Talking Heads
Uh-oh, Talking Heads have come to town!
Albums
Talking Heads: 77 (1977)
Producer: Tony Bongiovi, Lance Quinn & Talking Heads
8.5/10
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Uh-oh, Love Comes to Town
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New Feeling
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Tentative Decisions
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Happy Day
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Who Is It?
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No Compassion
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The Book I Read
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Don’t Worry About the Government
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First Week/Last Week… Carefree
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Psycho Killer
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Pulled Up
Talking Heads is an American rock band which formed in 1974 in New York. The band consisted of Scottish-American guitarist and vocalist David Byrne, keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison, bassist Tina Weymouth, and last but by no means least, drummer Chris Fantz. All of the songs on Talking Heads: 77 were written and composed solely by David Byrne, with the exception of Psycho Killer.
Usually labelled as one of the definitive bands of the New Wave movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s, Talking Heads incorporated many different styles into their music over the length of their career. The most noticeable styles found on their debut album are pop and funk, with a touch of punk thrown in for good measure. So, while the genres may be familiar to this era, I can almost guarantee that you will never have heard anything quite so unusual and downright bizarre as Talking Heads’ music. Listening to them for the first time is something which you will remember, simply because nothing else has ever sounded this way. Nothing sounded like this in 1977, and certainly nothing sounds like it now, in our present and musically stagnant times. You have David Byrne’s paranoid, fearful and detached vocal performances, which are combined with quite possibly the coolest guitar tuning ever to be found in popular music. The end result is so classy it’s beyond belief. It’s the future of popular music, yet it happened more than 30 years ago.
“Here come a riddle, here come a clue, if you are really smart you’ll know what to do,” muses Byrne on opening track Uh-oh, Love Comes to Town. Tina Weymouth’s teasing bass supports his words of perpetual wisdom, while the steel drums are a touch of genius, lending a Caribbean flavour to the song’s charm. Remember that guitar tone I mentioned at the outset? Well, my friends, here comes New Feeling, rocking out in all of its art-rock, guitar mash-up glory. The whole experience is a rather disorientating one, as the guitars flutter about like a helicopter experiencing rotor problems. “Now I’m busy, busy again,” mutters Byrne, no doubt thinking about how time consuming it is writing a classic.
No Compassion is one of the album’s best vehicles for Talking Heads’ unique take on pop music. The band members really excel themselves here, with the dual attack of electric guitars standing as one of the finest examples of what the rhythm section is capable of. Although, let us not forget Byrne’s vocals, which reach new heights in terms of suspicious finger pointing. “Other people’s problems they overwhelm my mind,” announces Byrne, with a discerning eye for treason. The album’s delightfully irreverent take on being an obsessive fan, The Book I Read, steals an already scene stealing show with its wordless chorus chant, “Na-na-na, na-na-na!” Now, imagine the coolest thing that you have ever stumbled upon, ok? Right, now multiple it by 1000 and give it nipple tassels and you still aren’t anywhere near to what Talking Heads have achieved here.
The album’s big single and claim to fame is Psycho Killer. This deceptively funky ode to being a psychotic madman has seen many a lonely soldier through the night, and it’s hardly a surprise when considering the unsympathetic and obdurate rhythms which the song projects out of the speakers. In my humble opinion the record is closed by the finest song of the set. Pulled Up takes all of the guitar hooks and musical escapades of the other 10 songs on the album and exploits them further, bringing out yet another winner, one which is full of fascinating character and upbuilding spirit. It’s rare that a band can bring things to a finish with a track which almost outclasses the accumulative total of everything else featured.
Talking Heads: 77 is as essential as albums come. Not only is it vital to own as part of a Talking Heads collection, but it is an album which should have its place at the front of anyone’s music collection. In a word, superb, and it gets better with every listen.
