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.
[In 2025,
Rhino Records issued a Super Deluxe expanded edition of
More Songs About Buildings and Food that included a remastered version of the original album and a treasure chest of bonus material. There are a number of alternate takes and different mixes that offer a glimpse of creative choices not taken, including the use of clouds of ambient sounds on several tracks, which is interesting even when it doesn't work. The set closes out with a complete
Talking Heads concert recorded in New York City in August 1978, with the group in strong and exciting form. It's a worthy tribute to a landmark LP.] ~ Mark Deming
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