albums

here, you'll find a little background on their studio albums along with my personal thoughts. if you're not sure which album to check out, there's also a rapid-fire summary on each to give you an idea of what to expect. :]

talking heads '77 (1977)

a little barebones, but it's got potential.

favorites: psycho killer, no compassion, new feeling

reading through david byrne's book "how music works," apparently the band's early work was born out of minimalism. strip everything away - all the performative flourishes and extra instruments and what have you - and start building something from there. for better or for worse, you can definitely feel that attitude here!

going back to this album after hearing their later work, you can FEEL the potential just waiting to burst through the seams. but they haven't quite gotten there yet. and so, aside from a few standout songs, I find this album is okay but not much to write home about. psycho killer is obviously great and I love the emotional delivery in no compassion, but I don't go back to the rest often.

overall, this album feels like one of those "just add water" grow capsule toys. just give it a year, they'll get there.

more songs about buildings and food (1978)

brian eno hops in and the music gets some meat on its bones!

favorites: the good thing, found a job

the "just add water" capsule of talking heads '77 has grown into a cool sponge dinosaur! by which I mean, brian eno came into the picture and they finally found their groove. literally! this album has a lot more funk than the previous one's stripped-back sound, and thank GOD.

you don't hear people talk about this one much. which is a shame, because I think it's pretty good. they haven't quite gotten into the "weird and experimental" territory they'll become known for yet, but these songs can just as easily get lodged in my brain. I'm a big fan of the good thing and found a job, but in general I found this one a lot more consistently enjoyable than '77.

also, despite the album title, there are very few mentions of buildings and food here. you'll see buildings come up more following this - david byrne's fixation on them is something I find equal parts interesting and endearing. once you notice it you won't stop noticing it. the man loves his buildings and houses.

fear of music (1979)

russian roulette of paranoid existential dread and the funkiest shit you've ever heard.

favorites: i zimbra, cities, life during wartime

the work of talking heads has always had an underlying sense of anxiety and isolation to it, but this album kicks it up to 11. fear of music turns that anxiety into full-blown paranoia, capturing the pressures of modern city life the band felt living in NYC.

honestly, when these days it feels like everything is on fire All The Time, I think this album has aged quite well. it's fascinating to see an album tap into the same dread I feel about the future now... but I guess the world being on fire is nothing new, huh? maybe there's some comfort in knowing we've been through this before.

so yeah, this album kind of feels like you're dying, but like in a cool way. there's some great slow, broody tracks, which you don't see often in this band's library. drugs is probably my favorite of those - never fails to make me anxious. in a cool way! that paranoia also gets channeled into some funky, high-energy songs like i zimbra, cities, and life during wartime.

admittedly, "slow and broody" is the kind of music I find interesting but don't listen to often, so I don't hold this album up quite as high as some people do. it's got some real bangers though.

remain in light (1980)

everyone says this is the best one. and they're right.

favorites: born under punches, the great curve, once in a lifetime, houses in motion

it's no secret that talking heads was mostly byrne's creative vision, something he was pretty controlling of during the band's lifespan and which proved to be a constant source of tension within the group. for remain in light, they took a more collaborative approach: during extended jam sessions, they'd isolate the best improvised material from each band member, then look for ways to layer everyone's work together to form the songs. byrne would then write and add his lyrics alongside contributions from various guest musicians. (this method was carried over to speaking in tongues but wouldn't resurface again until their final album, naked!)

I say all of this because WOW, did it pay off! this approach gives the whole album a rich, layered sound with an incredible driving rhythm to it. they took a lot of inspiration from the funk and complex rhythms of african musician fela kuti, combined with the quirky, anxious new wave sound they'd already cultivated. it feels like a match made in heaven.

this is the first talking heads album I listened to, and I was genuinely blown away on my first listen. I've only started branching out my taste in the past few years - I didn't know music could sound like this!!! I know that sounds naive, but even as I grow more familiar with this kind of sound, remain in light is still so impressive to me. I love how much is going on in every song. the great curve feels like the peak of this, with three ongoing vocal tracks creating this absolute whirlwind around it.

remain in light is the only talking heads album where I have zero skips. it's all fantastic.

speaking in tongues (1983)

brian eno heads out but the groove does NOT!!! this is pure, frenetic joy.