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More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)
Producer: Brian Eno, Talking Heads
7/10
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Thank You for Sending Me an Angel
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With Our Love
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The Good Thing
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Warning Sign
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The Girls Want to Be With the Girls
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Found a Job
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Artists Only
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I’m Not in Love
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Stay Hungry
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Take Me to the River
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The Big Country
Released in 1978, More Songs About Buildings and Food is Talking Heads’ second album and the first of their collaborative efforts with electronic whiz kid Brian Eno. There are few collaborative efforts in the history of popular music as great as the one between David Byrne and Brian Eno. Talking Heads’ debut was weird, messed up and full of wonky tunes, yet at the heart of these songs was a guitar band struggling to realise what they believed to be their full potential. Note, I say what they believed to be their full potential. I am extremely fond of their debut album and could have quite happily have stuck with that straight-laced fusion of funk and guitar pop for at least one other album.
This album is the inception of the sound many would most easily identify as Talking Heads’ music: scores of interlocking guitars running into one another, while Tina Weymouth’s bass and Jerry Harrison’s keyboards achieve a similar effect by knitting their rhythm section together. Again, take note that this is the bare beginnings of their inimitable sound. This sound is not taken to a stage of fruition here and more often than not it is merely an ability which is displayed for the sake of it rather than to craft memorable melodies. Even now, when it is great it sounds revolutionary, but when these tracks run around aimlessly, the properties of each song are far less desirable. Ultimately, this set of songs is uneven in the quality stakes.
The opening track, Thank You for Sending Me an Angel, would have you believe that this album is going to be a classic. David Byrne sounds delighted to have found someone who shares his personality traits, “Oh baby, you can walk and you can talk just like me!” It’s not a long track, a little over 2 minutes. Its statement is short and sweet, its rolling rhythms refined and invigorating.
The first hint that something has gone slightly iffy is with second track, With Our Love. It has an insistent and calamitous rhythm section which is torturous to endure. There is no hint of melody or structure, the various instrumentation can in no way happily co-exist and do nothing to complement one another. Also, David Byrne seems to be over-selling his isolated ramblings, his voice more of a hindrance than help. Similarly, Warning Sign sounds mundane and lacks any organisation. You have my word, it takes a lot to make Talking Heads sound like an everyday, common band, but Warning Sign manages to accomplish this feat singlehandedly.
Although, what does shake the room is The Girls Want to Be With the Girls. What can be said about this record is that it may throw out a few stinkers during its running time, but when it hits the nail on the head it is an essential listen. “And the boys say what do you mean? The girls just want to be with the girls,” argues Byrne, seemingly involuntarily, struggling with his unintentional nervous ticks. The keyboard and guitar merge during the chorus is exceptional.
My complaints directed towards the lack of fine-tuning will be rendered useless in a moment, as I state that I’m Not in Love is one of the strongest inclusions. True, structurally it lacks any sort of unified direction. Thankfully, it makes up for this serious lack of refinement by throwing out a series of brash, confident and furious guitar riffs which all complement one another. So what if the production isn’t up to scratch? It’s rocking out my man!
I hate The Big Country and its useless interpretation of country music, so I’m going to pretend that the album doesn’t end on that sorry note and is instead brought to a finish by the penultimate track, Talking Heads’ amazing cover of Al Green’s Take Me to the River. If there is some sort of crash course offered to new musicians on how to produce the impossible - a credible cover song - I would hope that the template and example used is that of Take Me to the River. The production excels itself here – you feel every pulse of Weymouth’s bass and each sly roll of the keyboard. The implementation of the guitar is subtle yet effective and Byrne delivers one of the vocal performances of his life, sounding in full control of his distinctive voice box. The climax is thrilling, the keyboards truly come alive and are engaging.
Inconsistent at the best of times, More Songs About Buildings and Food simply serves a purpose in the history of Talking Heads’ music, rather than it being the classic album some may have built it up to be. As previously stated, when it works well it sounds phenomenal. It’s just unfortunate that when a track’s potential isn’t realised it becomes a drag to listen to.
