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Thu Apr 13 2023
5
"Genius of Love" is bonkers in the best way. The whole album is a wild ride that goes all over the place, but maintains a fun and playful spirit throughout. David Byrne is a fascinating figure, but this really shows you how much Frantz and Weymouth brought to the Talking Heads sound. Absolutely bursting with creative energy but doesn't take itself too seriously. One of the best side projects of all time.
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Sun Apr 09 2023
2
After listening i can only get hard while listening to the long version of Genius of Love. 2/5
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Fri May 12 2023
5
With their band on top of their game, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz decided that sitting on their hands while their elastic, observant and forever curious frontman went out and explored new territories wasn't going to work for them and, in the process, set about standing out from the pack in more ways than one. For this debut album from the Tom Tom Club, with its hand-drawn aesthetic and endless nods to emerging hip-hop culture and post-disco reverie, evokes a interminable summer vibe where it is blissful to be young with no worries in the world and little need to be skeptical and suspicious about things. In Tom Tom Club's world, it's just them and scores more would come, on and on... there are more of them, more than anyone would realize.
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Tue May 16 2023
5
One I have on vinyl. A very strong piece of evidence that Weymouth and Frantz were the genius of the Talking Heads, rather than David Byrne (the truth is it's all of them).
Just 8 tracks of funk/reggae/hip-hop inflected weirdness. Joy.
If you listen to Genius of Love and don't want to bop, you may be medically dead
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Sat May 20 2023
4
I think "infectious" is the best word to describe this album. Just some great grooves. I've always thought that Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were criminally overlooked and underrated as the key to the Talking Heads' sound. It's like people thought Talking Heads was all David Byrne and the rest were just session musicians. Anyway, this is a great album and showcase for Chris and Tina, with help from Adrian Belew and others. 4 stars.
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Thu Apr 13 2023
4
This is wild. First track is like "wtf is going on, it's catchy though... this is like new wave Kraftwerk". Then I saw it was Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth from The Talking Heads and it all made sense. Ohhh shit Genius of Love, I've heard this. The synth and random chirps are so good. This is like a different take on "Once In a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. I will say overall some of the songs overstay their welcome a bit and I wish a few stopped 2 mins earlier, but overall a grand showcase of what others besides David Byrne add to Talking Heads.
I'm in heaven
With the maven of funk mutationa
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Thu Apr 27 2023
4
I could hear the music that this album went on to influence. In its infancy, hip hop has something to pay homage to here with the style and daring Visio. From Tom Tom Club.
Not perfect, but visionary.
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Fri Apr 21 2023
3
Finally! I've been waiting for this album on the list. I used to think that Genius of Love and Wordy Rappinghood were two of the most ingenious songs of the 80s! Brilliant unique sound and I have wanted to hear the rest of the album.
Standouts: Genius of Love, Wordy Rappinghood
Others: L'éléphant
Rating: 3.5
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Tue May 02 2023
3
Good performances by the aforementioned great rhythm section of Talking Heads. This album reveals they would have most likely been stuck in their TH77 days if the songwriting had been more democratic. As a frontman and penman for their material, Chris and Tina needed David Byrne to take the next leap. I enjoyed this though.
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Thu May 25 2023
3
Didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The beats are undeniable. This also has some "cool factor", if I put this on with company, i'd seem cool and obscure. All in all, a good time.
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Fri Apr 14 2023
5
What a joy!
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Sun Apr 23 2023
5
This is so fun! "Wordy Rappinghood" is just a blast. I recognize "Genius of Love" a little bit, but this is just a fun little album! I like how easy it is to, like, jam to it and it is just good vibes. While a lot ended up on my Ridiculous Music playlist, that is as a positive. Sometimes it's fun to get a little funky and silly and this album really embodies that!
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Mon Jun 12 2023
5
The opening bars of "Genius of Love" has to be one of the most sampled riffs ever, 20+ times by well-known bands – and the lyrics pay tribute to many of the great funk bands of the prior decades. “WordyRappinghood” is a nice bookend to Blondie’s “Rapture”, which came out a year earlier.
Those were the only two songs I could name from this album, which I owned, as did my co-judge. But listening to it 40 years later, I like most of the supporting tracks as well. The production would have been quite fresh in 1981: L Elephant sounds like a Talking Heads rhythm track, especially with the addition of Adrian Belew’s guitar. They mix up the mood nicely, with dark funk like “Booming and Zooming” and Go-Go’s worthy anthems like “On On On”.
The lyrics are clever, disguised by the Weymouth sisters' vocals. A catchy, well-rounded album.
