Here's a review from Wall Of Sound (http://www.wallofsound.com/reviews/index.html):

Duran Duran: Medazzaland
Rating: 71/100

Although these former bad boys of new romantic dance-pop may ultimately be viewed as little more than the generators of a few hit singles in the early eighties, one must credit Duran Duran for something more. From the very beginning, they staked out their own sound, their own stylistic territory, and once they tired of whipping up pop hits, they started experimenting sonically in an even more ambitious fashion. Now, more than fifteen years since they first teased the world with the sexy, knockout video for "Girls on Film", the remaining members of the band return with their most daring musical effort to date.

Granted, lyrics still play a minimal role in the band's songs, and yes, Simon LeBon still gets on a listener's nerves when he launches into that trademark whine, but he, longtime keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and Zappa-grad guitar whiz Warren Cuccurullo definitely dazzle the ears from time to time on Medazzaland. Without sinking into an imitation of contemporary electronica, the trio has updated Duran Duran's signature synthy sound and wound up with a relatively successful album built in quite the opposite fashion of their previous records. Medazzaland is not a collection of great singles surrounded by offbeat filler -- like 1994's self-titled comeback (Whoops! Perhaps he means 1993. Maybe he shouldn't have been so mean to Simon, then he could have gotten his facts right. -ed. note) --but a solid, varied collection of tracks that, surprisingly, suffers from a lack of great singles. "Electric Barbarella", the first song aimed at radio airplay, has its moments, but it is not as strong as the percolating "Buried in the Sand" or the strangely seductive "Midnight Sun", though neither would likely be identifiable as Duran Duran blaring from a car stereo. Only on the catchy "Out of My Mind" does LeBon resort to the higher-register cry stamped across all of the band's previous hits. For the rest of the album, he lets Rhodes and, to an even greater extent, Cuccurullo take the foreground. The results are surprisingly engaging, but old fans expecting more hits may have a tough time with Duran Duran's new direction. -- Bob Remstein