DURAN DURAN FANS GET A DOUBLE DOSE
By DAN AQUILANTE

MEDAZZALAND

Duran Duran

Musically, the pretty boys of Duran Duran helped sire the notion that substance (unless it could be smoked, shot or snorted) was the poor relation of style.

Now, after a few personnel changes and a 16-year career of perfecting their little-screen MTV look, Duran Duran is back with a new disc of their own, and there's also a tribute collection out by a gaggle of their admirers.

On the Durans' new, dozen-song disc "Medazzaland," graying fans will recognize the synthesizer chirps 'n' burps as part of the band's signature sound, while newcomers might be lulled into thinking that the beatbox aesthetic is an extension of the current English electronica movement.

As usual, the band doesn't take a chance on letting the music alone do their talking. For this disc, the band bets heavily on the album's first single, the sexy "Electric Barbarella," doing the hawking of this disc and generating additional interest in the collection.

"Electric Barbarella" is an OK yet repetitive dance-beat song. But the band is generating big buzz with today's MTV audiences, getting them hot and bothered with an accompanying video about a cyber sex doll gone wild. The video features model Sarah Stockbridge and 16-year-old Brit sensation Myka along with the Duran guys. It should be noted that Duran Duran pinched its name from the '67 film "Barbarella."

This disc is best when keyboardist Nick Rhodes eases up on his powerful synth-whine to give frontman Simon LeBon some vocal room, as on the collection's final track, "Undergoing Treatment." Here the band sounds like it's trying to tap a new dark sound. The fast-tempo bass-and-drum support is tightly woven. That combined with LeBon's whispered vocals makes for a musical drama in which the singer sounds as if he is being gentle - to finish the number without waking a nearby enemy.

Yet for all the goodness of "Undergoing Treatment" and "Medazzaland," the title track, there's a little too much dopey, tired mope here. The worst offenders are the mercifully short, electronic dirge "Silva Halo" and the acoustic, 1,000-string mush-fest "Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For."

Duran Duran fans can rejoice and rush out to nab this one. The rest of us can watch the best of this disc on MTV - the way it's supposed to be heard.

As for the tribute album, which is unexpectedly ska and thrash-heavy, it becomes clear how dated most of the Duran Duran songs are.

The best pieces on this 15-song disc are Goldfinger's version of "Rio" and Reel Big Fish's strange Sinatra-swing treatment of "Hungry Like a Wolf." Although there are two well-done covers of "Girls on Film" - one by Abba jokesters Bjorn Again, the other by Wesley Willis - the Willis project edges out the other for its "Let's-scare-the-children" attack.

Click here to go back to the articles page.

Click here to back to the front page.