By titling their third album Fear of Music and opening it with the African rhythmic experiment "I Zimbra," complete with nonsense lyrics by poet Hugo Ball, Talking Heads make the record seem more of a departure than it is. Though Fear of Music is musically distinct from its predecessors, it's mostly because of the use of minor keys that give the music a more ominous sound. Previously, David Byrne's offbeat observations had been set off by an overtly humorous tone; on Fear of Music, he is still odd, but no longer so funny. At the same time, however, the music has become even more compelling. Worked up from jams (though Byrne received sole songwriter's credit), the music is becoming denser and more driving, notably on the album's standout track, "Life During Wartime," with lyrics that match the music's power. "This ain't no party," declares Byrne, "this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around." The other key song, "Heaven," extends the dismissal Byrne had expressed for the U.S. in "The Big Country" to paradise itself: "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens." It's also the album's most melodic song. Those are the highlights. What keeps Fear of Music from being as impressive an album as Talking Heads' first two is that much of it seems to repeat those earlier efforts, while the few newer elements seem so risky and exciting. It's an uneven, transitional album, though its better songs are as good as any Talking Heads ever did.
At night I am afraid. The planes loom overhead and I hear them coming in close to land. We’re on the flight path and sometimes it feels as if I can almost touch their bellies. As I lay there in my bed in the dark I hear them in the last rush of the day, one, then another, then another, trying to beat the noise curfew at 10.30pm. The mail plane is the last and the loudest of them all, rumbling w.
More >
I've been a rabid consumer of music for over twenty years, yet the gaping holes in my knowledge and appreciation of gigantically important bands is forever a source of crippling shame. I'd like to inch closer to a rehabilitation of my street cred tonight by saying "wow!, where the hell have I been?!". I knew all the well-known Talking Heads songs and liked them plenty but they were always one o...
More >
Came across this great live version the other week of a classic Heads tune on another social site that starts with an M. Not myspace. "Mind" is a great tune off of the incomparable Fear of Music album, and I like this live version because it really brings out the funk and groove of the song.(Note: The tags have taken over--as I said, this is live, not the studio album. The live album, bootle...
More >
The Talking Heads were my first introduction to Alternative/College Radio music. We were living in Laredo, Texas at the time and we had a friend of ours Juan from Detroit come and visit us. He brought all of this cool and strange new music that mis hermanos and I never heard of before. We were living in a Texas border town where Top 40 and Tejano were king.One of bands that I instantly fell for...
More >
I LOVE The Talking Heads. David Byrne has a unique sense of rhythm with just the right amount, the magnetic amount, of weirdness. I believe that Beck may have worked in a music store if David Byrne had not lived a generation before him. I shouldn't say that; I am a fan of Beck, but the Byrne influence in his music verges idolization....This LIVE version of Mind builds nicely.....just before th...
More >
I thought I would stay within Deadman's theme he has posted at the end of our long political ramblings: Talking HeadsProtect me from myself too huh......DRUGS
More >
Ah, I'm gonna stick with this "heaven" thing...after all isn't heaven such a musical word? This is a track I'm sure many are familiar with by Talking Heads. I must admit I only paid attention to it a few months ago...and just my luck David Byrne came into town soon after and I got to present him with a copy of the Ex Norwegian 7" single, "Dance Trance Pants" which he gracefully accepted but pro...
More >
At night I am afraid. The planes loom overhead and I hear them coming in close to land. We’re on the flight path and sometimes it feels as if I can almost touch their bellies. As I lay there in my bed in the dark I hear them in the last rush of the day, one, then another, then another, trying to beat the noise curfew at 10.30pm. The mail plane is the last and the loudest of them all, rumbling w.
More >
For those of you who remember the Talking Heads as just the goofy David Byrne in too big suits, here is something from their pre-Stop Making Sense Days days which may make you reconsider them and their relevance. This is from their 1979 great album, Fear of Music. With heavy, trippy and drug induced songs, Fear of Music is in my opinion, their best and most under-rated album
More >
I've been a rabid consumer of music for over twenty years, yet the gaping holes in my knowledge and appreciation of gigantically important bands is forever a source of crippling shame. I'd like to inch closer to a rehabilitation of my street cred tonight by saying "wow!, where the hell have I been?!". I knew all the well-known Talking Heads songs and liked them plenty but they were always one o...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 I Zimbra |
|
|
| 2 Mind |
|
|
| 3 Paper |
|
|
| 4 Cities |
|
|
| 5 Life During Wartime |
|
|
| 6 Memories Can't Wait |
|
|
| 7 Air |
|
|
| 8 Heaven |
|
|
| 9 Animals |
|
|
| 10 Electric Guitar |
|
|
| 11 Drugs |
|
|
Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Fear of Music")