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Producer: Brian Eno, Talking Heads
8.5/10
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I Zimbra
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Mind
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Paper
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Cities
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Life During Wartime
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Memories Can’t Wait
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Air
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Heaven
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Animals
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Electric Guitar
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Drugs
Released in 1979, Fear of Music is the third studio album by Talking Heads and the second of their collaborative efforts with Brian Eno. There is no doubt that Talking Heads’ second album - More Songs About Buildings and Food - had expanded their musical repertoire, adding unremitting song structure and amazing guitar collages to their already divergent style. However, when reviewing that album, I didn’t try to hide my slight disappointment at the occasionally ill-considered song selection. I showed it up for what it is, warts and all.
Now, given more time, the band has successfully blended their style with producer Brian Eno’s technical wizardry. The man is a genius and this record is a great demonstration of his abilities. The resulting album is full of satisfying, unconventional rhythms and is just what More Songs About Buildings and Food should have been. Oh, and this album is their funkiest yet, which makes it a clear winner in my book. Opening track, I Zimbra, adds unstable afro-beat sensibilities to the equation. This track in actuality paved the way for the aural perfection of fourth album, Remain in Light, and as such it stands as a fine outline for that record. It’s good to trace it back to here though and see the inspiration for that record, as Byrne throws up more than a couple of memorable guitar riffs and an unbelievably passionate vocal performance.
The multi-textured Cities provides the first unstoppable and demanding groove to be found on Fear of Music. Intelligent and clever whilst remaining exclusively commercial, Cities should get you shaking that tush right down to the ground and back up again. “Find myself a city, a city to live in,” Byrne cogitates, making his usual weighty demands. Following on from Cities is Life During Wartime, the album’s supreme showpiece. This inexorable beast seems to take the album out on a wild, but necessary tangent, while Talking Heads’ rhythm section rises to the occasion and release the jam of their lives. Byrne delivers the coolest vocals ever laid to tape during the chorus, “This aint no party, this aint no disco, this aint no foolin’ around!”
Air is a paranoid, nerve-jangling and severely foreboding experience, but an indispensable one all the same. The ghostly backing vocals chanting, ‘air,’ are excellent. True, the ‘spooky’ main synth hasn’t dated well, although the rest of this up-front confrontation remains highly credible (miniature guitar solo included). Fear of Music? Fear of Air more like, as Byrne is petrified by our dependency on oxygen, “Some people have never had experiences with air!”
While Talking Heads are a remarkably compelling act, they are sorely lacking in one department – the emotional journey which pulls at the heart-strings. Very few of their songs could be called truly emotional. It is because of this that Heaven is such a welcome addition to the record. It seems to capture on tape our desire for a better life through one of Christendom’s most popular doctrines, but ultimately mocks this belief as futile, “Oh, heaven is a place… where nothing ever happens.” Dig beneath the surface and I’m sure there are other ways to interpret Heaven.
Animals liberates Byrne’s schizophrenic celebrations just as they hit their peak, while the sharp guitar riffs provide the ideal atmospheric conditions. Apprehensive, fearful and livid, Byrne snarls like a, well, animal, “Animals think they’re pretty smart, shit on the ground, see in the dark!” Who cares that it is an irregular topic, as sometimes the unknown makes for the best of listens. The nuttiness and gradual melodious progression of closing track, Drugs, is a fine summation of what Fear of Music is all about. An inconspicuous and yet fundamentally catchy guitar riff fills the role of ‘backbone’, while Byrne arranges the rest of his merry men (and women) to complete this fine musical skeleton. Great stuff indeed.
Making up for the sometimes half-hearted effort put into their previous album, Fear of Music is one of Talking Heads’ best records. Whilst there was better still to come in the shape of their next album, Fear of Music remains near essential produce by one of the greatest collaborations in the history of popular music.
