Talking Heads are an experience, and a brilliant band. They are a genre unto themselves. David Byrne is a true genius - visual artist, musical artist, his work is almost performance art. The album Fear Of Music really brought them into the mainstream, especially with the single, “Life During Wartime”. They might be an acquired taste, but they’re definitely worth diving into. I never get tired of their music. Great choice for a reaction.
This is one of the most brilliant and beautiful pieces ever written, layers of beautiful music. A word of warning, talking heads require listening even 10 or 20 times, and you may still not understand anything musically, then, one fine day, you listen to the same piece casually for the thirtieth time and the gates of paradise open to you and you enjoy an incredible beauty. This is one of those pieces, pure art
This era of Talking Heads is amazing. There are (count 'em) nine different vocals at work in this one, either harmonising or on counterpoint. It was the combination between brilliant musicianship and writing by the band and brilliant production by Brian Eno (a name you will see over and over again in the top music of the era). I was lucky enough to see them in concert on the same tour that was filmed for the "Stop Making Sense" concert movie - one of the best concert movies ever made (and well worth a look).
The Heads were the thinking man's rock band. Each of their records explores new grounds. The album Remain in Light is their masterpiece, an exploration into African polyrhythms and religious beliefs. David Byrne wrote the lyrics using a technique called cutups, he wrote sentences in different pieces of paper and then cut each word and started to mix them at random. The American beat era Avant Garde writer William Burroughs created this method. It was suggested to Byrne by the record producer Brian Eno, who had played keyboards in Roxy Music and later became one of the top producers in the scene. He produced David Bowie's Berlin trilogy, U2's The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby and many other classics. The guitar solos are played by master guitarist Robert Fripp, who was the leader of the famous experimental band King Crimson. The album is a multi-layered, hypnotic, and rhythmic avalanche of sounds. Weird at first, but infinitely rewarding afterwards.
I’ve always respected the hell out of David Byrne. He’s genius. Not my favorite sound, but I will say I’ve never heard this song before but it’s the best Talking Heads track I’ve heard. Rhythmic structure and instrumentation is MARVELOUS
'This is what aliens think music sounds like' 😆😆😆 Thanks for the reaction Syed, love it. When I started out listening to rock I wasn't into the strange stuff either - even Radiohead was way too out there for me - and it took me ages to 'get' Talking Heads properly. Fast forward a decade or so and I'm a certified alien in a tribute band that covers the Stop Making Sense concert movie from start to finish. Life's weird, and Talking Heads are weirder.
Syed, speaking as a person who respects but doesn’t love Talking Heads: David Byrne did a Broadway Show called American Utopia. It’s all music and dancing. It’s on UA-cam and it is INCREDIBLE. I would urge even those on the fence about Talking Heads to check it out. It’s genius. Totally out-of-the-box creativity on display
You want to see really hardcore old school Byrne? I was live at the WinterGarden Theatre in NYC to see The Catherine Wheel, coreography by Twyla Tharpe, 5th row, SICK show.
In terms of the meaning of the song, there is a general theme on the album that this fits into. The idea that measuring the world is not the same as what the world is. Calculus is used to measure curves by breaking them down into points - it's not really measuring the curve but it's close enough mathematically that we consider the curve to be basically measured. I think "The Great Curve" is this idea extrapolated to everything. There is something about the world that we cannot really define. Mother Nature has some nice curves, I guess!
Love this interpretation. Really fits in with the breakdown of Crosseyed and Painless: 'facts just twist the truth around / facts are living turned inside out'.
Sigh. One of my absolute FAVORITE songs by the Talking Heads. We caught a screening of Stop Making Sense at our neighborhood theater a couple of years ago and it was pure joy.
The song "Crosseyed and Painless" from this album has become a very popular song for jam bands to cover, starting with Phish when they covered this whole album for their Halloween concert in 1996. It worked its way into their repertoire, becoming a lead-in for some of their best improvised jams. Many other funk-oriented jam bands have picked up the practice.
Those aren't bongos, they're congas. Bongos are afro Caribbean, congas are African. I saw this band during this tour, 1980 in Albany, NY. We were third row center. So close we were able to talk to Adrian Belew between songs. Busta Jones was playing bass and Nona Hendryx one of the vocalists. One of the most memorable concerts I ever saw. Watching Adrian bending his guitar and controlling that screaming feedback was mind-blowing.
Stop Making Sense is an experimental movie that shows a live performance of the Talking Heads at their peak. Is the best filmed concert ever. And the band's performance is incredibly energetic. It is a must watch.
It was released in 1980 but they were recording it in 1979!! How extraordinary when you think how popular music sounded then. At the time the band were deeply into African rhythms. Brian Eno produced it and he would just let the band jam in the studio around various rhythms and riffs. He would then record them and splice their jams to make songs from them, by layering one idea on top of another, producing a mesmeric work of art in the form of Remain In Light. The introduction of Adrian Belew on guitar was masterful. It's an album to become absorbed in. Just immerse yourself in it and it will become your friend for life. For me it was Talking Heads finest hour.
Their albums Fear of Music and Remain in Light blew a lot of minds as Talking Heads joined with Brian Eno to make experimental music like no one had ever heard outside of avant-garde. Their whole catalogue is worth checking out. You've started to react to live performances, so checking out some from their Stop Making Sense movie of a whole show is a goldmine of great tracks.
I was on their first 3 tours of Britain and they were almost unbelievably brilliant. When Adrian Belew plays guitar, to me, it has the effect of people seeing abstract art for the first time.
Remain in Light is one of my favourite 1980’s Albums BUT it needs to be listened to in its entirety in order to fully get it and understand it’s brilliance.
The Talking Heads are an amazing band. I would suggest "Life During Wartime". That was the first song I heard by them in the 70's and I just fell in love with them. They are an amazing band. Call them what you want but it is all rock music.
This track may be my favorite recording by anyone ever and has been since I first heard it, when my brother brought the album home from college when I was 13 or 14 (I'll be 56 in a few days). It blew my mind, and it still does, with all the loops and layering and then that guitar lying on top of it all. It's intoxicating. I love seeing people hear it for the first time.
