Customer Reviews

Speaking in Tongues

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not only one of the best albums by the Talking Heads, but one of the grooviest albums of the eighties! Speaking in Tongues was way ahead of it's time and deserves to be heard by everyone!!

To the customer who gave 1 star for his/her review, I know how you felt. When I first bought this album (Yes Album!) back in '84, I said "What the Heck! This is Talking Heads?" and put it away hoping to trade it in later. A few weeks later I heard "Moon Rocks" on the radio and decided to give it another listen. Well let me tell you. I saw the light or at least I heard it! This takes getting used to, but wow what a fabulous effort by this group. They took Disco and Talking Heads fans for a wild ride! I was never a big Disco fan, but David Byrne and company turned it into a primo party album. I am sure in everyones record collection there are a few albums that took more than one listen to GET used to and this is one of them. If you are a HEADS fan, just give it a chance. You will be converted! A definite departure from their earlier work, but pure genius in the end. Play It Loud!

"this must be the place" is not only the best song the heads ever recorded, it's one of the best songs you're ever going to hear. absolutely moving.

My memories of Friday nights when I was in high school center around two things: playing in the band at football games and watching late night TV while eating a much-delayed dinner afterwards. In the early part of the 1980s, the show that I tuned in was Wolfman Jack's Midnight Special, where I was first exposed to the music video form, since we lived outside of town and didn't have MTV. I recall seeing Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind," Elvis Costello's "Accidents Will Happen," Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Alice Cooper's "How You Gonna See Me Now," and Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." These songs were staples of rock radio, even if the artists weren't, and the video portion did exactly what it was supposed to: increase my interest in the artist.

I didn't buy Speaking in Tongues until 1985, when most others had already moved on to other, newer, albums. But I was commuting back-and-forth between my home in Gatesville and community college in Killeen, a trip of roughly 40 minutes, and my soundtrack for that commute quickly became this album by Talking Heads which I had found in a used cassette store outside the local army base, Ft. Hood.

Why this album? A combination of circumstances surrounded it, making it appropos of the moment. I was living at home and attending Central Texas College because I had flunked out of the University of Texas at Austin, and the white-guy funk of David Byrne somehow matched the awkwardness of my situation, while being bouncy enough to keep my spirits up on that depressing commute, taking my mind off my failure and uncertain future. The fact that the lyrics of this album are an associative mass rather than a logical series allowed me to connect every song to my personal situation.

I can recall as if it were yesterday putting the steering wheel of a Ford Escort in my hands, bouncing in my seat as I sing-a-long with Byrne. From the gospelish chorus of "Swamp" to the infectious beat and call-and-response of "Slippery People," I would join in on each song, probably surprising a number of the pickups that passed me by with my spasmodic renditions of Bryne's stage moves.

And then there's that last song, a paeon to the comfort of home. Byrne sings, "Home is where I want to be, but I guess I'm already there" perfectly captured my confusion of appreciating that I had this generous spot to fall-back on while at the same time wanting to be somewhere else (a home of my own, not one made by my parents). The song always seemed to be playing as I drove up the hill to the house, too. It, and the other songs on this album, never fail to take me back to that time, even now that I've moved far from that home. But then, isn't that one of the functions of music?

Talking Heads, the seminal mainstream art band of the 1980's find American funk in its fullest form. David Byrne once said that Speaking in Tongues was an opportunity to make music similar to Remain in Light, but to make it less dense. Well he did accomplish that in a way, except the music contains more Parliament then Fela Kuti, the synths here are much more noticible and the music once again centers itself around Chris Franz heavy 4/4 drumming and uses the complex African percussion as more of an effect than an actual way to keep rythm. This made Speaking in Tongues their pop breakthrough, and their first slip up.

The abscence of long time producer, and virtual fifth member takes its toll here, and with the new technology the electronics became shaper, more varying and as a result they lost the organic sound achieved on their Eno assisted albums, especially Remain in Light. Gone are the harsh griding sound of "Life During Wartime", and in are the George Clintonesque colorful synth squiggles of "Girlfriend is Better". And thats not the last of George Clinton here, just listen to "Making Flippy Floppy" and then listen to "One Nation Under a Groove" from Clinton's mega-band Funkadelic.

