- Thank You for Sending Me an Angel
- With Our Love
- The Good Thing
- Warning Sign
- The Girls Want to Be with the Girls
- Found a Job
- Artists Only
- I'm Not in Love
- Stay Hungry
- Take Me to the River
- The Big Country
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0075992742528


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Overview
Talking Heads' debut album, Talking Heads: 77, was the work of a young band with fresh and exciting ideas who were learning how to make them work in the studio. 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food was a significant step forward from that outstanding first effort, documenting a group who had gained a wealth of confidence and focus in the ten months that separated the two LPs and were eager to show off their new skills. A great deal of the difference can be chalked up to Brian Eno, who produced More Songs; he gave the material a more open and natural sound that mimicked their on-stage interplay, while also capturing them in tighter and more dynamic form. The band had learned a lot about groove by the time they cut More Songs, and bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz put a genuinely funky engine into the vehicle that suddenly made them suitable for dancing. The performances were noticeably more exciting and engaging than Talking Heads: 77, as fine as it was, and it served the songs well. And the tunes merited the superior presentation; David Byrne's lyrics were growing into their quirks with a vibe that suggested paranoia could be fun, and his songs about relationships (positive on "With Our Love," less so on "I'm Not In Love"), the work ethic ("The Good Thing" and "Stay Hungry"), and the creative process ("Artists Only") were sharper, wittier, and cleaner in their impact. Though his vocal style demanded to be described as quirky, he made wiser use of the gulps and angles in his vocal repertoire. Jerry Harrison had grown into his role as the Talking Heads' utility man; his keyboards and rhythm guitar gave the music invaluable weight and texture, and he's far more effective here. The final two songs were an unexpected and impressive one-two punch: the cover of Al Green's "Take Me to the River" was inspired, allowing the band to revel in the easygoing roll of the melody and giving Byrne the chance to sound weirdly but honestly sensuous, and "The Big Country" was a portrait of America in which Byrne is in a wrestling match with irony and sincerity, with the latter coming out ahead in the affecting final verse. More Songs About Buildings and Food was where Talking Heads began to move past their original status as a cult item and into one of the most celebrated and rewarding acts of their time, and its success was well deserved; it was the best of their pre-Remain in Light era. ~ Mark Deming
Product Details
Release Date: | 05/07/1987 |
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Label: | Sire |
UPC: | 0075992742528 |
Tracks
Album Credits
Performance Credits
Talking Heads Primary ArtistTina Weymouth Percussion,Vocals (Background),Keyboards,Guitar,Synthesizer,Bass,Guitar (Bass)
David Byrne Percussion,Keyboards,Guitar,Vocals,Synthesizer,Synthesizer Drums,Synthesizer Percussion
Chris Frantz Keyboards,Drums,Percussion
Brian Eno Guest Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Synthesizer,Vocals (Background),Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Tina & the Typing Pool Vocals (Background)
Busta Jones Guitar (Bass)
Jerry Harrison Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
Technical Credits
Talking Heads Audio Production,ProducerBrian Eno Audio Production,Mixing,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Rhett Davies Audio Engineer,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Chris Frantz Composer,Producer
Benji Armbrister Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Wayne Zieve Composer
Jimmy DeSana Reproduction
Christopher Franz Composer
Mabon Hodges Composer
Joe Gastwirt Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Ed Stasium Mixing,Mixing Engineer
David Byrne Artwork,Composer,Producer,Cover Art Concept
Mabon "Teenie" Hodges Composer
Jerry Harrison Composer,Producer
Tina Weymouth Composer,Producer
Al Green Composer
From the B&N Reads Blog
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