Musical differences would come to a head when John Taylor nearly quit the group over the mixing of the song. According to Abraham John was "really upset over the decision to use a remix on the album instead of the original mix, and he did tell me once that he was thinking of leaving because of what had happened. Aside from hating the mix, he felt it diminished what they had achieved, and I think he thought using a flavour of the day sound would age terribly." And while most commentators would suggest the band’s early period – at the vanguard of both New Wave sounds and New Romantic style – as the outright pinnacle, we’d propose that there’s a range of lofty musical peaks dotted throughout their later career (and one later single, in particular, that outdoes them all). This album usuaIly gets critized because the band sounds detached, as Allmusicguide put it: "the band sounds cold and extremely isolated from their music." Detached? Much of todays pop sounds way more detached than this. Goldfrapp anyone? I think this is Duran's second best record from the eighties (my favorite is Rio, and that's a completely different sounding record). I Don't Want Your Love -- I think it's quite a mediocre song lifted by a really cool production (especially on the single version).

Big Thing is the fifth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was released on 17 October 1988 by EMI Records. Produced by the band, Jonathan Elias and Daniel Abraham, it continued the sonic musical change the band explored with their previous album Notorious (1986). We’ve chosen to disallow both covers (skilfully circumnavigating the much-maligned Thank You LP) and side-projects to avoid any squabbling, and there’s a lengthy list of cuts that were reluctantly consigned to the ‘bubbling under’ category. A few moments from Rio are also absent (well, we couldn’t include them all), and newer fare such as Face For Today and Paper Gods also just missed the boat.Lyrically, the album holds a more mature and intense passion focusing on love, lost innocence, death, and religion: "Too Late Marlene" deal with regret following the end of a romantic relationship, "All She Wants Is" focuses on materialism in a more dominant feel, "I Don't Want Your Love" as about someone who strives for attention but does not want a relationship, "The Edge of America" serves a metaphor on the band's wavering popularity and poor chart success, and "Do You Believe in Shame" goes for a more personal tone on death as the song actually pays tribute to three people close to the band that they lost at the time: artist Andy Warhol who died suddenly in early 1987, producer Alex Sadkin who was killed in a car crash a few months later, and Daniel Miles, a longtime friend of Le Bon who died of a heroin overdose during the recording of Big Thing. On the album's linear notes, the band decided to write personal dedications which was the first time in the band's history they would do such. Offiziellecharts.de – Duran Duran – Big Thing" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 January 2019. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8. Finally, a word on the remastering.It’s a significant improvement on Seven and the Ragged Tiger, and in particular Duran Duran where there was an awful glitch on Girls on Film (which EMI shamefully refused to re-press and replace).

The real surprise on Big Thing is the number of ballads (or near-ballads). And in my opinion, they're all good when they're not great. A few clunky lines (and a rather cheap sound) keep "Too Late Marlene" from being as good as it might have been, and "Land" isn't quite as deep and beautiful as I'm sure the band thought it was when they recorded it. But "Do You Believe in Shame", "Palomino" and "The Edge of America" are all great, and perhaps point the way towards "Ordinary World" a few years later.

All She Wants Is -- Weird single, and years ahead of its time. No wonder it didn't get radio play, the band were certainly too brilliant for their own good. Nonetheless, this chronological list encapsulates a body of work that – despite the ever-changing line-ups – shows a band that survived and thrived thanks to that rare ability to adapt, and with unabated confidence. Work on Big Thing began around early September 1987, while writing commenced the day after the end of the Strange Behavior Tour for Notorious in January. The band would take some time off before reconviening in Davout Studios in Paris, where they also previously recorded Notorious. These early sessions would result in the compositions "All She Wants Is", "Do You Believe in Shame", "The Edge of America", and "Lake Shore Diving". Lead singer Simon Le Bon would say, “It was amazing what came out of all that. Sometimes a little embryo of an idea can blossom into something tremendous.”

RPM100 Albums" (PDF). RPM. Vol.49, no.8. 10 December 1988. p.11. ISSN 0033-7064– via World Radio History.The album also contains two short pieces entitled " Interlude One" and " Flute Interlude" which were more experimental in nature than anything the band had done before. Duran Duran • Rio • Seven and the Ragged Tiger • Arena • Notorious • Big Thing • Liberty • Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) • Thank You • Medazzaland • Pop Trash • Astronaut • Red Carpet Massacre • All You Need Is Now • Paper Gods • Future Past • Danse Macabre

Land -- The obligatory ambitious ballad. You could argue it sounds a bit forced, but this is Duran Duran and it's from the eighties, and it's also great. To get the new music played without preconceived 'teeny bopper band' notions of Duranduran, the band sent an edited medley version of " The Edge of America" and " Lake Shore Driving" called " Official Bootleg: The LSD Edit" around the radio stations, under the pseudonym of " The Krush Brothers". The band also played a few surprise live dates under this name. Stubborn, ostentatious, experimental and above all very, very talented, Duran Duran will no doubt surprise us once more when the next project comes around. Top 40 Duran Duran songs 40 Sunset Garage, 2015 Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018 . Retrieved 3 February 2019. Duran Duran's album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013 . Retrieved 15 January 2019.

I n all honesty, this is a list that almost writes itself. Duran Duran are, after all, amongst the finest singles bands of their day. From within the grooves of 14 studio albums, containing just short of 40 for the most part magnificent singles, there’s a wide array of nailed-down perennials at our disposal. British album certifications – Duran Duran – Big Thing". British Phonographic Industry. 1 November 1988 . Retrieved 26 September 2021. In 1988 the musical climate was changing, veering to a more dance-based groove. Duran Duran were known primarily as an early 80s new wave synthpop act, and the band was sitting at a career crossroads; Big Thing was their stab at maintaining musical credibility. To further distance themselves from their earlier incarnation, the band decided to stylise how they spelt their name, shortening it to the single word "Duranduran" and vocalist Simon Le Bon grew his hair out.