Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues (1983)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1998 European reissue.

From the CD liner notes:

Sp eak in gi n To ngu es has proven to be both a continuation and a retrenching for the Talking Heads. The first studio recording by the Heads in more than two years, the album is built on tracks done by the core band: David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth. On the previous studio effort, Remain In Light, this nucleus had been variably expanded from between five to nine pieces, creating a much denser base for fluid tunes such as "Once In A Lifetime" and "Crosseyed And Painless." This album retains the fluidity, the rhythmic emphasis, the ethnic (predominantly African) influences and some of the same guest musicians (percussionis Steve Scales, synthesist Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic, and vocalists Nona Hendryx and Dolette MacDonald), but the essence is more compact and the basic tracks were worked out by fewer musicians.

The songs, "Swamp," "Burning Down The House," "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" and the rest, emerge as mood pieces. As Byrne has said, he rarely writes the kind of story-song lyrics he used to; his newer work evolves from randomness he contributes as the band develops the songs instrumentally.

That's a lot of words not saying very much, but the album became the band's commercial breakthrough and produced the band's sole US top-ten hit, Burning Down the House. More importantly (to me), the subsequent tour was documented in the greatest concert movie ever made, Jonathan Demme's 1984 film Stop Making Sense. That movie and soundtrack were responsible for moving me from casual Talking Heads listener to full-fledged fan club member. But I digress.

As for Speaking In Tongues, I dig the thing. It's as funky as white rock musicians can get; the album (all cuts) peaked at #2 on the Billboard Dance chart. Plus, it fits nicely within the epic six album run that started with Fear Of Music in 1979 and ended with Little Creatures in 1985.

Press of the time:

• High Fidelity: "quietly brilliant"
• Smash Hits (9 out of 10): "nine splendid dance cuts overflowing with great bass lines, powerful hooks and irresistible rhythms"
• Billboard: "arty, edgy, funky, jazzy, busy and never boring"
• Stereo Review: "mostly tepid art-school funk"
• Rolling Stone (★★★★½ ): "a new model for great party albums to come"
• Robert Christgau (A-): "this funk is quirkily comfortable"
• Trouser Press: "can make the most thought-provoking subject matter palatable through their unique combination of talents."
• DownBeat (★★★★): "an imposing contemporary musical force."
• Musician: "their sunniest album ever"

In 1989, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album at #54 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s:

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #15
• Billboard Rock: #11
• Billboard R&B: #55
• CashBox: #12
• CashBox CD: #10
• Rolling Stone: #5

Tracks: Quite literally, you come for Burning Down The House and stay for This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody). Back in '83, the former was my favorite cut, but over the years my opinion has shifted to the latter. Other highly-danceable favorites include Making Flippy Floppy, Girlfriend Is Better, Slippery People, Swamp, and Moon Rocks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: As my senior year in high school began in Fall 1983, I bought the 45 single of Burning Down The House and was lucky enough to find one with a coveted picture sleeve (below). Wish I had kept it. If memory serves, that single was the last 45 I purchased before exclusively buying albums, cassettes, and the occasional 12" single.

And I can't hear Swamp without thinking of the movie Risky Business.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Best Of (2004)
Little Creatures (1985)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)
Fear Of Music (1979)