Described as one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the 80's, Talking Heads would release a total of eight albums between their 1977 debut, and 1988 final album. Consisting of founding members, David Byrne (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass), and Jerry Harrison (keyboards, guitar), the group would come out swinging with their first hit single, Psycho Killer, from their Talking Heads: 77 debut. However, it would be their follow up album, 1978's More Songs About Buildings And Food, where the band would start to mix music styles, finding their sound.
Upon releasing two more albums, 1979's Fear The Music, and 1980's Remain In The Light, the band took a break. This would lead to Weymouth and Frantz forming a secondary group, Tom Tom Club. Though they would release their self titled album in 1981, Talking Heads would return to the studio to record their breakthrough album, 1983's Speaking In Tongues. Burning Down The House would reach number nine on the Billboard charts in October of that year, becoming their highest charting single to date.
Talking Heads embarked on a major tour in support of the album, spawning the critically acclaimed documentary / concert, Stop Making Sense, released in 1984. Riding this wave, the band returned to the studio to record their equally successful follow up, 1985's Little Creatures. The album, with its radio friendly pop sound, helped to not only provide more airplay, but also bring in further fans.
Byrne would shift his focus, co-writing and directing the film True Stories, which he and the band also appeared in alongside a very young John Goodman. The movie featured several cast recordings of the songs which would ultimately become Talking Head's 1986 album, also entitled True Stories. However, this studio album / soundtrack would only include the band's recordings, with the cast recording concept being scrapped.
1988's Naked was heavily driven by politics, sex, and death. Naked would not only close out the decade for Talking Heads, but ultimately become their final studio album. It's here that we jump into today's Retro Spin.
Anytime I listen to Talking Heads, I expect a level of weirdness, sprinkled in with a little bit of "deepness". While it's great to get a pop song from them here and their, it's their heavier material which seems to better suite their overall style. The band has always seemed to have a message they want to convey with each recording, and that's exactly what you'll find here.
The first four songs hooked me, while admittedly, the remainder of the album seems to taper off at a steady pace, losing my interest with each subsequent track. It was as if that same structure I noted above was serving as both the hook and sinker. While intriguing at first, never came up for air as it continued to sink into the depths. Perhaps a solid pop song stuck in the middle of the album would have given me as the listener some time to come back from the persistent low that Naked seemed to want me to feel. A little pep to break it up would have gone a long way.
By the end of it, I honestly couldn't tell you what song was what, or even remember what the first four songs I professed to enjoy even sounded like. Everything just kind of sounded the same, making everything ultimately forgettable. Mind you, I'm not saying it was a bad album. It just wasn't memorable.
Talking Heads officially disbanded in December 1991. Frantz recalled he would only find out about it after reading in a Los Angeles Times article that Byrne had left the band. Since then, the band have reunited, but as of this writing, there have been no further studio albums (October 2023 - Gotta do these in advance to pack in a whole year of posts). However, with how successful it has been, that is potentially subject to change.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS March 26, 1983 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS March 26, 1988 |
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