Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
ARTIST.....: Talking Heads
TITLE......: Fear Of Music
LABEL......: Rhino Records
URL........: http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=76451
RIP DATE...: Oct-16-2006
STORE DATE.: Jan-10-2006
GENRE......: Rock
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 15,5 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Cities (Rockpop German Tv Apperance 1980) 05:16
02 - I Zimbra 04:05
(Rockpop German Tv Apperance 1980)
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09:21 min
Release Notes:
By titling their third album Fear of Music and opening it with the
African rhythmic experiment "I Zimbra," complete with nonsense
lyrics by poet Hugo Ball, Talking Heads make the record seem more
of a departure than it is. Though Fear of Music is musically
distinct from its predecessors, it's mostly because of the use of
minor keys that give the music a more ominous sound. Previously,
David Byrne's offbeat observations had been set off by an overtly
humorous tone; on Fear of Music, he is still odd, but no longer so
funny. At the same time, however, the music has become even more
compelling. Worked up from jams (though Byrne received sole
songwriter's credit), the music is becoming denser and more
driving, notably on the album's standout track, "Life During
Wartime," with lyrics that match the music's power. "This ain't no
party," declares Byrne, "this ain't no disco, this ain't no
fooling around." The other key song, "Heaven," extends the
dismissal Byrne had expressed for the U.S. in "The Big Country" to
paradise itself: "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens."
It's also the album's most melodic song. Those are the highlights.
What keeps Fear of Music from being as impressive an album as
Talking Heads' first two is that much of it seems to repeat those
earlier efforts, while the few newer elements seem so risky and
exciting. It's an uneven, transitional album, though its better
songs are as good as any Talking Heads ever did. [In the fall of
2005, Talking Heads' catalog was finally remastered and reissued
as DualDiscs, containing a CD on one side and a DVD with 5.1
mixes, along with bonus video material, on the other. Initially,
the DualDiscs were only available as a box set, but in 2006, the
albums were reissued individually as digipacks (the box set
contained all white jewel cases). Fear of Music -- which rivals
Remain in Light as the best overall remastering here -- has
alternate versions of "Life During Wartime," "Cities," and "Mind,"
plus the "unfinished outtake" "Dancing for Money," which may have
a promising groove, but is as unfinished as it's billed,
containing little more than a rhythmic vamp and two basically
wordless guide vocals; the DVD side contains two performances from
their 1980 appearance on the German TV show Rockpop.]