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Producer: Brian Eno
9/10
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Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
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Crosseyed and Painless
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The Great Curve
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Once in a Lifetime
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Houses in Motion
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Seen and Not Seen
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Listening Wind
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The Overload
Released in 1980, Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by Talking Heads and is the final of their collaborative works with producer Brian Eno. In my opinion, this record, no, this vital artistic statement, is the standout of Talking Heads’ work with Brian Eno. It’s wonderful to have seen this band evolve into what they are at this point. You can virtually join the dots from their first creation with Eno - More Songs About Buildings and Food - to the distorted funk of their next album - Fear of Music - and then onwards to Remain in Light’s culmination of sonic perfection. I liken it to an architect, having initially laid a fine blueprint of a structurally sound building and then slowly tweaking it to perfection, until nothing else can be improved upon and the end product leaves little else to be desired.
One of the greatest factors of Remain in Light is that, when taken as a whole, the album hangs together beautifully. While listening to Fear of Music, as good as it was, you were always aware that each song was a lone unit, every track taking you on a different trip. On the other hand, Remain in Light has an extremely interrelated feel to it. The sound collages found on Remain in Light absolutely thrash anything found on the proceeding albums, be it the flawless funk of side one, or the academic and atmospheric voyages of side two.
“I’ve never seen anything I’ve felt before,” considers Byrne, “falling bodes tumble across the floor!” Serendipity is where it’s at, and the opening Born Under Punches has it by the handful, although I’m willing to bet my life that the genius featured here is the result of far more than a tentative mishap. Immediately, the pre-recorded samples and loops sound superb, the multiple African rhythms colliding and complimenting one another. The words of Remain in Light are heavily indebted to Byrne’s stream-of-consciousness, something which is acknowledged on second track, Crosseyed and Painless. My favourite example of this is, “Facts all come with points of view, facts don’t do what I want them to. Facts just twist the truth around, facts are living inside out!” Byrne sounds awesome during this insubordination against the very ethos of human nature.
Rounding off side one of the record is the seemingly infinite, ascending intonations of The Great Curve. This is the zenith of Talking Heads’ Afrobeat influences and it sounds darn good. Now, get those feet moving!
As touched upon earlier, the second side of Remain in Light is a lot slower, more for your mind than for your feet, while still retaining the fluent flow of the first side. This is witnessed during the grinding torrents of the album’s second single, Houses in Motion. During the introduction the bass literally falls from the sky and thuds as it hits the plateau, right before Byrne starts chewing over his darkest thoughts, “For a long time I felt without style or grace, wearing shoes with no socks in cold weather!” I’m impressed. Are you?
Seen and Not Seen is a very interesting addition. Byrne appears frightened as he inhabits a man endeavouring to find his optimal set of features, “He would see faces in movies, on TV, in magazines and in books. He thought that some of these faces might be right for him.” The song carries no distinctive melody but instead possesses a very unique combination of instrumentation. I’d use the term madcap if Seen and Not Seen wasn’t so incredibly well reserved. Listening Wind is magical. It is a spiritual journey, taking you through the injustices which befell Mojique, and how he was ousted from his native land, “Mojique thinks of days before Americans came, he sees the foreigners in growing numbers!” Very few tracks by Talking Heads can be called sensitive, but along with Heaven from Fear of Music, Listening Wind sits right at the top of the pack. The chorus glides along and everyone goes home happy.
The atmospherics are taken a little too far with closing track, The Overload. As good as Brian Eno is, you don’t want to give him too much free-reign or you may end up with a lifeless number, such as this. Little more than a stilted six minutes of experimentation, The Overload leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. It is a lot like your Mother-in-law, in the sense that it is best to forget that it even exists. It’s the only way.
Talking Heads’ work with Brian Eno could not have ended in a better way and Remain in Light is a jewel in the crowns of the two geniuses which combined forces and made this happen – David Byrne and Brian Eno. If you only ever buy one Talking Heads album, make it Remain in Light. Thank you and goodnight.
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Talking Heads
