Imagine how startling it must be for Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes to realize that the older sector of once devoted, poster-kissing Duranies have aged enough to be soccer moms. The last two remaining members of the '80s supe... more »rband hit and often missed throughout the '90s, but with Pop Trash, grown-up fans will find a reinvigorating pop album that strikes a nearly perfect balance between hip factor and maturity. The band backpedals from the overtaxing techno of the 1997 sleeper release Medazzaland, but retains a few well-chosen synth overlays and combines them successfully with the oceanic balladry from 1993's The Wedding Album. "Someone Else Not Me" and "Pop Trash Movie" reclaim the beautiful soundscapes of The Wedding Album's "Ordinary World," while the heavier tracks work diet industrial ("Mars Meets Venus") and heavy-metal riffs with weird time signatures ("Last Day on Earth") into proper Duran Duran bombast. There are moments when the band overruns the age-appropriate mark: "Lady Xanax," an ode to the anxiety-relieving medication, symbolizes a tempering of their fast and furious lifestyle, but then again, who has time for street drugs when you have to get the kids home in time for dinner? --Beth Massa« less
Imagine how startling it must be for Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes to realize that the older sector of once devoted, poster-kissing Duranies have aged enough to be soccer moms. The last two remaining members of the '80s superband hit and often missed throughout the '90s, but with Pop Trash, grown-up fans will find a reinvigorating pop album that strikes a nearly perfect balance between hip factor and maturity. The band backpedals from the overtaxing techno of the 1997 sleeper release Medazzaland, but retains a few well-chosen synth overlays and combines them successfully with the oceanic balladry from 1993's The Wedding Album. "Someone Else Not Me" and "Pop Trash Movie" reclaim the beautiful soundscapes of The Wedding Album's "Ordinary World," while the heavier tracks work diet industrial ("Mars Meets Venus") and heavy-metal riffs with weird time signatures ("Last Day on Earth") into proper Duran Duran bombast. There are moments when the band overruns the age-appropriate mark: "Lady Xanax," an ode to the anxiety-relieving medication, symbolizes a tempering of their fast and furious lifestyle, but then again, who has time for street drugs when you have to get the kids home in time for dinner? --Beth Massa
"Everytime Duran Duran releases a cd I'm surprised how different one cd is from the next. This band continues to push standard pop music and it's fans to new levels. The Pop Trash starts with a more laid back track that floats a nice blend of guitars and synths with Simon Le Bon's tradmark vocal style. The mood quikly changes with the next three tracks which starts with the fun pop of "Lava Lamp", and the drive of "Playing with Uranium" and "Hullucinating Elvis". Other tracks that reached out and grabed me are "Mars Meets Venus" that has a bit of the Wedding Album feel to it and the 5/4 meter power rock of "Last Day On Earth". The band continues to explore it's more melodic side with songs like "Starting to Remember", "Lady Xanax" and "The Sun Don't Shine Forever".Warren Cuccurullo continues to come up with some truly original guitar tones and Nick Rhodes creativity with Keyboards is as good as ever. The only thing missing is some of the classic bass lines that former member John Taylor used to bring to the band.If you get this album give it a few listens and let it grow on you, you'll be glad you did."
Duran Duran is Back!
06/13/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After Medazzaland, Duran proves that they can still wow their audiences. We start off with Someone Else Not Me, a ballad of sorts, it's a wonderful song. Next up, Lava Lamp, it is a very catchy little pop song. Followed by, Playing with Uranium- This song is edgier more rock-like, it is one of the album's best. Next up, Hallucinating Elvis, I fell in love with this one when I saw them live last fall, I can just say, it's different. Starting to Remember is a beautiful litte song, it's quite short. Pop Trash Movie is a SPECTACULAR song, originally written for Blondie (one of my favorite groups), this song proves to be one of the album's best, simon sounds great. Fragment and Kiss goodbye are 2 interludes. Mars meets Venus, again, very well written and performed. Lady Xanax, i love it has a mellow, "trippy" feel to it. The Sun Doesn't Shine Forever, not the best song, but it shows simons strong vocals. Finally last day on earth, It is a good song, almost rock-like, with Warren on guitars, a very strong finish to a great Duran Album. A MUST for any Duran Fan!"
Evidence that Duran Duran stayed consistent
Silent river | 04/27/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"all through the nineties and into the present decade. Somebody else not me is a gorgeous ballad, if some current Mtv band had done it then the critics would be swooning all over it. Sun doesn't shine forever is another ballad almost equally good. Lava lamp is a fun song that could have been written in their early days (not that it sounds 80's). But the highlight is Starting to remember, it's simply one of the best songs of this decade. It sounds alot like something Neil Young would have written. It's also nice how they use the short musical interludes between songs like they did on Big Thing, another great album. Hallucinating Elvis (original album title) is a stomping rocker about someone who thinks they're turning into Elvis. Last Day on Earth is the most hard rocking thing they've ever done, damn it's really good! Pop Trash movie, Lady Xanax & Mars meets Venus are all good too, and overall its a great album. A raised middle finger to the critics who've bashed Duran Duran for years."
Always Growing Always Maturing
J. Walters | Saint Paul, MN United States | 08/03/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If Duran Duran's Medazzaland was their Rubber Soul, then Pop Trash is their Revolver. Granted, it took them almost twenty years to do what The Beatles did in five, but they are there, and believe me, there are not many others sitting along side them. Pop Trash just does everything right and beyond that; it does EVERYTHING. Like Revolver, this album contains exercises in limitless genres, chord progressions, time signatures and vocal stylings. What makes this and Revolver such treasures is the fact that everyone who loves them will claim a different favorite song, only to change allegiance to another track later. Everything here is tied together by creatively flashy production, psychedelic layering and an enthusiasm for doing things differently. Stand out tracks include the powerful and dangerous (and guaranteed to make you say, "This is Duran Duran?") "Playing with Uranium," the groovy, octave-voiced, sitar-laden "Lava Lamp" and the deliriously trippy "Lady Xanax." The absolute peak of Pop Trash, however, is "Starting to Remember." Its combination of earthy acoustic instruments and floating synthesizer effects bring a chill to your bones while managing to give subtle tugs at your heart strings. I say this with all honesty and, hopefully, credibility as a devoted Beatles/Dylan admirer; POP TRASH IS ONE OF THE FINEST POP RECORDINGS I HAVE EVER HEARD."
Here we go again
Patrick | Minnesota | 06/18/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's a shame that a band with such longevity and dedication still recieves no respect whatsoever, while old '70's bands put out a new Unplugged album of old material, and it's declared genius. In the meantime, Duran Duran keep putting out new music, and now Pop Trash is the cd of material I knew they could still had in them. I won't break down my favorites, but there are seven excellent tracks on this cd. (1,3,5,6,8,10,and 13) As I wasn't made aware it was being released until two days before (Who does their advertising! ), I also know that it won't find it's way onto the radio stations, because they still have the teeny-bopper label for some reason, and we just can't get enough of Britney, N'Sync, Backstreet, Aguilera, and every other horrid artist that has made me ignore the FM side of the dial for the last ten years. Thank you Simon, Nick, and Warren, and I hope to see you for the fourth time here in Minnesota."