EMI

Nov 02, 2010 Duran Duran Bookmark and Share


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

Rate this album
Average reader rating: 7/10



Comments

Submit your comment

Name Required

Email Required, will not be published

URL

Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below:

olz
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.