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Pop Trash Duran Duran Hollywood Records, 2000
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Reviewed by Lucas Aykroyd
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The idealistic, hazy 1960s might appear to have little in common with the avaricious, polished 1980s. Yet Duran Duran's new album, Pop Trash, spans the two decades musically and thematically without striking a jarring note. Pop Trash aspires to be something Andy Warhol would have loved. The name of the album is a conscious tribute to the New York pop artist and film director, as is the line "we'll all be famous for those fifteen minutes" in the title track. Preoccupied with the disposability of consumer goods, Warhol might have relished the irony of this band's acknowledging its ephemeral reputation while simultaneously releasing its ninth original studio album in 20 years. That's more than twice the run the Warhol-sponsored Velvet Underground enjoyed (let alone poor old Nico, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage a year after Warhol's 1987 gall bladder operation went awry). No card-carrying rock critic of the early 1980s would have predicted Duran Duran would last. Back then, they were seen as MTV pretty boys. The yachts, cavorting women and exotic videos incited left-leaning writers to heap scorn on the Birmingham quintet. They weren't virtuoso musicians in an era when "chops" were still prized, and Simon Le Bon's lyrics were decried as gibberish -- although The Beatles had gotten away with "I Am The Walrus" and R.E.M.'s jabberings earned critical praise. Basically, there was a great deal of hypocrisy in terms of how Duran Duran was assessed. Bassist John Taylor could more than hold his own, as the dark, funky grooves of "Union Of The Snake" and "Rio" attest. Andy Taylor brought a riff-heavy rock sensibility to the band in hit singles like "Hungry Like The Wolf." Most importantly, the band boasted a signature sound that took Roxy Music to the (new) moon (on Monday) and back again. Today, no one would claim that Duran Duran were greater than The Beatles. They lost both edge and songwriting smarts when John and Andy left to pursue solo careers, something that's evident when you put their recent work up against the artistic triumphs of the first three albums. But to compare Duran Duran to the Backstreet Boys is ridiculous, unless you restrict the parallel to the abundance of screaming adolescent females. The little girls probably won't understand Pop Trash, but the big girls and boys may get a kick out of "Mars Meets Venus," a found art ditty that strings together the clichés from the personal ads atop a spiraling techno-rock groove. The acoustic guitar-based "Lady Xanax" floats through the consciousness of a weary socialite (and yes, Simon is looking a little weary in photos in the liner notes). "Lava Lamp" reignites the 60s and 80s vibe with its catchy chorus of "I'd love to turn you on." The centerpiece of the album, though, is the spiritual descendant of Duran Duran's big 1993 hit "Ordinary World." "Someone Else Not Me" quietly bids farewell to a relationship beyond salvage. Le Bon sells the song with his almost-cracking tenor. If there's one tune here they'll play on future tours, this is it. Perhaps Pop Trash could have used a few more "jarring notes." It's full of mid-tempo ballads and generally lacks the aggression of early Duran Duran classics like "Careless Memory," "My Own Way," and "Of Crime And Passion." But it's a welcome improvement over 1997's directionless Medazzaland. Now, if only the lads could get together, have a few peeled bananas and reunite the original lineup... | August 2000
Lucas Aykroyd covers the rock beat for Wall of Sound, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and other leading music publications. He is the author of 1984: The Ultimate Van Halen Trivia Book. |
Today, no one would claim that Duran Duran were greater than The Beatles. They lost both edge and songwriting smarts when John and Andy left to pursue solo careers, something that's evident when you put their recent work up against the artistic triumphs of the first three albums. But to compare Duran Duran to the Backstreet Boys is ridiculous, unless you restrict the parallel to the abundance of screaming adolescent females. |
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