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Mon Jul 31 2023
5
Caught Tom Tom Club at Glastonbury a few years ago and they were one of the most energetic and enthusiastic bands I saw, despite also being one of the oldest. This album transfers that feeling well; it's like you've been invited into their home and they're all giving you a big hug.
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Tue Sep 19 2023
5
I love literally anything even tangentially related to Talking Heads, so I am all about this shit.
Can I join the club???
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Sat Apr 15 2023
4
Rating: 7/10
Best songs: Wordy rappinghood, On on on on, Under the boardwalk
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Tue Apr 25 2023
4
New wave, great!
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Tue May 02 2023
4
Say what you will about Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, they really were firing on all cylinders on this album.
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Tue May 02 2023
4
Groovy
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Thu May 04 2023
4
Þetta er hressileg plata, skemmtilegur early 80s hljóðheimur og ein dansgólfsbomba.
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Sat May 06 2023
4
A quality album, just always enjoy listening to Knopfler, even some of the more average stuff.
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Fri May 26 2023
4
Nice funky album from the Golden age of Talking Heads/Byrne&Eno/Tom Tom Club. Great rhythms, poppy (1st two songs) or more African beats.
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Wed Jun 07 2023
4
I am very amused but also confused. This sounds like something Ian would listen too. Overall it was fun background music, but I don't think I would play it with anyone around.
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Thu Jun 08 2023
4
Hypnotic beats whose frequent samplings make perfect sense. "Genius of Love" is the hookiest of all, with Lorelei" a bit of a revelation here, largely for having been forgotten. Better than one remembers; it's likably light-hearted and what once took as silly feels a touch more substantive now.
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Sun Jun 11 2023
4
A bizarre, funky, funny, catchy album filled with a French-style disco-esque charm. Really groovy! Also it's cool to see the origin of a sample, with Genius Of Love. Such a summery, catchy beat.
Wordy Rappinghood, Genius Of Love and L'Elephant are the standout tracks for me here, and the others aren't quite as good or interesting to me, but this is still a very cool and groovy album that I think I'll look out for, to add to my record collection.
Favourite: Wordy Rappinghood
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Mon Jun 12 2023
4
I liked this one. Sure they borrowed from Talking Heads but you can't steal from yourself right? It has a good groove and I really liked the percussion - more specifically - the tom-toms. Who would've guessed that would be their strong suit?
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Mon Jun 12 2023
4
Charming, joyfully odd, irresistibly fun. This is a funky, blippy and percussive musical adventure that invites us all to just embrace our inner weirdos and dance. Lots of little nuances that sound amazing coming through a pair of headphones. The album loses steam on the final few tracks, but it's an absolutely unique and delightful experience.
Fave Songs: Genius of Love; Wordy Rappinghood; Lorelei; As Above, So Below; L'éléphant
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Thu Jun 15 2023
4
This album really snuck up on me. It started out with a goofy ass rap song that was somewhat cringe but I didn’t dislike it and it just grew in quality for me song by song. I was hit with the shock that the iconic genius of love riff came before it’s nasty and after that I was totally won over by tracks like as above so below, Lorelai, and under the boardwalk. The energy, quirkiness, and richness of the production is what makes it good I think. We’re it not for tracks like Tom Tom theme it’d get a 5
Edit: this whole album makes so much more sense knowing that it’s a side project of talking heads members that aren’t David byrne. Completely explains the eccentricity throughout.
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Thu Jun 15 2023
4
Really weird, but really great.
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Sun Jun 18 2023
4
Enjoyed this a lot
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Thu Jul 13 2023
4
Pretty much what I expected from a more poppy Talking Heads spin off. Pretty great honestly, Genius of Love is killer and there are definitely a few other songs here that I'll be putting on repeat. I always need more offbeat pop music in my life. Solid 4 with room to grow perhaps.
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Thu Jul 20 2023
4
While Under the Boardwalk could have been eliminated from this album, I loved every other song. I'm loving 80s music way more now than then.
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Tue Jul 25 2023
4
Surprising how much I enjoyed this album. It's not great, but it's good and I will listen to it again.
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Tue Jul 25 2023
4
I've listened to Genius of Love a lot. The rest of the album was a pleasant surprise. Would listen again. The best of the Talking Heads spin offs?
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Wed Jul 26 2023
4
B-52s vibes but the first couple songs are clearly the best part of the album. 7/10
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Wed Jul 26 2023
4
8/10. This kept me on my toes, and I liked that after a series of albums that were kinda what I expected after the first song. I don't know that I'd give it such a high rating on a repeat listen, but I did have a good time on this first one.
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Thu Jul 27 2023
4
Nice synthy poo
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Wed Aug 02 2023
4
I have no fucking idea what I just listened to but I'm here for it.
