Music Debate #75: Talking Heads

[Reed Rothchild | 9,516]

 

Bonus:

 

[Gloves | 11,771]

7 for me. Haven't listened to much, but like what I have.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

Another icon of an era.

[Jicsan | 589]

8/10, I love these guys.  I bet I watch/listen to this video for Once in a Lifetime at least weekly.

 

After enjoying David Byrne's, um, dancing in this video enjoy this Kermit version:

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Jicsan
had the title wrong, doh!

[mbd39 | 2,020]

 I wasn't sure whether to give an 8 or 9. I went with 9.

[Sumez | 2,935]

I can't possibly not give this band 10/10

Everything about it is unique and inspiring, despite also hitting major mainstream appeal. David Byrne is a musical genius, and the same obviously goes for Eno, whom I'm guessing could be credited for taking the rough sound of the first record, and really putting individual spins on every individual track starting from the second.

To me, Fear of Music is the record that really establishes the band as what they are, and my favourite of theirs. Almost every single track is interesting, but also fun and entertaining. There's this constant of air seething sarcasm, and down to earth comedy mixed with insightful observations in all of Byrne's lyrics. Though I guess, no less through the feat of their "concert movie" Stop Making Sense (which all the videos in the first post are from!), Speaking in Tongues is probably the most popular representation of the band, with hits like Burning Down the House, This Must Be The Place, and Girlfriend is Better.
That said, Remain In Light might be what's most commonly considered their magnum opus, really setting itself apart from anything else at the time, including all of their other albums. That one actually took me a long time to digest, but it really is brilliant. Hell, even Angélique Kidjo's full cover of that entire record is amazing IMO. Especially The Great Curve.

If it's not obvious though, there's not a Talking Heads album I don't love. Even Naked which is often considered their weakest album (and is reportedly really mostly a Byrne solo effort), is still full of great, great stuff. In fact, I think Nothing But Flowers is most likely my favourite Talking Heads song. It's either that, or A Clean Break, which was strangely never released on any studio album.

 

Seriously, if you have enough time, you should consider going through this band's entire discography before casting your vote. It's magnificent.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

That's a 10. Byrne is also an accomplished performance artist and has done some interesting installations and what not.

[AstralSoul | 502]

Probably one of th best 80s bands. 80s music is hit or miss for me but when it hits I really like it a lot. I don't know a ton of their music offhand but what I know I really like. 8/10.

[The Count | 526]

David Byrne is goddamn genius. Even more impressive that he's on the spectrum and so accomplished.

[Sumez | 2,935]

1 hour ago, AstralSoul said:

Probably one of th best 80s bands.

Or one of the best 70s bands for that matter  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,516]

In case my OP doesn't make it extremely obvious, if you haven't seen this you should watch it.  Right now.

 

[AstralSoul | 502]

2 hours ago, Sumez said:

Or one of the best 70s bands for that matter  

Oh true. I just associate them more with the 80s than 70s.

[fox | 1,665]

Meh.  Maybe too hipster for me, never saw the appeal.

[LutherDestroysTheGond | 690]

10/10.  One of my all time favorites. So many good songs and different styles throughout their discography

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I don't think I've ever really heard a Talking Heads song in it's entirety throughout my life, but having actually sat down and listened to some of the examples given in this thread, I'm gonna go straight for the 9, possibly bordering on a 10. I'm definitely gonna check out their discography over the next few days, I really, really like what I've heard thus far.

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

5/10 for me

I think this is the epitome of one of those bands that like "I know that song/band!" when you hear them on the radio but then promptly forget they ever existed until the next time you hear their song then again "I know that song!..." ad naseum lol

[JamesRobot | 5,793]

Pretty good.  Dig most of the tunes but David Byrne kinda runs me the wrong way.  Not sure what it is.

+1 for the Tom Tom though. 

Edited August 12, 2020 by JamesRobot

[Sumez | 2,935]

1 hour ago, SpoonMan Abrams X said:

5/10 for me

I think this is the epitome of one of those bands that like "I know that song/band!" when you hear them on the radio but then promptly forget they ever existed until the next time you hear their song then again "I know that song!..." ad naseum lol

Aw, so you gave them a low rating without really knowing their music then 

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

49 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Aw, so you gave them a low rating without really knowing their music then 

If by "really know their music" you mean listen to every single song, read their wikipedia three times through entirely, chat with them after work, take them out for dinner and drinks, and maybe get lucky, then no I guess I "don't really know them" lol

I listened to nearly everything that was in the OP, then went and listened to "properly produced" songs elsewhere, and just not feeling it (I personally don't really care for live performance versions of songs, if I wanted to listen to them live I'd go see them in concert, listening to a concert recording after the fact doesn't really do it for me)

[Sumez | 2,935]

3 hours ago, SpoonMan Abrams X said:

If by "really know their music" you mean listen to every single song, read their wikipedia three times through entirely, chat with them after work, take them out for dinner and drinks, and maybe get lucky, then no I guess I "don't really know them" lol

Yes!!

No, I'm not judging you or anything. I will do the same thing for any band that I don't care for at all and only pointed this out due to this being one of my favourite bands of all time. Nearly everything they made is interesting (so "listening to every song" genuinely pays off), and pigeonholing them as "that kind of band you forget about immediately" just strikes me as incredibly absurd.

I'm not a fan of concert recordings either, but Stop Making Sense is really something different entirely. It's always advertised as a "concert movie" which comes across as somewhat pretentious, but looking at the direction and choreography behind it, it makes sense. It's incredibly entertaining to watch in full, which I couldn't really say for any other band in spite of whatever crazy gwar-like theatrics they might like to pull.

[Sumez | 2,935]

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