One of the greatest bands of that era. They were so far outside my wheelhouse when I was in high school but then their big hit Life During Wartime from their breakthrough album fear of music, which was produced by Brian eno, crossed over into mainstream music and I actually first heard it on a rock station in high school and I thought wow how crazy is this? I didn't know what to make of it because it certainly was not rock and roll but somehow it really fascinated me and I thought it was humorous. And this was kind of also happening with similar kinds of music like Devo for example being on Saturday Night Live and then getting really popular even in the mainstream. But anyway I think this is their fourth album. They got going around 1976 and then fear of music was either 78 or 79 and then this came out and it was so revolutionary. It came out in 1980, the same time as the Prince album controversy which was fantastic and also fairly groundbreaking but before he really broke big. Another one was by the Black urban Funk group Cameo, they put out their album Feel Me which had some similar synthesizer and rhythm textures on it, and it was the last one they put out before they reduced from a 10-piece down to a 3-piece and had some really huge but fairly simple and predictable pop hits. 1980 was an amazing year for music. This album remain in light was absolutely ubiquitous in my circle of friends. That image you see with the red masks over their faces is the cover of the record album and everywhere I went and of course including in my own place as well, this album was almost always out where you could see it, mostly because people played it so much. It's great because a fair amount of this material ended up a few years later in there incredible concert tour combination movie production filmed and directed by the amazing Jonathan Demme and it was mind-blowing. A lot of people saw that movie and it was an introduction to a lot of people as well who had never really been familiar with T-Heads before. I was a huge fan and had all of their stuff plus the movie and some related books and new of all of their connections to other bands and artists and collaborations and was just so into the whole thing, including several other ambitious projects that David Byrne worked on. At any rate, it's definitely music for smart people and people with a great sense of ironic humor, which makes me think you would like it, and I really like all of their albums and you can definitely hear them evolve over time, but I would heavily maintain that the two back-to-back albums fear of music and then this album life during wartime were there two greatest albums. There is literally not a Talking Heads song on any of their stuff that I dislike but still, there's something special about those two albums and literally every song on them seems to be so creative and so powerful and so intriguing and it's all just Masterpiece level stuff. Conversely, you can find footage on UA-cam from their very early days when they were just tentatively forming, art kids from the Rhode Island School of Design, and they played at CBGB's in NYC, which finally shut its doors some years ago after decades of being an iconic venue, especially that broke a lot of bands into wider recognition.
This era of Talking Heads is amazing. There are (count 'em) nine different vocals at work in this one, either harmonising or on counterpoint. It was the combination between brilliant musicianship and writing by the band and brilliant production by Brian Eno (a name you will see over and over again in the top music of the era). Guitar maestro Adrian Belew provided the guitar break - he can make his guitar do just about anything. I was lucky enough to see them in concert on the same tour that was filmed for the "Stop Making Sense" concert movie - one of the best concert movies ever made (and well worth a look).
The genius of this song is that it's just one chord. It leaves all the musicians free to experiment within that one chord, especially the lead guitar breaks, played by the superb Adrian Belew.
"Once in a Lifetime", " "Burning Down the House", "And She Was", and "Take Me to the River" -- all great and a little less "alien-sounding". Any clip from the "Stop Making Sense" concert tour is incredible! You will love it!
Legend has it that David Byrne would cut up sections of his writings and rearrange them to form the songs for 'Remain in Light’. Basically chopping up sections of text and sticking them back together in a way that (sort of) makes sense. Some people when they do this even pull lyrics out of a hat. So the lyrics are always going to be subject to all sorts of interpretations. Ingenius approach to songwriting.
That was a technique - “cut ups” - that David Bowie got from William S. Burroughs. Brian Eno, who produced for both Bowie and Byrne, shared the technique with Talking Heads.
At Heatwave (an early new wave/punk festival in Ontario) in 1982 they played four other tunes from Remain In Light as well as some Talking Heads early classics. The crowd loved them.
Ah, that distorted guitar, from the unique Adrien Belew. He was brought in to contribute on this. The track was already laid down and he added his guitar into spaces where he thought it would fit. Pretty brilliant. He played on some other tracks and toured with the Heads for a bit, too. This is from the second phase of the Heads which incorporated African polyrhythms as you've noted. Their third "silly phase" was to come, which is where I got off. They became too popular for me, lol.
After finishing the reaction, just so many other things. It sounds alien to you because it's new to you just like it was to all of us at some point except that when a lot of us were hearing it, it literally was brand new for the time. I remember thinking, oh yeah! I haven't heard this in a while, this is going to be good. But literally by the first bar it all came flooding back and I literally know every single note in this song, I can play all the instruments in it, everything about it. And it's like an old friend and it will now be stuck in my head for days, I promise you that. It's so catchy. Can you imagine being at a club or a party and it's cranked up to the Max and there are subwoofers punching you in the gut and people are just frenetically dancing their asses off to this. I mean it is a total cardio workout to dance to this thing, laugh. And there are others like it on the album. And if you watch stop making sense, you will see some breathtaking athleticism and endurance and just top-notch live musicianship and Showmanship and props and all kinds of stuff. Also, Adrian Belew of later King Crimson was absolutely groundbreaking in his use of effects and playing techniques, and just all kinds of inventive things to create crazy sounds like everything from seagulls to this wonderful presentation on this song, and that first solo always gets to me as a wounded animal screaming out in pain and confusion, but then the second solo is still really biting and amazing but it's a bit more assured and celebratory in feel compared to the first one. And keep in mind, just because he's not shredding arpeggios and stuff, doesn't mean that what he's doing isn't at times anyway quite difficult and it takes a fair amount of practice to replicate and plus he does it live while he's jumping around and everything too. And he didn't really need to play like that because in King crimson, he had the insanely talented guitarist Robert Fripp holding that part of things down, and then David Byrne was a good friend and collaborator with both Robert Fripp and then also Brian Eno. And it's funny you noticed the African thing because Chris Frantz on the drums is straight ahead Club beat for the most part on the drum kit, and then you have a really talented percussionist who also went with them on tour doing the congas and other percussion and David Byrne along with Brian Eno and Robert Fripp was really really really into not only African music but also the culture itself. In fact he collaborated with Brian Eno on a side project that was a single album called My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and it is fascinating. And it is named after a book by the same name about a rite of passage in one of the African cultures where they believed that the bush in the territory around them was inhabited by ghosts and when you were to go from being a teen to a young man warrior, you had to go out at night and run through the bush and the ghosts and then at some point also it involved running along some water and there are lots of dangerous rocks and yet you still have to sprint and run full speed across that for a long distance. Finally, another thing that David Byrne was fascinated with and got into studying and incorporating into his music along with some of his collaborators was the whole Dada movement about surrealism and silliness taken to be thought-provoking and a means of criticizing traditional ways of thinking. Hence the title of the song, album and movie, Stop Making Sense that came out not long after this Remain in Light album.
That's a long post - thanks for writing it. You express how I feel very well; I had all 3 prior albums and found this alluring, intensely funky, but bewildering: Now if I felt alienated, how would someone who'd never heard them before react.....? Frankly this isn't my recommend for a first TH listen. There's an aaawful lot going on ie; it rewards repeat listening. I know it like the top of my hand, 42 years on and it's catchy, bags of hooks, and an irresistible dance beat, but you're not going to get all that first time round. I think it's one of the best songs they ever made.
