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Rating: Almost every review of mine starts with a premise, and the one for this album is the following: I wrote this comment after chugging a bottle of limoncello and who knows how many beers. Otherwise, I would never have wasted 45 minutes of my life writing something about Duran.
The album in question was released back in 1997 amidst a full-blown crisis between Le Bon and his pals and EMI, because in 1994, Duran wanted to release their cover album "Thank you," which was considered by EMI to be a real flop (and I fully agree). Thus, after several back-and-forths, the record label decided to postpone the album's release to 1995 (if I were EMI, I would have dropped the band back in 1981). Moreover, the three Taylors from the original group left in 1986, with John recording only three songs on "Notorious." From what I know, Andy and John pursued solo careers together with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson in Power Station, while Roger collaborated on the Arcadia project with Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes.
This is the context in which "Medazzaland" emerges. Additionally, the album was recorded in Warren Cuccurullo's private studio (who was a student of the great Frank Zappa) because EMI did not want them to record the album in their studios. And as the cherry on top, the record label printed the album only in America and Japan since the band wanted to sell it online without any revenue percentage going to EMI at the time (I wouldn't have even bothered printing the album in Sudan as it would just be wasted money).
"Medazzaland" (which means "middle land") was a gift from a friend on my fourteenth birthday. I listened to it that day, and after the final track, I rushed to the balcony to end my life (luckily, before that I had an overdose of "Violator," "Low-life," and "Very" at such a high volume that the stereo started cursing at me).
In this record, it seems that Le Bon and company wanted to emulate the typical "New Order" sounds in a mix of electronic experimentation and electric guitar, but everyone knows Duran are not New Order, and this attempt to mimic their sound turns out to be at least pitiful and questionable (have the band members lost their artistic touch?) Assuming they ever had one. It’s no coincidence that when the "Greatest" best-of album came out in 1998 (the successor of the lesser-known "Decade" from 1989), there was only one track from this album, "Electric Barbarella," apparently, the blond Rhodes thought like me. Not to mention that I don't know how the hell they managed to put seventeen years of singles and various nonsense on one CD. The second most famous track is "Out of My Mind," a single from the soundtrack of the movie "The Saint" with Val Kilmer (the one who did Top Gun and Batman Forever).
Small note: They should have made me a saint after listening to this atrocity.
The rest of the album goes by anonymously, following the rhythms of the two singles in a constant quest for artistic perfection that sinks into nothingness. Luckily, in a 2000 interview, Duran said this album was probably the worst they ever produced (why? Is there a better one?), not even the album cover makes up for it, representing the group's "chronic illness" toward Pop Art in a crescendo of random drawings and colors I could have done in kindergarten.
However, I would only recommend this album to "Duran fans" who are willing to throw 40 euros down the drain (in the best-case scenario) to have this musical affront shipped from Canada or Japan (your choice). As for everyone else, I’d suggest heading towards Liberty (1990), perhaps the only album worth buying. Unfortunately, this record is no longer reprinted, and it's easier to find it on MC or vinyl than on CD). In fact, I invite you to write a review on this album, just to see if I'm the only one who finds it decent. By the way, I discovered that the model with the blonde wig in the booklet is Italian. And if you can’t do without "new romantic" bands, I recommend getting some albums by Spandau Ballet and Visage. It’s hardly coincidental that after "Pop Trash" (never a more fitting title for a Duran work), Warren Cuccurullo decided to leave the band and distribute phallic sculptures stamped based on his pen... In any case, I found out that the new Duran album (to be released in 2007) will feature Justin Timberlake as a producer (if I were a fan of the group, I wouldn't brag about it), and what happened to their historical producer Nile Rodgers (ex-Chic)? I realize I've been too kind in this review, in a way, I managed to keep my anti-Duran side (second only to my dislike for U2) at bay because otherwise, they would have censored the article if I had freely expressed everything I thought of the album and the band. Unfortunately for Simon, the days of "Pavarotti & Friends 96" are long gone when he participated in a duet with Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries (in his place, I would have tried as a mongoose in heat) or when he duetted with his great rival Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, the evening I saw them sing together I was moved, I felt a tear run down my face.
I rated the album 1, I realize that it doesn't deserve it, but in the scoring parameters, there are no negative numbers.
In conclusion, "Medazzaland" is the classic album to be played as a penalty to the unlucky one who loses in a board game (believe me, they’ll have it in for you for life) or alternatively as torture to make a murderer confess. As far as I'm concerned, I've used my CD in the most practical way, as a coaster.
