Big Thing (Duran Duran album)

Big Thing
Studio album by
Duran Duran
Released17 October 1988 (1988-10-17)[1]
Recorded1987–1988
StudioDavout (Paris)
Genre
Length44:48
LabelEMI
Producer
Duran Duran chronology
Notorious
(1986) 		Big Thing
(1988) 		Decade
(1989)
Singles from Big Thing
  1. "I Don't Want Your Love"
    Released: 19 September 1988
  2. "All She Wants Is"
    Released: 19 December 1988
  3. "Do You Believe in Shame?"
    Released: 10 April 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
PopMatters[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Big Thing is the fifth studio album by the English pop rock 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).

Unlike Notorious which was funk and R&B oriented, Big Thing strives for a more diverse approach. Side 1 consists of intense techno tracks with synthesized bass lines and rhythmic guitar riffs, while Side 2 leans towards a more avant-garde feel with a post modern atmosphere. The band features drummer Sterling Campbell and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, who previously started work with the band on Notorious after the departure of Andy Taylor. Both would become members of the group in 1989.

The album was a moderate commercial success, reaching number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 24 on the US Billboard 200. The album received mixed reviews by critics, but some praised the experimental compositions and the band's evolving musical style. The album would be spearheaded by two top 20 hits: the first, "I Don't Want Your Love", which went to number 14 in the UK and number 4 in the US, with the second single "All She Wants Is" reaching number 9 in the UK and number 22 in the US, the last of Duran Duran's top 10 hits during the 1980s.

Like Notorious, the album would develop a cult following for the band's changing musical direction. A CD reissue (with one bonus track) was released in 1994. The album was reissued again by EMI in 2010.[6]

  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ AllMusic review
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ Bergstrom, John (21 October 2010). "Duran Duran: Notorious / Big Thing". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Duran Duran". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ "Big Thing [2-CD/DVD] – Duran Duran". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2019.