@@briangray00 I think you completely capture my experience with that as well. For me, in this situation, I would 100% introduce somebody to the studio cut of Life During Wartime.
I think you'll like Talking Heads because they play a lot of infectious and somewhat exotic rhythms, and David Byrne is a very good songwriter. I encourage you to experience: • Life During Wartime • Crosseyed and Painless • This Must Be the Place • Road to Nowhere • Love for Sale Talking Heads also made one of the very best LIVE albums ever from their magnificent concert film, "Stop Making Sense". The film starts with David Byrne alone on the first song, and with each song another band member is added onstage. It's impossible to stay still during this performance, which is as joyous a celebration of music as you'll ever see and hear. My favorite moment is after an especially rhythmic jam, David Byrne yells to the audience, "Does anybody have any questions?". Talking Heads fucking ROCKED.
This is a rabbit hole you should go down... there's much, much more... especially lyrically... (you've mentioned your fascination with song writing and poetry)... "The Great Curve" is about "Mother Earth"... (in my opinion)
God, I remember spinning this album and could never get enough of The Great Curve. Back in the 80's, I would play Belew's solos for all the Metalheads raving about guitarists like Malmsteen, etc. They'd be like: "Yeah. It's a good solo." lol. Perhaps, two of the most unique solo's every put to vinyl. Genius. BTW - Yes. This period was influenced African music especially Fela Kuti.
OK not too shabby, thank you. Its all groove man, the layers in their songs, it's like an onion. And it all comes back to the groove. Do the whole album, you will be converted too. They put the fun into funky. Love it, love everything about it. Mwah 😘
Oh….I’ve listened to music my whole life, (I’m 75) and there is SO MUCH MUSIC I haven’t heard! If you check out Leland Sklar’s channel….he’s played on thousands of albums, and continues to introduce me to new artists I haven’t heard of constantly. It’s almost frustrating to discover so much great music you were completely unaware of.
This is what aliens think music sounds like, lol - great comment 👍. Their cataloge of work is amazing. Worthwhile to view their live performances as well.
Talking Heads have a much more “rock-y” catalogue to listen to, also. Try “Life During Wartime,” “Once In A Lifetime,” “Psycho Killer,” “Burning Down The House,” “Born Under Punches,” etc. Thanks for the great reactions!
This seems to be a deep cut ( at least for me ), it's got a killer funky groove. I'm going to have to listen to this with headphones. They have some hits that received a lot of airplay, such as "Physco Killer", "Life During Wartime". They made a movie/concert in the late 70's, or early 80's called "Stop Making Sense". The first song starts out with David Byrne solo, next song adding another band member, and so on and so forth. The band Tom Tom Club also makes an appearance in this concert.
Try Life During Wartime, Once in a Lifetime or Burning Down the House. Better yet - watch the taped concert event called Stop Making Sense. They weren't really so much part of the New Wave crowd as a college or house band - a local band that became quite popular. They are unique and their songs will get stuck in your head.
We all have slightly different interpretations of David Byrne's lyrics. I always imagined a goddess who shakes the world into existence with day and night supported in the backup lines. Oh and ...The ripping guitar is courtesy of Adrian Belew (also of King Crimson). Belew generates some amazing sounds from his various rigs, but he's astounding in person. Keep doing Music like this and I'll donate.
Respectfully - this song isn't New Wave. The major influence is African Pop music. There was a flood of African Pop influence in the late 70s in the more experimental pop musicians. Eventually it reached mainstream pop with Paul Simon's Graceland album. The Lyrics - to me it's not a situation where the lyrics are meant to make sense in a traditional way. In fact, the excellent Talking Heads concert film is called "Stop Making Sense". Refer to King Sunny Ade and Prince Nico Mbarga. Really nice to see you stretching out with this reaction.
Great great band. Most of their output will be a lot more accessible and easy for you to appreciate. I bloody love this one, though ; funky and hypnotic rhythms. As rock bands go they have a great soul feel. Somebody mentioned their Stop Making Sense film; I'd heartily recommend you watch it - you'll be thrilled.
The two albums before this one are my favs “ More Songs About Buildings and Food” and “Fear of Music” those have more of the classic Talking Heads sound, this album has a bigger band and is going in a different direction but it’s also great in its own way. They took some inspiration from Fela Kuti on this album. The alien guitar solo is by Adrian Belew he is a world unto himself. He played with Zappa, Bowie, and King Crimson and is still playing with his own band.
As already said below -- This band is awesome. Performance art at its best. You should check out the live "Stop Making Sense" tour video if you want to get to grips with TH and David Byrne.
The Great Curve is a weird introduction to the Talking Heads. Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, Burning Down the House, Once in a Lifetime a dozen or so other tracks would be a more normal place to start.
I love this! This track reminds me much of a band called Rusted Root and is less industrial in nature than the the Talking Heads later works such as "And She Was" or "Life During Wartime".
Yes they began as minimalist new wave but with this their 4th album they expanded to incorporate African polyrhythms and obviously many layers - this exploded around the world, no one had fused African with western pop and the avant garde (Peter Gabriel was 1986). You need to see them play these things not only Stop Making Sense (a must) but also HEADS LIVE ROME 1980 entire concert’s on UA-cam.
If you would like to continue your journey here as a hip hop fan you should start with the Tom Tom Club. Tina Weymouth and Frantz are also part of Talking Heads. The song Genius of Love is one of the most sampled songs ever. Then you can start to discover the genius of David Byrne and the live tour Stop Making Sense
Oh yeah, and Adrian Belew (of later King Crimson plus cool solo project The Bears) played those crazy abstract blistering guitar solos on a lot of this album. Also did a lot of rhythm guitar.
When my son was young and we were driving in the car I'd ask him "What's daddy's favorite song?" He'd reply "The Great Curve." And then I would play it.
Don't forget Adrian Belew's two solos on this Talking Heads epic from Remain in Light are some of his wildest guitar moments on record, in a career filled with wild guitar moments. Adrian have also made great music with King Crimson. Prozac Blues is my favorite. He is one of my favorite guitar players. Adrian should be seen live.
