Talking
Heads continue to challenge music world
By Jon Matsumoto
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
An album’s greatness can only be truly measured over time. With that said,
it can be safely stated that Talking Heads’ 1979 album “Fear of Music” and
its 1980 disc “Remain in Light” stand as landmark achievements in
rock history.
Both were recently released by Rhino Records as dual discs containing remastered
and 5.1 surround sound versions of each. The album discs also contain bonus videos
and previously unreleased tracks.
There has never been a rock band that has combined artsy but unpretentious intellectualism
with primal dance instincts better than Talking Heads. The cerebral side of the
group seemed to arrive naturally for the band: vocalist-guitarist David Byrne
and drummer Chris Franz were products of the prestigious Rhode Island School
of Design while guitarist Jerry Harrison was an alumnus of Harvard. Ace bassist
Tina Weymouth rounded out the quartet. The band’s dance element came from
an unbridled love of black music.
The music of Talking Heads seems to originate from a strange, but exciting nether-world.
Indeed, the wild-eyed and jittery-voiced Byrne was known to perform and sing
as if he were from another planet.
“Fear of Music,” Talking Heads third album, is full of gloriously
obtuse and oddly existentialist lyrics loaded with minimalist titles like “City,” “Mind,” “Paper,” “Air,” “Heaven” and “Drugs.”
“Life During Wartime,” the album’s best uptempo tune, is an
edgy dance floor celebration despite its proclamation that “This ain’t
no disco, this ain’t no party, this ain’t no fooling around.”
If “Fear of Music” is a great record then “Remain in Light” is
a great and revolutionary one. Compared to “Fear of Music,” the feel
on this album is much denser, full-bodied and propulsive with guest guitarist
Adrian Belew producing a marvelous array of spiraling solos and sound effects.
Anchored by tracks like the supremely funky and spacey “Once in a Lifetime” and
the tribal yet avant-garde “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” “Remain
in Life” still sits on the cutting edge 26 years after it was released.
Rhino has also released dual disc versions of Talking Heads’ first two
albums, “Talking Heads 77” and “More Songs About Buildings
and Food.” The label will reissue the following three Talking Heads studio
albums from the 1980s on Feb. 14: “Speaking in Tongues,” “Little
Creatures” and “True Stories.”
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