Customer Reviews

Pop Trash

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So here is what the fans have been waiting for. The new album. Although the media aren't very interested in duran anymore, they are wrong. This album rocks from beginning to end. There are a lot of ballads : someone else, not me; starting to remember (very beatlesque); the sun doen't shine forever, along with powerful tracks like playing with uranium, lavalamp (with psychedelic influences) Mars meets Venus and Last day on earth. The album is not too long. 45 minutes. It's one you listen to from beginning to end. It takes you to another world. Simon's singing has never been this good. And the guitarist Warren Cuccurullo is very present on this album. The extra tracks are : a spanish and a french version of Someone Else, Not me and a track called 'prototypes' which consists of small soundscape montages. Once again, the media are neglecting duran but they don't really know how wrong they are. This record deserves to be a hit and has potential to attract new fans for a band that is 20 year in business. Definately worth your money !

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Being a huge Duran Duran fan, I was a litte nervous about hearing this album. I wanted it to be good. It didn't even have to be great, just good. And I hoped it would get some respect from both critic and fans. Unfortunately, D2 haven't really been burning up the charts lately! The album is actually better than I had hoped it would be. I would describe it as moody, very involved, lots of things going on in the music. The first couple of songs were kind of Beatlesque "Someone Else Not Me" is the first single and is very moody and haunting. My favorite song is "Pop Trash Movie". I can tell just by a few listens though that other songs will jump out at me the more I listen to it. All in all, if you are a D2 fan, you will probably describe this album as mature. And that is perfect, because we are not the age we were back in the early 80's and it would be silly to expect D2 to not evolve with their fans and their own tastes in music.

After their 1997 eloctronic spasm, Medazzaland, it seemed that Duran Duran had gone the route of other pop legends like David Bowie, who released his techno album that same year, just trying to see their names on modern pop charts once again by conjurng music that sounded current or more energetic than might be expected from middle-aged rock stars. Thankfully, "Pop Trash" marks Duran Duran's return to the simple style of their 80's glory. Yes, it's pop, but certainly not trash. While cluttered production can sometimes muffle potentially intriguing songs like the spastic "Playing With uranium," other ballads and tantalizing rock tunes override those less accessible moments. The deliciously mellow "Someone Else not Me," with its very Cure-ish atmosphere, is perhaps their best single in at least a decade, while more agressive tracks, like "Meet Mars Venus" or the downright violent "Last Day On Earth," offer coarse guitar licks and a crisp ferocity that prove Duran Duran's vitality at the cusp of the new millenium. "Pop trash" is a wake-up call to record-execs who insist that Britney Spears or The Backstreet Boys are "pop music." No, for a proper definition of pop music in the year 2000, see "Pop Trash."

The first Duran album of their 3rd decade. The first with a new record label. The first without any Taylor influence. Since each Duran Duran release is so musically different, it's wrong to compare, but Pop Trash will be remembered as one of the band's best albums. While no one song necessarily screams radio hit, as a whole this disc runs rings around some prior releases and other artists' music. From dreamy numbers (Someone Else Not Me, the title track, or Lady Xanax) to 'kick it into gear' numbers (Hallucinating Elvis or Last Day on Earth) this album offers something for everyone. Lava Lamp is just pure fun (Duran trademarked or not). At nearly 42 years old, LeBon still has good pipes and the production team of Rhodes and Cuccurullo are a force to be reckoned with. Lyrically, some of the songs could be a little deeper, and at 48 minutes, the album could stand to be longer but it never disappoints. Too bad there are no screaming Cuccurullo guitar solos though (refer to First Impression from 1990's Liberty or the album version of Ordinary World from '93's Wedding Album for reference). But DD2K strikes for pop gold...not trash.

Although I still miss the three absent Taylors, Nick, Simon and Warren have quite a nice sound going on Pop Trash. There's a little bit of everything from the melodic ("Someone Else Not Me", "Starting to Remember") to the suspiciously autobiographical "Pop Trash Movie" to the driving beat of "Playing With Uranium". I've been a fan since 1984 and although I haven't always followed some of their more obscure work, I'm finding new appreciation for it as I get older. This album beats Medazzaland hands down in my opinion, and I don't think you'll regret buying it.