Apparently, they didn't have any songs or idea for this album. Chis (drummer) & Tina (bassist) built and laid down some grooves (using funk, James Brown a big influence). If you listened to David Byrne and Brian Eno collaborations, this tune has those treatments and musical influences. Eno & Byne then layered and built on those tracks that Tina & Chris experimented with, experimenting even more... I think Byrne, lyrically, does what Bowie also did with lyrics, had a random selector of words (in computer) and then build the lyrics that way... shape words and phrases contrasting each other and themes emerge. On TH's Fear of Music album, the track I Zimbra was the only track that sort of hinted at this album's approach. Remain in Light for sure was a departure and was built through bits and pieces of experimentation. Adrian Belew is doing the guitar solo (I believe)... and it's for sure experimental and also his approach/sound. Played on Bowie's Station to Station... also King Crimson later stuff.
Having been a Talking Heads fan from their beginning, when this album came out it blew our minds. I remember a review which said, "they mix punk nonsensibilities with African polyrhythms to make dance music for white intellectuals." To which we said, "Yeah, isn't it great!"
Talking Heads lyrics -- by Byrne's own admission -- aren't always "About" something. They might just be words that seem like they might mean something but are used to carry the melody more than send a message. I mean, here it almost seems like the words are about Dancing, if they're about anything -- and so is the rhythm, thus it matches up well and doesn't really have to mean anything.
Since you mention the feel of factories & space, how's this from the Heads' liner notes off Stop Making Sense? "The pace People read our mail. The Space People think that TV news programs are comedies, and that soap operas are news. The Space People will contact us when they can make money by doing so. The Space People think factories are musical instruments. They sing along with them. Each song lasts from 5 AM to 8 PM. No music on weekends." “
Good reactions! The Heads used African beats and rhythms to create a hypnotic effect which I believe they achieved. I’m surprised you didn’t analyze the lyrics too much. Usually you’re spot on. To me the world moves to a Woman’s hips is reference to woman’s sexuality and ability to give birth. In a very real sense the world and the people in depend on woman’s sex appeal and reproductive powers. Without women, it all ends and you have nothing! What’s the world without children! Barren and doomed, isn’t it? So that’s how I interpret the meaning of those lyrics. And I really like the cover Art with the Tomatoes covering their faces! That’s amusing! The album and film you should really check out and review is Stop Making Sense! A great concert film and soundtrack! It was the first to be recorded completely digitally and it’s stood the test of time!
One of my all time best albums. HOW you are going to stop/start this track? I don't mind normally but this is SUCH A GROOVE I cannot imagine it. Well. here we go then....
Dude, my favorite band (along with The Doors, which I just watched two of your reactions.) Thank you for doing this reaction. I've been a TH fan since before 1980 and they have been my favorite band ever since. As a long time fan, I think David Byrne could be characterized as a very serious guy who seriously believes life shouldn't be taken too seriously. Life is temporary, so keep moving forward and don't stress too much. I may be wrong about this. PS The Tom Tom Club is a break off of the Talking Heads (maybe sub-band is a better description), and they get sampled in hip hop.
One of the quirkiest bands to come out of the “new wave” style. I was exploring this band myself just recently and their first two albums are way more approachable than this one. I skipped to this one and was really taken aback.
I remember when I first heard the Talking Heads, I thought finally someone who makes music for my level of intellect and surging hedonism. Any other music I'd heard before was so twee and lifeless. Mildly entertaining. I'm sorry you're not able to get it.
I hate it when patrons want to introduce a reactor to a deep cut before they hear a hit song from a band. They were hits for a reason. It's like having someone's first experience of Elton John be "Funeral for a Friend"(and that has happened🤦♂️🤦♀️. It's really throwing the dice. Yikes.This superb band deserved a better introduction. This song sounds like its great live, when you are literally having an experience. Hear them do "Life During Wartime, but you *MUST* see the live concert version (
No, they came almost at the same time as the New Wave and had nothing to do with the aesthetics of what they were and are beyond: simply creators... it was a time when experimenting with chapel mixes was the credo, especially in NYC with James White, Defunkt etc and this album is a timeless gem , with mainly the fashionable components of this time : coldness, repetition and trance. And a few things that are no longer possible today so much the music seems inset, formatted, and AGREED
The Talking heads made a concert film and album that many feel is the greatest concert film of all time. "Stop Making Sense" is well worth listening to and is much more accessible than this song, which is probably one of their most obscure.
David Byrne was ahead of his time over 40 years ago foisting polyrhyhhtmic there are an extra two consonants in there Nigerian Fela Kuti-inspired shit upon the the unwashed masses.
There is NO ONE like Talking Heads. Every decade has a handful of bands that just cut through all the rest with great energy, visions, and creativity. T Heads came out album after album with great music. You just need to listen to more. You'll see what I mean.
Talking Heads are an experience, and a brilliant band. They are a genre unto themselves. David Byrne is a true genius - visual artist, musical artist, his work is almost performance art. The album Fear Of Music really brought them into the mainstream, especially with the single, “Life During Wartime”. They might be an acquired taste, but they’re definitely worth diving into. I never get tired of their music. Great choice for a reaction.
This is one of the most brilliant and beautiful pieces ever written, layers of beautiful music. A word of warning, talking heads require listening even 10 or 20 times, and you may still not understand anything musically, then, one fine day, you listen to the same piece casually for the thirtieth time and the gates of paradise open to you and you enjoy an incredible beauty.
This is one of those pieces, pure art
Byrne's lyrics are always quite cryptic. Eventually to experience them at their peak you must watch "Stop Making Sense"
Absolutely - watch the groundbreaking and brilliant concert film Stop Making Sense.
That crazy pained guitar is courtesy of Adrian Belew. A unique talent added to Byrne's unique talent and Brian Eno's unique talent.
This era of Talking Heads is amazing. There are (count 'em) nine different vocals at work in this one, either harmonising or on counterpoint. It was the combination between brilliant musicianship and writing by the band and brilliant production by Brian Eno (a name you will see over and over again in the top music of the era). I was lucky enough to see them in concert on the same tour that was filmed for the "Stop Making Sense" concert movie - one of the best concert movies ever made (and well worth a look).
The Heads were the thinking man's rock band. Each of their records explores new grounds. The album Remain in Light is their masterpiece, an exploration into African polyrhythms and religious beliefs. David Byrne wrote the lyrics using a technique called cutups, he wrote sentences in different pieces of paper and then cut each word and started to mix them at random. The American beat era Avant Garde writer William Burroughs created this method. It was suggested to Byrne by the record producer Brian Eno, who had played keyboards in Roxy Music and later became one of the top producers in the scene. He produced David Bowie's Berlin trilogy, U2's The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby and many other classics. The guitar solos are played by master guitarist Robert Fripp, who was the leader of the famous experimental band King Crimson. The album is a multi-layered, hypnotic, and rhythmic avalanche of sounds. Weird at first, but infinitely rewarding afterwards.
