#382: More Songs About Buildings And Food- The Talking Heads

Listened to: MP3

From the beginning of “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (no relation to the Scorpions song “Send Me an Angel”), you get the same feeling that you most likely got from looking at the cover, which forms the Talking Heads out of close-up Polaroids, a feeling of “What the fuck did I just get myself into?”, because, let’s face it, this is some weird shit. Yet, strangely enjoyable. Byrne’s bizarre vocals throughout More Songs About Buildings And Food sound like if Klaus Nomi had had a baby with David Bowie. We move suddenly from “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” into a jolt of “With Our Love”, another bizarre track that’s completely all over the place.

“The Good Thing” opens, well, normal sounding, which puts me on edge. Byrne has been going fucking nuts for the first two tracks, so a mumbled pop song just doesn’t seem to fit. Then we get to the chorus, with a choir of mismashed vocals (I know I typed mismashed. I meant that) picking up behind Byrne, and now we’re back to crazy town. “Warning Sign” is just…I don’t know, man. I gotta be honest. I like the Talking Heads, I do. I like Stop Making Sense and Remain In The Light, but I’m just not digging this album. I get why people who like this kinda music like it, I’m not taking it off the list, because its scope is impressive, but it’s just not for me. The only track I really like on it is “Take Me to The River”. The rest are just the predecessor to that whiney indie crap that’s soooooooooo drab. It’s a kind of fun album to listen to, but I can’t promise you you’ll even remember the last track once the next one comes on. I assure you, I have 7 hours of casting calls to do today, and throughout them, the only track I’ll be able to recall is “Take Me to The River”.

Look, there’s a place to comment on the post, please do. I’d love to see how many people agree with me, and how many disagree. It’s times like these I wish Nick was still doing this. He could offer some balanced rebuttal, since this music is his dig. Well, anyway, give it a listen, see what you think. It’s not terrible, but it’s not terribly memorable. Actually, if I were to switch this out…

Would Replace With: Fear Of Music by The Talking Heads

…it would just be for the Talking Heads’ far better album that’s not on the list, Fear Of Music. Fear Of Music integrates various musical styles (“I Zimbra” is one of the most out-there-ly brilliant compositions of Byrne’s career) and brilliant lyrical storytelling. Byrne drew much influence from The Threepenny Opera, and his hopeless yet gaily fun storytelling makes that abundantly clear. Fear Of Music is certainly one of the best collaborations between Byrne and Brian Eno, who had just begun working together on More Songs… and had by this point reached a comfort level to do truly great things. More Songs… may be about buildings and food, but Fear Of Music is about the life that takes place within them. Listen to both, see which you prefer, but I’m pretty sure you’ll agree with me and several other critics, who all believe Fear Of Music to be the far better album.

-Mike

See you guys tomorrow. I’m very excited for this one. The first record I ever bought (as in LP) was a copy of #170: Live At Leeds by my favorite band of all time, The Who.