favorites: this must be the place, girlfriend is better, making flippy floppy, pull up the roots

supposedly, the phenomenon of speaking in tongues occurs when someone is so overcome with religious fervor that they lose control of their body and the holy spirit speaks through them. and like, obviously that's not real, but it sure does capture the vibe of listening to this album!

speaking in tongues is full of frenzied, funky songs that you can't help but move along to. there's a quote from david byrne about how "music is very physical, and often the body understands it before the head," and I feel that the most on this album. it's like the music hits your very core! I'm not the kind of person who'd ever step foot on a dance floor, but there's a certain euphoria to letting loose and dancing along to these songs I can't resist. :P

I'll be honest - I'd still say remain in light is their best album, but speaking in tongues is probably my favorite to listen to. it was hard picking favorite tracks here! there's a couple of weak ones - wild gravity and swamp are just okay, and I vastly prefer the live version of burning down the house - but the rest knock it out of the park.

special shoutout to moon rocks because its lyrics absolutely delight me. david byrne goes to space and eats a rock and it's not even like a metaphor or anything. also popsicle, a cut song from the album which is quite good but whose lyrics are comical for a completely different reason.

little creatures (1985)

the band chills out and does some mainstream 80s music, with decent results.

favorites: the lady don't mind, road to nowhere

after so many years of putting out avant-garde bangers, maybe it's no surprise they'd want to chill out for a bit and do something a little more mainstream. (apparently this is their best-selling album, so I guess it worked out!) people tend to say the band peaked at stop making sense and went downhill from there... and while I'd agree this feels like a step down creatively, I think there's still plenty to love in their later work.

at its worst, some songs on little creatures can feel lukewarm and forgettable - lyrically shallow, which feels unusual for this band. but at its best, there's some great songs that feel on par with their previous work, even if it's a different sound than before! the lady don't mind feels EXTREMELY 80s in the best way possible. (apparently it was first conceived while working on speaking in tongues, which might explain my love for it LOL). and of course, road to nowhere is beloved for a reason.

for whatever criticisms I might have of this album, I still walked away from it with a smile on my face. I think that's worth something. :)

true stories (1986)

a musical soundtrack pretending to be a regular album...? just watch the movie!

favorites: puzzlin' evidence, papa legba, wild wild life

yes, you heard that right: these songs are from david byrne's musical of the same name! he brought on talking heads for the soundtrack, and they ended up releasing a version with byrne's vocals as an album.

I first listened to these songs in the movie, as anyone interested in this album should. the songs work great in the movie, but when stripped of context and their usual vocalists they fall a little flat. they're fun, but not the kind of thing I'd go back and listen to on their own.

and like, that's fine. the movie is great, and its personality and presentation uplifts these songs a lot! turning this into a talking heads album was the strange decision here!

naked (1988)

david byrne gets REALLY into latin music and by god, you're coming with him.

favorites: blind, mr. jones, (nothing but) flowers, cool water

the last talking heads album before their breakup, and boy what a curveball! after dipping into mainstream pop rock for a while, the band switches to a latin sound that david byrne would carry into his long-running solo career. (yeah, even with the "group jam" approach I mentioned with remain in light, it seems like he was kinda running the show here...)

in some ways, naked is a return to form. the lyrics lean back into social and political commentary while the band draws inspiration across various cultures, much like remain in light. it's refreshing! in other ways, though, this is barely recognizable as a talking heads album. that's given it a controversial reputation, but I don't mind a departure as long as it's good.

and this? this was a blast! genuinely, aside from a couple sour spots (the start of side B is so bad why is he doing a falsetto), I have no idea why people hate on it so much. admittedly, my perspective is limited here: I've heard a lot of new wave but not much latin music, so I can't tell you where this falls on the spectrum from "synthesizing something new" to "direct tribute where the source material far exceeds it." after how much I enjoyed this, I'd like to check out more latin funk, so maybe I'll find out.

whatever the case may be, I really liked this one! it may not reach the highs of their best albums, but it's a lot of fun. you can tell david byrne has matured a lot as an artist - he's fully outgrown the neurotic persona and WOW do his vocals sound great here! I've always loved his voice, don't get me wrong, but there's a certain mastery that wasn't there before.

(also give a listen to sax and violins, which was originally made for a movie but ended up on later versions of this album! it's great, and it marks one of the last songs talking heads ever recorded.)