I’ve always respected the hell out of David Byrne. He’s genius. Not my favorite sound, but I will say I’ve never heard this song before but it’s the best Talking Heads track I’ve heard. Rhythmic structure and instrumentation is MARVELOUS
It soars. I suspect you'd enjoy this visual representation, as I did; ua-cam.com/video/LqTyfMDnK-k/v-deo.html
@@briangray00 WOW! helene here. Thank you, Brian….that was memorizing. It visually represents the complexity of the music so well…
'This is what aliens think music sounds like' 😆😆😆 Thanks for the reaction Syed, love it. When I started out listening to rock I wasn't into the strange stuff either - even Radiohead was way too out there for me - and it took me ages to 'get' Talking Heads properly. Fast forward a decade or so and I'm a certified alien in a tribute band that covers the Stop Making Sense concert movie from start to finish. Life's weird, and Talking Heads are weirder.
Syed, speaking as a person who respects but doesn’t love Talking Heads: David Byrne did a Broadway Show called American Utopia. It’s all music and dancing. It’s on UA-cam and it is INCREDIBLE. I would urge even those on the fence about Talking Heads to check it out. It’s genius. Totally out-of-the-box creativity on display
You want to see really hardcore old school Byrne? I was live at the WinterGarden Theatre in NYC to see The Catherine Wheel, coreography by Twyla Tharpe, 5th row, SICK show.
In terms of the meaning of the song, there is a general theme on the album that this fits into. The idea that measuring the world is not the same as what the world is. Calculus is used to measure curves by breaking them down into points - it's not really measuring the curve but it's close enough mathematically that we consider the curve to be basically measured. I think "The Great Curve" is this idea extrapolated to everything. There is something about the world that we cannot really define. Mother Nature has some nice curves, I guess!
Love this interpretation. Really fits in with the breakdown of Crosseyed and Painless: 'facts just twist the truth around / facts are living turned inside out'.
@@aaronfledge Exactly! "There was a line / there was a formula / Sharp as a knife / facts cut a hole in us"
Sigh. One of my absolute FAVORITE songs by the Talking Heads. We caught a screening of Stop Making Sense at our neighborhood theater a couple of years ago and it was pure joy.
The song "Crosseyed and Painless" from this album has become a very popular song for jam bands to cover, starting with Phish when they covered this whole album for their Halloween concert in 1996. It worked its way into their repertoire, becoming a lead-in for some of their best improvised jams. Many other funk-oriented jam bands have picked up the practice.
Those aren't bongos, they're congas. Bongos are afro Caribbean, congas are African.
I saw this band during this tour, 1980 in Albany, NY. We were third row center. So close we were able to talk to Adrian Belew between songs. Busta Jones was playing bass and Nona Hendryx one of the vocalists. One of the most memorable concerts I ever saw. Watching Adrian bending his guitar and controlling that screaming feedback was mind-blowing.
Stop Making Sense is an experimental movie that shows a live performance of the Talking Heads at their peak. Is the best filmed concert ever. And the band's performance is incredibly energetic. It is a must watch.
Watch American Utopia.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 Stop Making Sense was better. They didn't glorify thugs in it, for starters. Otherwise, a fairly enjoyable performance.
@@mikicoal No offence to Mr. Byrne but American Utopia is a woke waste of time.
I watched the concert few times and the movie premiere!
Mate. Listen to more Talking Heads. They’ll take you to soundscapes that you never knew existed. Talking Heads forever!!
It was released in 1980 but they were recording it in 1979!! How extraordinary when you think how popular music sounded then. At the time the band were deeply into African rhythms.
Brian Eno produced it and he would just let the band jam in the studio around various rhythms and riffs. He would then record them and splice their jams to make songs from them, by layering one idea on top of another, producing a mesmeric work of art in the form of Remain In Light. The introduction of Adrian Belew on guitar was masterful.
It's an album to become absorbed in. Just immerse yourself in it and it will become your friend for life. For me it was Talking Heads finest hour.
It's been my experience that the three year marriage of Talking Heads with Brian Eno produced three musically diverse albums from 1978 to 1980.
I've owned and loved this album for a long time but I think, it's only in the last few years, I've come to realise what a bonafide masterpiece it is.
Their albums Fear of Music and Remain in Light blew a lot of minds as Talking Heads joined with Brian Eno to make experimental music like no one had ever heard outside of avant-garde. Their whole catalogue is worth checking out. You've started to react to live performances, so checking out some from their Stop Making Sense movie of a whole show is a goldmine of great tracks.
I was on their first 3 tours of Britain and they were almost unbelievably brilliant.
When Adrian Belew plays guitar, to me, it has the effect of people seeing abstract art for the first time.
Remain in Light is one of my favourite 1980’s Albums BUT it needs to be listened to in its entirety in order to fully get it and understand it’s brilliance.
Talking Heads joined with Brian Eno and Adrian Belew and made this brilliant song
Eno produced Remain in Light and Stop making Sense, the best Talking Heads ever!
The Talking Heads are an amazing band. I would suggest "Life During Wartime". That was the first song I heard by them in the 70's and I just fell in love with them. They are an amazing band. Call them what you want but it is all rock music.
Love this era of Talking Heads. What an incredible band with the expanded lineup. Adrian Belew is the best at alien guitar! 👽 🎸
You're right! The Heads are bizarre! They always make me happy. Check out more Heads! You'll love 'em! Another great reaction!
Hi SyedRewinds - album is "Remain in Light". Listen to the entire thing - worth your time. Brilliant album, IMO... And as always - PLAY IT LOUD!!!
This track may be my favorite recording by anyone ever and has been since I first heard it, when my brother brought the album home from college when I was 13 or 14 (I'll be 56 in a few days). It blew my mind, and it still does, with all the loops and layering and then that guitar lying on top of it all. It's intoxicating.
I love seeing people hear it for the first time.
TYSVM for showing the lyrics. They can be tough to understand given how compressed everything is, but I love this track all the same.
One of the greatest bands of that era. They were so far outside my wheelhouse when I was in high school but then their big hit Life During Wartime from their breakthrough album fear of music, which was produced by Brian eno, crossed over into mainstream music and I actually first heard it on a rock station in high school and I thought wow how crazy is this? I didn't know what to make of it because it certainly was not rock and roll but somehow it really fascinated me and I thought it was humorous. And this was kind of also happening with similar kinds of music like Devo for example being on Saturday Night Live and then getting really popular even in the mainstream. But anyway I think this is their fourth album. They got going around 1976 and then fear of music was either 78 or 79 and then this came out and it was so revolutionary. It came out in 1980, the same time as the Prince album controversy which was fantastic and also fairly groundbreaking but before he really broke big. Another one was by the Black urban Funk group Cameo, they put out their album Feel Me which had some similar synthesizer and rhythm textures on it, and it was the last one they put out before they reduced from a 10-piece down to a 3-piece and had some really huge but fairly simple and predictable pop hits. 1980 was an amazing year for music.
