Not that familiar with this band. Of the "candidates" this is the one I have least explored. I'm looking forward to this deep dive.
Who likes the Talking Heads?
Not that familiar with this band. Of the "candidates" this is the one I have least explored. I'm looking forward to this deep dive.
Who likes the Talking Heads?
Originally Posted by Sting
Hell yeah.
Me!
Not a ton of chatter here.
I'm enjoying the first four albums a lot.
Originally Posted by Sting
I would say without question they're one of the top 5 most influential American bands
Originally Posted by Sting
Talking Heads are kinda non-American.
Brian Eno's (a full on Brit) contributions in production of albums 2-4 (More Songs..., Fear of Music, and Remain in Light) combined with Bryne's Scottish-American heritage (he was born in Scotland then moved to Canada at age 2, then Maryland at age 9) give pause.
It's an American sound and there's no question they are an American band (if you would compare them with, e.g., Jimi Hendrix or Fleetwood Mac)...it's enough of a caveat to factor into the debate.
Originally Posted by Sting
I have never listened to a complete Talking Heads album before now.
I was familiar with Once in a Lifetime and Burning Down the House from radio/media saturation in my youth. I actually did not like the Talking Heads for some inexplicable reason. It wasn't dislike, but it was some form of snobbishness. Which, in hindsight, makes little sense.
In the Napster days, I checked out a few more songs: And She Was & This Must Be the Place. I liked them enough to repeat listen, but I didn't dive into their catalog.
Anyways. I'm finally listening to these albums from end to end in one sitting.
Fear of Music is my favorite at the moment. Remain in Light is dense, crunchy, anxious, thinky, and funky. I've played it maybe 5-10 times but it takes me a while to digest an album. I could never do the one-listen thing to form an opinion because most of my favorite music began as uninteresting stuff, but then my brain developed these nuanced expectations and it became great. Remain in Light has that vibe of tremendous replayability. My favorite songs right now are Born Under Punches because of the weird glitchy guitar/synth work, and The Overload because I enjoy that whale-noise drone trance state. I love those songs that do a lot with a little, if that makes sense. Pink Floyd was good at that: "hey, here's a music type thingy. take your time, it's not going anywhere. enjoy it."
I can say right now that the first five albums are all high quality. I'm gonna need more than two weeks for TH but I'm moving on tomorrow.
I like the idea that TH are seen best as bands like VU and Pixies. Steely Dan. They are in a different weight class than the Van Halens and Aerosmiths and Metallicas of the world. Maybe even a different sport. I believe they might, decades hence, be looked upon as the greatest American band because their music still appeals to those futuristic audiences and they don't care about ticket and tshirt sales. If it's just the music, they have a strong case for the mantle.
I like that D Bryne began singing in the style of Sinatra in his early (pre-TH) days. Sinatra was in his mid 50's at that time doing Vegas. Something about that is very intriguing. I'll tell you what it is. It's the out-of-step aspect of it. It's an art student (Bryne) appreciating art irrespective of cultural values. Instead of psychedelia, prog rock, or glam rock, we see a love of classic standards, eternal style, and musicality.
The songwriting and production are as good as it gets on a consistent basis. Steely Dan is maybe more fascinating if you transcribed each note...but TH has the more interesting ear candy and hooks. Such a good balance of thinky, funky, danceable, and catchy. Steely Dan sometimes indulges in jazz excess.
I have enjoyed these two weeks more than any so far. I actually am excited to listen to complete albums, and that seems to hardly ever happen any more. Journey's 1st album has been next closest in terms of a wholly new album that felt like it came out of nowhere (for me).
This is my favorite Talking Heads song. Al Green does a pretty good job with it too.
Originally Posted by Sting
Good cultural/historical overview of the album.
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