Medazzaland

Medazzaland is a catalog of hooky little electronic tricks and elaborate arrangements. It's as if Duran Duran had so much fun creating sounds with their synth-toys they couldn't bear to leave any of them out. Songs are stuffed with backwards snares, chattering loops, heavily processed vocals. Tracks fade in, fade out, pan, rush, retreat, tickle, undulate. They also play with influences, experimenting with everything from Eastern-influenced chord progressions to Kraftwerk-like electro-minimalism. But despite the bells and whistles, Duran Duran want us to remember. Blended in with all the fancy techno stunts are slips of new-wave Duran Duran, like plump tom fills, and, of course, Simon LeBon's unmistakable whine. In all, this CD is so diverse, it borders on being scattered, but it is the gravitational thread of the familiar Duran Duran that keeps the album in line. --Beth Bessmer