This album remain in light was absolutely ubiquitous in my circle of friends. That image you see with the red masks over their faces is the cover of the record album and everywhere I went and of course including in my own place as well, this album was almost always out where you could see it, mostly because people played it so much. It's great because a fair amount of this material ended up a few years later in there incredible concert tour combination movie production filmed and directed by the amazing Jonathan Demme and it was mind-blowing. A lot of people saw that movie and it was an introduction to a lot of people as well who had never really been familiar with T-Heads before. I was a huge fan and had all of their stuff plus the movie and some related books and new of all of their connections to other bands and artists and collaborations and was just so into the whole thing, including several other ambitious projects that David Byrne worked on. At any rate, it's definitely music for smart people and people with a great sense of ironic humor, which makes me think you would like it, and I really like all of their albums and you can definitely hear them evolve over time, but I would heavily maintain that the two back-to-back albums fear of music and then this album life during wartime were there two greatest albums. There is literally not a Talking Heads song on any of their stuff that I dislike but still, there's something special about those two albums and literally every song on them seems to be so creative and so powerful and so intriguing and it's all just Masterpiece level stuff. Conversely, you can find footage on UA-cam from their very early days when they were just tentatively forming, art kids from the Rhode Island School of Design, and they played at CBGB's in NYC, which finally shut its doors some years ago after decades of being an iconic venue, especially that broke a lot of bands into wider recognition.
This era of Talking Heads is amazing. There are (count 'em) nine different vocals at work in this one, either harmonising or on counterpoint. It was the combination between brilliant musicianship and writing by the band and brilliant production by Brian Eno (a name you will see over and over again in the top music of the era). Guitar maestro Adrian Belew provided the guitar break - he can make his guitar do just about anything. I was lucky enough to see them in concert on the same tour that was filmed for the "Stop Making Sense" concert movie - one of the best concert movies ever made (and well worth a look).
The genius of this song is that it's just one chord. It leaves all the musicians free to experiment within that one chord, especially the lead guitar breaks, played by the superb Adrian Belew.
"Once in a Lifetime", " "Burning Down the House", "And She Was", and "Take Me to the River" -- all great and a little less "alien-sounding". Any clip from the "Stop Making Sense" concert tour is incredible! You will love it!
Been listening to The Heads since 1978. They are the most unique and one of the most cerebral bands ever. Made a world of their own. LOVE THE HEADS!
These guys were several sandwiches long of a picnic. Very clever and made it work almost every time.
Legend has it that David Byrne would cut up sections of his writings and rearrange them to form the songs for 'Remain in Light’. Basically chopping up sections of text and sticking them back together in a way that (sort of) makes sense. Some people when they do this even pull lyrics out of a hat. So the lyrics are always going to be subject to all sorts of interpretations. Ingenius approach to songwriting.
That was a technique - “cut ups” - that David Bowie got from William S. Burroughs. Brian Eno, who produced for both Bowie and Byrne, shared the technique with Talking Heads.
At Heatwave (an early new wave/punk festival in Ontario) in 1982 they played four other tunes from Remain In Light as well as some Talking Heads early classics. The crowd loved them.
I used to blast this in the eighties. I’m sure my neighbors appreciated it.
Their music varied album to album. Try ‘Girlfriend is Better’
Ah, that distorted guitar, from the unique Adrien Belew. He was brought in to contribute on this. The track was already laid down and he added his guitar into spaces where he thought it would fit. Pretty brilliant. He played on some other tracks and toured with the Heads for a bit, too.
This is from the second phase of the Heads which incorporated African polyrhythms as you've noted. Their third "silly phase" was to come, which is where I got off. They became too popular for me, lol.
After finishing the reaction, just so many other things. It sounds alien to you because it's new to you just like it was to all of us at some point except that when a lot of us were hearing it, it literally was brand new for the time. I remember thinking, oh yeah! I haven't heard this in a while, this is going to be good. But literally by the first bar it all came flooding back and I literally know every single note in this song, I can play all the instruments in it, everything about it. And it's like an old friend and it will now be stuck in my head for days, I promise you that. It's so catchy. Can you imagine being at a club or a party and it's cranked up to the Max and there are subwoofers punching you in the gut and people are just frenetically dancing their asses off to this. I mean it is a total cardio workout to dance to this thing, laugh. And there are others like it on the album. And if you watch stop making sense, you will see some breathtaking athleticism and endurance and just top-notch live musicianship and Showmanship and props and all kinds of stuff. Also, Adrian Belew of later King Crimson was absolutely groundbreaking in his use of effects and playing techniques, and just all kinds of inventive things to create crazy sounds like everything from seagulls to this wonderful presentation on this song, and that first solo always gets to me as a wounded animal screaming out in pain and confusion, but then the second solo is still really biting and amazing but it's a bit more assured and celebratory in feel compared to the first one. And keep in mind, just because he's not shredding arpeggios and stuff, doesn't mean that what he's doing isn't at times anyway quite difficult and it takes a fair amount of practice to replicate and plus he does it live while he's jumping around and everything too. And he didn't really need to play like that because in King crimson, he had the insanely talented guitarist Robert Fripp holding that part of things down, and then David Byrne was a good friend and collaborator with both Robert Fripp and then also Brian Eno. And it's funny you noticed the African thing because Chris Frantz on the drums is straight ahead Club beat for the most part on the drum kit, and then you have a really talented percussionist who also went with them on tour doing the congas and other percussion and David Byrne along with Brian Eno and Robert Fripp was really really really into not only African music but also the culture itself. In fact he collaborated with Brian Eno on a side project that was a single album called My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and it is fascinating. And it is named after a book by the same name about a rite of passage in one of the African cultures where they believed that the bush in the territory around them was inhabited by ghosts and when you were to go from being a teen to a young man warrior, you had to go out at night and run through the bush and the ghosts and then at some point also it involved running along some water and there are lots of dangerous rocks and yet you still have to sprint and run full speed across that for a long distance. Finally, another thing that David Byrne was fascinated with and got into studying and incorporating into his music along with some of his collaborators was the whole Dada movement about surrealism and silliness taken to be thought-provoking and a means of criticizing traditional ways of thinking. Hence the title of the song, album and movie, Stop Making Sense that came out not long after this Remain in Light album.
That's a long post - thanks for writing it. You express how I feel very well; I had all 3 prior albums and found this alluring, intensely funky, but bewildering: Now if I felt alienated, how would someone who'd never heard them before react.....? Frankly this isn't my recommend for a first TH listen.
