talking heads - songs about buildings... - i dont get it?

I reckon.

*stunned silence*

It's fuggin' great you daffy bastard
-- Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 2 June 2004 12:28 (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

Actually, now I come to think of it I think I'm confusing "More Songs About Buliding and Food" with "77". Daffy bastard.
-- Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 2 June 2004 14:39 (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

... And I Was (to coin a phrase). Amazingly I'd never heard this album until last night, and I must admit to being severely disappointed in it, it's not a patch on "'77", which is so bouncy and catchy and this seems dour and lacking in hooks/ tunes/ songs - y'know, stuff like that - and so unimaginatively produced and arranged next to "Fear of Music", what was Eno doing, sleeping? It might grow on me, probably will!

This has Found A Job and Thank You For Sending Me an Angel on it. These are my two favourite Talking Heads songs. Although I have never heard this album I am going to say it is their best album even though I don't really love Talking Heads all that much to begin with *ducks*

I remember "Thank You For Sending Me an Angel" but little else

this is my favourite TH album

Interesting. Why? It's the worst I've heard, tho I haven't heard all that many.

This is a more damaging joke than Louis Jagger, do you see?

FITE THE REAL ENEMY

Not you, Ned.

my favorite Talking Heads album, easily.

"The Good Thing" is my favorite Heads song. It kicks off with a square, chirpy sound, the flight of a future yuppie fresh from his first Tony Robbins/Faith Popcorn-style "you can do it!" seminar. He's ready to implement their suggestions towards a better life, the good thing. But the chorus starts to choke on the optimism. The voices are too munchkin-sweet, almost sickeningly so, as if he's not convinced of his convinction. Still, he'll work hard and continue to spout all that business-speak gibberish.

So he jumps on the 9 to 5 treadmill, soon to be 8 to 6. It's only a straight line between him and the good thing. He only has to keep walking it to get there. And keep walking it. Look at him go! Watch him work! His reward is a steely chicken scratch, a bass guitar that strives too high, and doomsaying keybs, all slammed into place for a terrifying energy rush-cum-nervous breakdown. He's working! He's working reaaaally hard! Watch him work! I can't think of a song that better lays out the pressures of up-and-at-'em late capitalism.

And gawd, there are so many more great songs on this album. "With Our Love" wafts through three different melodies in a five-line verse and two more in the chorus without ever once losing the beat or succumbing to a proggy braininess. Christ, even the silence between songs is perfectly timed. A remarkable album.

Hope that helped.

Those airy Eno synths draped over the guitars on "With Your Love" – yum.

Found a Job's been stuck in my head for days.

So think about this little scene; apply it to you life.
If your work isnt what you love, then something isnt right.
Just look at bob and judy; theyre happy as can be,
Inventing situations, putting them on t.v.

I love this album, but its definitely not my favorite. See, sometimes it just seems to slip by if you're not careful, seems to have something to do with the samey-ness of the guitar sounds. But I'm still convinced it was a great album because just as I was trying to find the best songs on it and give them a listen I ended up listening to the whole thing. It helps to be in a good mood, the Talking Heads aren't too sappy most of the time, and they're not likely to sympathize with your sorrow. However, if you're feeling a little freaked out, a little nervous, but you've still got a bounce in your step, then maybe you're in the mood for this album. It's just so restrained and funky, it has serious nervous energy. Oh, and if you aren't freaked out, let David Byrne talk to you about his subconscious stream of worry, it might echo the feeling you get when you sense that the meaning of your life is floating out into some ocean with the trash, or is blinking on and off on some wall somewhere. I think his lyrics work best when they're incoherent, because that kinda seems to be the point. In a lot of these songs I get the sense that he's talking about a bunch of different little aspects of our lives in snapshot, without any consideration for the cause or the effect, it's just a blur. That seems appropriate.

Not my favorite Talking Heads album, that is.

I find it great. My second favourite, only beaten by "Fear Of Music".

Totally ALMOST my fave TH album.

When I was a paperboy, back when teenagers still delivered newspapers, I had a Sire cassette with 77 on one side and More Songs... on the other.

I always liked 77 a little better, but the main thing about both these albums is the reminder that T. Heads was once one of the great dual-guitars-in-counterpoint groups, with Soft Boys, Television, SY, Thin White Rope et al.

the original ilm OPO album thread from 2004 made me get this album in the first place. i'm probably as grateful to ILM for that as anything ever.

won't anyone else embarrass themselves with some corny blurb about this album?

I cut the album cover out into little pieces so I could make myself a really annoying puzzle. Actually, that's not true.

i like the tunes and the nice sounds

xpost to tom d

Being the satisfied owner of 77, Fear of Music, Remain In Light and Speaking In Tongues, I find it astonishing that I've overlooked MSABAF until now. Listening to it for the first time, it seems to have all the things I love about Talking Heads - supple funk, mysterious lyrics, cheerful yet spooky tunes and that vaguely unsettling atmosphere.

Looking forward to rereading this thread after another few listens.

"The Good Thing" is my favorite Heads song. It kicks off with a square, chirpy sound, the flight of a future yuppie fresh from his first Tony Robbins/Faith Popcorn-style "you can do it!" seminar. He's ready to implement their suggestions towards a better life, the good thing. But the chorus starts to choke on the optimism. The voices are too munchkin-sweet, almost sickeningly so, as if he's not convinced of his convinction. Still, he'll work hard and continue to spout all that business-speak gibberish.

So he jumps on the 9 to 5 treadmill, soon to be 8 to 6. It's only a straight line between him and the good thing. He only has to keep walking it to get there. And keep walking it. Look at him go! Watch him work! His reward is a steely chicken scratch, a bass guitar that strives too high, and doomsaying keybs, all slammed into place for a terrifying energy rush-cum-nervous breakdown. He's working! He's working reaaaally hard! Watch him work! I can't think of a song that better lays out the pressures of up-and-at-'em late capitalism.

This was good - Kevin John Bozelka should write more.

In retrospect I'm really glad I bought the first 3 TH albums in the order they were released, which really helped me appreciate how much More Songs is a quantum leap ahead of '77, and Fear Of Music is a step forward from More Songs. In fact, maybe the reason I've never been so hot on Remain In Light is that I heard it out of order and never got its proper context.

Looking forward to rereading this thread after another few listens.

you should re-read this poll thread as well, as it was a great thread.

Talking Heads' More Songs About Buildings and Food Poll