AMG Review of Big Thing

Mike DeGagne
All Music Guide

"I Don't Want Your Love" and "All She Wants Is" made it into the Top 40, but Big Thing only climbed as high as number 24 on the charts. Duran Duran chose novelty over pop conventionalism, opting to make music apropos for seedy burlesque parlors, which many fans couldn't get used to. Outside of the two singles, both "Do You Believe in Shame" (a number 30 hit in the U.K.) and "Lake Shore Driving" hold up the best, while efforts such as "Palomino," "Too Late Marlene," and the title track are more like experiments than rock songs.