There's an aaawful lot going on ie; it rewards repeat listening. I know it like the top of my hand, 42 years on and it's catchy, bags of hooks, and an irresistible dance beat, but you're not going to get all that first time round. I think it's one of the best songs they ever made.
@@briangray00 I think you completely capture my experience with that as well. For me, in this situation, I would 100% introduce somebody to the studio cut of Life During Wartime.
I think you'll like Talking Heads because they play a lot of infectious and somewhat exotic rhythms, and David Byrne is a very good songwriter.
I encourage you to experience:
• Life During Wartime
• Crosseyed and Painless
• This Must Be the Place
• Road to Nowhere
• Love for Sale
Talking Heads also made one of the very best LIVE albums ever from their magnificent concert film,
"Stop Making Sense". The film starts with David Byrne alone on the first song, and with each song another band member is added onstage.
It's impossible to stay still during this performance, which is as joyous a celebration of music as you'll ever see and hear. My favorite moment is after an especially rhythmic jam, David Byrne yells to the audience, "Does anybody have any questions?".
Talking Heads fucking ROCKED.
This is a rabbit hole you should go down... there's much, much more... especially lyrically... (you've mentioned your fascination with song writing and poetry)... "The Great Curve" is about "Mother Earth"... (in my opinion)
Talking Heads were one of the first bands to incorporate "World Music" into the music. Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon followed that lead.
God, I remember spinning this album and could never get enough of The Great Curve. Back in the 80's, I would play Belew's solos for all the Metalheads raving about guitarists like Malmsteen, etc. They'd be like: "Yeah. It's a good solo." lol. Perhaps, two of the most unique solo's every put to vinyl. Genius.
BTW - Yes. This period was influenced African music especially Fela Kuti.
Loved your refreshing interpretation. Thanks much!
OK not too shabby, thank you. Its all groove man, the layers in their songs, it's like an onion. And it all comes back to the groove. Do the whole album, you will be converted too. They put the fun into funky. Love it, love everything about it. Mwah 😘
I’m always amazed how people can go through their lives listening to music but haven’t heard bands like the Talking Heads.
Oh….I’ve listened to music my whole life, (I’m 75) and there is SO MUCH MUSIC I haven’t heard! If you check out Leland Sklar’s channel….he’s played on thousands of albums, and continues to introduce me to new artists I haven’t heard of constantly. It’s almost frustrating to discover so much great music you were completely unaware of.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588. I hadn’t heard Nick Drake up until a couple of years ago. It’s a great feeling to discover something “new”
@@markatsvensson Love Nick. I just discovered The Sound. Well, not really, but I just listened to some of their albums for the first time last night.
This is what aliens think music sounds like, lol - great comment 👍. Their cataloge of work is amazing. Worthwhile to view their live performances as well.
Well I love this song. The whole album Remain In Light is masterful. You will find some of their songs familiar because they had numerous big hits
I just listened to this album! Thought it was great! :D
Talking Heads have a much more “rock-y” catalogue to listen to, also. Try “Life During Wartime,” “Once In A Lifetime,” “Psycho Killer,” “Burning Down The House,” “Born Under Punches,” etc.
Thanks for the great reactions!
This seems to be a deep cut ( at least for me ), it's got a killer funky groove. I'm going to have to listen to this with headphones. They have some hits that received a lot of airplay, such as "Physco Killer", "Life During Wartime". They made a movie/concert in the late 70's, or early 80's called "Stop Making Sense". The first song starts out with David Byrne solo, next song adding another band member, and so on and so forth. The band Tom Tom Club also makes an appearance in this concert.
Try Life During Wartime, Once in a Lifetime or Burning Down the House. Better yet - watch the taped concert event called Stop Making Sense. They weren't really so much part of the New Wave crowd as a college or house band - a local band that became quite popular. They are unique and their songs will get stuck in your head.
We all have slightly different interpretations of David Byrne's lyrics. I always imagined a goddess who shakes the world into existence with day and night supported in the backup lines. Oh and ...The ripping guitar is courtesy of Adrian Belew (also of King Crimson). Belew generates some amazing sounds from his various rigs, but he's astounding in person. Keep doing Music like this and I'll donate.
Respectfully - this song isn't New Wave. The major influence is African Pop music. There was a flood of African Pop influence in the late 70s in the more experimental pop musicians. Eventually it reached mainstream pop with Paul Simon's Graceland album. The Lyrics - to me it's not a situation where the lyrics are meant to make sense in a traditional way. In fact, the excellent Talking Heads concert film is called "Stop Making Sense".
Refer to King Sunny Ade and Prince Nico Mbarga.
Really nice to see you stretching out with this reaction.
Great great band. Most of their output will be a lot more accessible and easy for you to appreciate. I bloody love this one, though ; funky and hypnotic rhythms. As rock bands go they have a great soul feel. Somebody mentioned their Stop Making Sense film; I'd heartily recommend you watch it - you'll be thrilled.
Early Talking Heads were phenomenal.
The live 1983 video of Life During Wartime is a masterpiece.
The two albums before this one are my favs “ More Songs About Buildings and Food” and “Fear of Music” those have more of the classic Talking Heads sound, this album has a bigger band and is going in a different direction but it’s also great in its own way. They took some inspiration from Fela Kuti on this album. The alien guitar solo is by Adrian Belew he is a world unto himself. He played with Zappa, Bowie, and King Crimson and is still playing with his own band.
The whole album is great.
As already said below -- This band is awesome. Performance art at its best. You should check out the live "Stop Making Sense" tour video if you want to get to grips with TH and David Byrne.
When you say the ‘pieces aren’t usually put together..’ they often are, it’s just that you’ve not heard it.
The Great Curve is a weird introduction to the Talking Heads. Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, Burning Down the House, Once in a Lifetime a dozen or so other tracks would be a more normal place to start.
Not baby step; more top-rung. It's ace, though.
Check out 'Life During Wartime' from the film 'Stop Making Sense'. One of the most amazing live performances I have ever seen.
I love this! This track reminds me much of a band called Rusted Root and is less industrial in nature than the the Talking Heads later works such as "And She Was" or "Life During Wartime".
Robotic is really on the mark. If you watch some of their early videos, David Byrne “dances” like a robot.
Yes they began as minimalist new wave but with this their 4th album they expanded to incorporate African polyrhythms and obviously many layers - this exploded around the world, no one had fused African with western pop and the avant garde (Peter Gabriel was 1986). You need to see them play these things not only Stop Making Sense (a must) but also HEADS LIVE ROME 1980 entire concert’s on UA-cam.
Life During Wartime is a must!