But here the Talking Heads lose their edge, they do manage to make their brand of funk unique to them, but here is where their influences outweigh their own unique contributions, its not by mutch but compared to the unique dance mausic they ceated on Remain in Light, this just seems weak, for any other band this album would probably have been their best, but for the Talking Heads it is their first less than brilliant release. But for first time or inexperienced listner, this is a good album to get after Stop Making Sence because it happy and pop oriented, but still contains the much of the inventiveness of earlier releases, plus it has "Burning Down the House" which is the most popular and well known Talking Heads song.

The problem I have with this version of the album is that it unfortunatly is simply a copy from the tapes used to record the original material. It hasn't been digitally remastered, and the complete absence of bonus material is a major downside. It is such a mystery to me why the Talking Heads catalogue has been treated so poorly by record companies, but for now its the best we're gonna get.

I remember the first time I ever heard this disc (actually LP)was in Northern Lights Music Store in Minneapolis shortly after it was released. Burning Down the House came on massively loud and frankly I was stunned. I had never heard anything so quasi-funky/rocky sort of thing in my life. I thought.....who are these guys? Needless to say I wasn't listening to the Heads much then, but this album changed all that and a whole lot more. From this I discovered their older stuff and have really enjoyed them ever since that mind altering day in Minneapolis.

Anyway, in my opinion the best of the disc, and because of these tracks the reason you should buy it:

1. Girlfriend is Better
2. Making Flippy Flop
3. Naive Melody (Absolutely beautiful)
4. Pull Up the Roots
5. Burning Down the House

Talking Heads: 77, Little Creatures and Stop Making Sense are all superb in their own right, but it all started right here for me and I'm really glad I was in that store that day.

One of the best albums of all time. No kidding. And "Pull Up the Roots" easily one of the most underrated songs.

I had just been to see Talking Heads' amazing concert film "Stop Making Sense", and asked my parents for the album for my birthday (I think this was 1984). My family had just bought our first CD player, and I was looking forward to getting my first ever CD. On the day, I was disappointed to rip open the wrapping paper and discover a different CD to the one I was expecting - "Speaking in Tongues". Apparently, the "Stop Making Sense" soundtrack had not yet been released in Australia. I hid my disappointment well, which was lucky - on first listening, the album was amazing.
What is more amazing is that nearly 20 years on, it remains one of the most played CDs in my collection (and there have been a lot more added in those 20 years!) Also, the first track, 'Burning Down the House' is the most sublime pop song ever recorded.

From the first track, the classic "Burning Down The House" to the final, euphoric "This Must be the Place," this album puts a big old smile on your face! It makes you feel like dancing, running, jumping and loving. Even playing this album for little kids, they instinctively get up and start bouncing around; it's just that infectious. Like others, I have always been insanely moved by the aforementioned "This Must be the Place," which I think just might be the best song this wonderful band ever wrote, which is certainly saying something. Still, at this great price, you'd be foolish not to add this joy to your life!

Speaking in Tongues is an incredible album. Most bands slow down by their fifth album, but not the heads. Just when you think that they don't have any more brilliant creative riffs and bass lines they bring you this remarkable piece of art. The guitars are not as heavy on this as on previous albums. They incorporate many other synthesized elements into the mix but the results are very satisfying. All the other elements are still there: great songwriting, intellectually challenging lyrics, and rhythmic and melodic bass lines and guitar riffs. In terms of the songs themselves all of them are great. From track one to track nine every song is great and will have you singing along or dancing. "Making Flippy Floppy" is particularly energetic and danceable. It combines all the elements that characterize the heads and make them a truly great American band. Other standout tracks are "Burning Down the House," "Girlfriend is better," "Slippery People," hell just about every track. One great track that is really a standout is "Naive Melody (this must be the place)." This track is notable because it is perhaps the only real love song that David Byrne has ever written. It is about being thrilled to be with another person and is about faithfulness, at least this is what I gather. I also personally love this song because it has such a great, hypnotic guitar riff that is played throught the entire song. It is really a perfect way to end the album. It is so hard to rank the heads albums because just about everyone of them (especially the first five) is so good. Yet, still this has to be one of their best.