Customer Reviews

David Byrne

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Understand that I am a huge fan of Byrne's solo work. (Saw him live just last week!) While the Talking Heads were great, Byrne's solo career keeps moving farther and farther into new worlds of creativitiy and social commentary.

But there's something missing from this album. I may be doing Byrne an injustice, but this album seems a bit pretentious, or perhaps 'self-conscious' would be a better descriptor. The lyrics tend to be either more obscure or more blunt than his other albums; the rhythms and song structures tend to plod along instead of picking you up; and many of the songs lack a strong 'hook'. The elements of his stronger albums are there, but they are do not come together as powerfully as his other albums.

At the least, I'd say it will take you longer to learn to appreciate this album. If you're just getting into Byrne's solo stuff, I'd recommend the following first:
- "Rei Momo" is a great release from his earlier forays into latin rhythms.
- "Feelings" is good.
- "Look Into the Eyeball" - When I got this one, I thought it would be impossible to release a better album...
- "Grown Backwards" - But then "Grown Backwards" was released, and totally knocked me out.

I'd recommend you acquire any of the above before the album being reviewed.

Although all of David Byrne's (and the Talking Heads) work is fantastic, this album has a very rare (even for them) consistency of truly fantastic songs. If you're just experimenting with David Byrne, or are unsure of which album to get, let me make the decision easy... this self-titled album is by far Byrne's best work. Go ahead, spoil yourself.

This is David Byrne with a more raw sound and some of his most incredible moments. The only problem with this recording is that it is too funky. Yes, too funky (just kidding of course)

As major-domo of the Talking Heads, David Byrne created a body of work that was successful on commercial and artistic levels, as well as extremelly influencial. His solo works have pretty much paled in comparison. This self-titled release ranks as his best. The songwriting is his strongest since Remain in Light and the musical performances are varied, but cohesive. Any fan of the Talking Heads would be pleased to own this. Back in the Box, A Long Time Ago and Buck Naked are the keepers from this set.

Not great but notably better than Uh-Oh. Some of the tunes are memorable such as "Back in the Box" and "Strange Ritual". The rest of the album seems to level off to the level of average, musically but the lyrics are interesting and at times extremely disturbing ("Buck Naked"). A solid album but will probably only appeal to those who are fans of Byrne already.

Better than any of the late Talking Heads albums and better than Uh-Oh this is the best Byrne project since Remain In Light. World beats mixed with pop and funk create a calm beautiful atmosphere that astoundes me with every listening.

Back in the 1980s Talking Heads were considered hippest of the hip, and David Byrne was most celebrated of musical celebrities. This ain't the 1980s.

What was most hip yesterday often sounds most dated today.

I have had all the Talking Heads albums. Used to like 'em a lot.

I bought this album when it came out & played it a lot for about a week -- and haven't wanted to play it at all since.

Now that we're (way) beyond the 1980s, David Byrne sounds just too affected, too pretentious, too self-consciously striving for hipness.

I heard this cassette in Ukraine and was blown away. The song, Strange Ritual, is just absolutely amazing. Profound, poetic and riveting music. The other songs are fun and typically Byrne stuff. Strange Ritual hearkens back to Once in a Lifetime days.

I am a Talking Heads fan and a David Byrne fan. Of David's solo recordings I find that his self titled cd from 1994 is his best. I think it's because he moved away from the Latin flavored sounds of 1989's Rei Momo and 1992's Uh-Oh and back to the kind of music he did with Talking Heads. It's his music not his music over another country's sounds. It's also David's most lyrically straightforward. You can sense what David is really getting at with "A Long Time Ago". "Angels" sounds like an updated version of "Once in a Lifetime" but with a different lyrical slant. "Back in the Box" is an excellent song about hiding from society. "Buck Naked" and "My Love Is You" are nice humorous looks at relationships. The songs are about subjects that Byrne didn't elaborate too much on with Talking Heads. I also liked 1997's Feelings, but I don't think it match's David Byrne. A must have for any Talking Heads fan and for any rock collector.

I've always loved David Byrne, taking us on a trip to his imagined future. Now that I've owned Rei Momo for some time, I'm compeled to come back give the man his due. He certainly anticipated the current Latin takeover in music. My favorite album.