If you would like to continue your journey here as a hip hop fan you should start with the Tom Tom Club. Tina Weymouth and Frantz are also part of Talking Heads. The song Genius of Love is one of the most sampled songs ever. Then you can start to discover the genius of David Byrne and the live tour Stop Making Sense
Oh yeah, and Adrian Belew (of later King Crimson plus cool solo project The Bears) played those crazy abstract blistering guitar solos on a lot of this album. Also did a lot of rhythm guitar.
Try this Talking Heads album - Speaking in Tongues - particularly this track - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
When my son was young and we were driving in the car I'd ask him "What's daddy's favorite song?" He'd reply "The Great Curve." And then I would play it.
First time I heard The Great Curve it belew me away.
Don't forget Adrian Belew's two solos on this Talking Heads epic from Remain in Light are some of his wildest guitar moments on record, in a career filled with wild guitar moments. Adrian have also made great music with King Crimson. Prozac Blues is my favorite. He is one of my favorite guitar players. Adrian should be seen live.
listen to the remain in light tour..best tour ever
You will be super impressed with STOP MAKING SENSE the movie concert. (And then it will Make Sense)
Apparently, they didn't have any songs or idea for this album. Chis (drummer) & Tina (bassist) built and laid down some grooves (using funk, James Brown a big influence). If you listened to David Byrne and Brian Eno collaborations, this tune has those treatments and musical influences. Eno & Byne then layered and built on those tracks that Tina & Chris experimented with, experimenting even more... I think Byrne, lyrically, does what Bowie also did with lyrics, had a random selector of words (in computer) and then build the lyrics that way... shape words and phrases contrasting each other and themes emerge. On TH's Fear of Music album, the track I Zimbra was the only track that sort of hinted at this album's approach. Remain in Light for sure was a departure and was built through bits and pieces of experimentation. Adrian Belew is doing the guitar solo (I believe)... and it's for sure experimental and also his approach/sound. Played on Bowie's Station to Station... also King Crimson later stuff.
He's describing God. As the prime mover.
And Belew is speaking in her voice.
Brian Eno's influence is evident. Research Eno's and other bands.
Having been a Talking Heads fan from their beginning, when this album came out it blew our minds. I remember a review which said, "they mix punk nonsensibilities with African polyrhythms to make dance music for white intellectuals." To which we said, "Yeah, isn't it great!"
The universe is a female, moving worlds, offering enlightenment.
Talking Heads lyrics -- by Byrne's own admission -- aren't always "About" something. They might just be words that seem like they might mean something but are used to carry the melody more than send a message. I mean, here it almost seems like the words are about Dancing, if they're about anything -- and so is the rhythm, thus it matches up well and doesn't really have to mean anything.
Since you mention the feel of factories & space, how's this from the Heads' liner notes off Stop Making Sense?
"The pace People read our mail. The Space People think that TV news programs are comedies, and that soap operas are news. The Space People will contact us when they can make money by doing so. The Space People think factories are musical instruments. They sing along with them. Each song lasts from 5 AM to 8 PM. No music on weekends."
“
PLEASE SEE THEIR CONCERT IN LA 1983.
Good reactions! The Heads used African beats and rhythms to create a hypnotic effect which I believe they achieved.
I’m surprised you didn’t analyze the lyrics too much. Usually you’re spot on. To me the world moves to a Woman’s hips is reference to woman’s sexuality and ability to give birth. In a very real sense the world and the people in depend on woman’s sex appeal and reproductive powers. Without women, it all ends and you have nothing! What’s the world without children! Barren and doomed, isn’t it? So that’s how I interpret the meaning of those lyrics.
And I really like the cover Art with the Tomatoes covering their faces! That’s amusing!
The album and film you should really check out and review is Stop Making Sense!
A great concert film and soundtrack! It was the first to be recorded completely digitally and it’s stood the test of time!
One of my all time best albums. HOW you are going to stop/start this track? I don't mind normally but this is SUCH A GROOVE I cannot imagine it. Well. here we go then....
Dude, my favorite band (along with The Doors, which I just watched two of your reactions.) Thank you for doing this reaction. I've been a TH fan since before 1980 and they have been my favorite band ever since. As a long time fan, I think David Byrne could be characterized as a very serious guy who seriously believes life shouldn't be taken too seriously. Life is temporary, so keep moving forward and don't stress too much. I may be wrong about this.
PS The Tom Tom Club is a break off of the Talking Heads (maybe sub-band is a better description), and they get sampled in hip hop.
One of the quirkiest bands to come out of the “new wave” style. I was exploring this band myself just recently and their first two albums are way more approachable than this one. I skipped to this one and was really taken aback.
I remember when I first heard the Talking Heads, I thought finally someone who makes music for my level of intellect and surging hedonism. Any other music I'd heard before was so twee and lifeless. Mildly entertaining. I'm sorry you're not able to get it.
Oh yeah. How did I forget that's the one about women's Great Curve(s)
They were influenced by Fela Kuti (Nigerian funk jazz)
I hate it when patrons want to introduce a reactor to a deep cut before they hear a hit song from a band. They were hits for a reason. It's like having someone's first experience of Elton John be "Funeral for a Friend"(and that has happened🤦♂️🤦♀️. It's really throwing the dice. Yikes.This superb band deserved a better introduction. This song sounds like its great live, when you are literally having an experience. Hear them do "Life During Wartime, but you *MUST* see the live concert version (
Great album a true land mark ..
New Wave.
Somehow I don’t see New Wave as your groove, Syed! 😏
No, they came almost at the same time as the New Wave and had nothing to do with the aesthetics of what they were and are beyond: simply creators... it was a time when experimenting with chapel mixes was the credo, especially in NYC with James White, Defunkt etc and this album is a timeless gem , with mainly the fashionable components of this time : coldness, repetition and trance.
And a few things that are no longer possible today so much the music seems inset, formatted, and AGREED
The Talking heads made a concert film and album that many feel is the greatest concert film of all time. "Stop Making Sense" is well worth listening to and is much more accessible than this song, which is probably one of their most obscure.
Try "Burning Down The House" from the Live-Album: Stop Making Sence 😎🎶🎵
David Byrne was ahead of his time over 40 years ago foisting polyrhyhhtmic there are an extra two consonants in there Nigerian Fela Kuti-inspired shit upon the the unwashed masses.
Amazing what you can do with one chord
David Byrne (¿ a Dadaist?) meets Brian Eno ( an IT strategy maestro) they are cooki ng togethher!
There is NO ONE like Talking Heads. Every decade has a handful of bands that just cut through all the rest with great energy, visions, and creativity. T Heads came out album after album with great music. You just need to listen to more. You'll see what I mean.