I close the article with a question to Le Bon and company: "There are so many jobs one could do, why did you choose to be musicians? Why?!"
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Electric Barbarella (05:19)
I knew when I first saw you on the showroom floor
You were made for me
I took you home and dressed you up in polyester
Princess of my dreams
Emotionless and cold as ice
All of the things I like
The way you look
The way you move
The sound you're makin'
In ultra-chrome, latex and steel
I plug you in
Dim the lights
Electric Barbarella
Your perfect skin
Plastic kiss
Electric Barbarella
Try to resist
Then we touch
Hallucinate and tranquilize
(she's so fine)
(she's all mine)
Our private life is subject to investigation
No time to waste
People say they heard about our deviation
But you never looked so good
Wear the fake fur and fake pearls for me
And put on your mystery
The way I feel you know
I'll never keep you waiting
In ultra-chrome, latex and steel
I plug you in
Dim the lights
Electric Barbarella
Your perfect skin
Plastic kiss
Electric Barbarella
Try to resist
Then we touch
Hallucinate and tranquilize
Princess of my dreams
Princess of my dreams
Major domo plasticomo Barbarella
(She's so fine)
Pro-genetic you Electric Barbarella
(She's all mine)
My pretty pretty pretty pretty Barbarella
04 Out of My Mind (04:20)
Light a candle
Lay flowers at the door
For those who were left behind
And the ones who've gone before
But here it comes now
Sure as silence follows rain
The taste of you upon my lips
The fingers in my brain
Ever gentle as it kills me where I lay
Who am I to resist?
Who are you to fail?
Got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you what's left to believe in?
And I could be so sorry
For the way it had to go
But now I feel your presence
In a way I could not know
And I wonder
Do you ever feel the same
In whispering darkness
Do you ever hear my name?
Got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you, what's left to believe in?
How could you dare
To become so real
When you're just a ghost in me
And I've got to get you out of my mind
But I can't escape from the feeling
As I try to leave the memory behind
Without you, what's left to believe in?
Here in the back of my mind
Deep in the back of my mind
05 Who Do You Think You Are (03:27)
I'm giving you the news
Your domination's through
You gave the best you've got
Now I'm out on top
If you're in any doubt
Listen to me
I've got a right to say
If you know what it's all about
Who do you think you are?
Don't want to be your enemy
If I'm not the one you want me to be
And I've got to do things the way that I do
Always trying to control me
Who do you think you are?
Our time on earth is running through
(This is not a question of my pride)
Sometimes I think it's a game to you
(Ever wonder how I feel inside?)
And sometimes I play along
But man I've got a mind!
You've got to live with yourself
For the rest of you life
Do you understand?
Everybody asks themselves the question
Who do you think you are?
Why do you feel ashamed
When you can't explain the things I say
To other people
It's just occurred to me
A possibility
The thought that you might really want to be me?
08 Buried in the Sand (04:19)
Can't say that I was surprised
When you broke the ties
They were hanging by a thread
But now I have realized
It couldn't be the same
Cause everything has changed
And still I held out my hand
Tried to pull you back
But you were buried in the sand
I'm glad that you came along
But here our journey ends
I say goodbye to you
My very dear friend
You were buried in the sand
Head buried in the sand
You were buried in the sand
Head buried in the sand
You are buried in the sand
09 Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For (04:09)
I came over your place today
In a roundabout sort of way
Nothing holding me
Just the company
Gentle giving the afternoon
Don't ever try to be any more
Michael, you've got a lot to answer for
You unlocked some of the doors
To my soul
And I don't see you for awhile
Thinkin of you will make me smile
You never bother me with responsibility
Misbehaving in candlelight
Don't ever try to give any more
Michael, you've got a lot to answer for
You got me wakin up wise to the world
Trust you to get caught up in somebody's war
You'll come out of it all in time, I'm sure
Just remember what friends were put here for
Michael, you've got a lot to answer for
And I know that you're gonna call
If you need me
When you need me
If you need me
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Other reviews
By RinaldiACHTUNG
Reduced to a trio, Le Bon with Rhodes and Cuccurullo composed what I consider their most daring work: Medazzaland.
Michael You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For, dedicated to the leader of INXS, suppresses any doubt about Mr. Le Bon’s ability to move.