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Thu Aug 03 2023
4
4.0
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Thu Aug 03 2023
4
Had never heard of this before, then clicked the wiki to see that it was a side project of half of Talking Heads (plus Adrian Belew who was on Remain in Light). So I was then pretty excited to hear it, and lo and behold, it's a fantastic album. Brings the eccentricity of the last Heads album and bumps up the danceability. Can't help but feel like this was a big influence on Belew as I hear a lot of similarities between this and the King Crimson album Discipline that he would record just months after this one.
If you're a Talking Heads fan then this is almost like an extra album from their prime era to enjoy. Will be going back to this one for sure, especially Genius of Love, what a great song.
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Thu Aug 10 2023
4
I love Genius of Love, one of my favorite songs. Great dance album with interesting tunes and rhythms.
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Wed Aug 16 2023
4
very funky and original.
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Wed Aug 16 2023
4
Wow, I didn't know this bad (project) by name, but there are so, SO many tracks I had heard before. Case in point: Genius of Love. And the cover of Under the Boardwalk is utter genius. So while this may not be as iconic as a handful of other albums, I thoroughly enjoyed this. 4/5
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Fri Aug 18 2023
4
This makes me happy
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Mon Aug 28 2023
4
This is some fun summer music
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Fri Sep 01 2023
4
Heard before. Really wacky and I love it.
Liked almost every song besides On On On On and Booming and Zooming.
+ Wordy Rappinghood
+ Lorelei
+ L Elephant
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Sun Sep 03 2023
4
A fun train wreck! Maybe like a mad rollercoaster that goes wrong but no-one gets seriously hurt, so everyone just enjoyed the wild ride.
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Wed Sep 06 2023
4
I hadn't heard this before. It was fun and interesting.
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Sat Sep 16 2023
4
Unsurprisingly good grooves from Talking Heads’ rhythm section, surprisingly goofy and bizarre music. Genius of Love is a classic, Wordy Rappinghood is a hoot and if the rest doesn’t quite hit the same heights it’s an enjoyable, entertaining record.
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Wed Sep 20 2023
4
Just reviewed More Songs About Buildings and Food yesterday. I liked this one better somehow. You can definitely tell where a lot of Talking Heads sound comes from. Not afraid to let the tracks breathe a little bit.
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Sat Sep 23 2023
4
Really good
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Tue Apr 11 2023
3
Learned someting today about this Talking Heads side project. Also album not in apple music. Found on yout tube
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Thu Apr 13 2023
3
Did not know what this band was about, but recognized "Genius of Love." Did not know that they were a side project from Talking Heads, but it is easy to hear after being pointed out. I don't LOVE their sound but I appreciate their weirdness. Many of the songs are too repetitive and long for me. I could see myself growing to like this band more in time.
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Tue Apr 18 2023
3
I was already very familiar with the opening track "Wordy Rappinghood", but the other tracks were new to me. More of the same: strange, quirky, avant garde - mixed feelings.
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Thu Apr 20 2023
3
Pleasantly surprised. Some good tracks on here, but a special edition album that goes on too long, like most of them do.
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Tue Apr 25 2023
3
Expected to hate this, but found myself pleasantly surprised by how varied this LP was. Definitely stays within its funky comfort zone for most of the runtime, though the Tom Tom Club manages to make each track feel distinct with its own vibe rather than a rehash of the same melodic/instrumental territory again and again.
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Tue Apr 25 2023
3
Tämä on, ei hyperbolia, kaikkien aikojen paras albumi. Se on viimeinen, jonka Beatles tekivät kaikki yhdessä, ja he melkein repivät toisensa osiin. On kappaleita, joissa Lennon ei esiinny, kappaleita, joissa McCartney ei ole niin näkyvästi esillä kuin aiemmin, ja kappaleita, joissa voit melkein tuntea turhautumisen. Kaikesta huolimatta heidän yhdistämänsä oli uskomatonta ja, kuten aina, suurempi kuin osiensa summa. Here Comes the Sun on George Harrisonin paras teos. I Want You (She's So Heavy) on tyypillinen monimutkainen panos Johnilta. Paul otti "jotain paskaa, jonka John kirjoitti Intiassa" ja kutoi sen yhteen oman materiaalinsa kanssa tehdäkseen mestariteoksen, joka on Abbey Road -yhdistelmä. Ringo...no, Octopus's Garden on aika hyvä, mitä tulee Ringon juttuihin. Hän sai vihdoin soolon, mikä on mukavaa. Albumi on niin täynnä, etten ole edes maininnut useita muita mahtavia: Come Together, Something ja Koska ovat kaikki-aikaisia. Paras kappale: sekauinti
pleasure of love
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Fri Apr 28 2023
3
Funky album throughout
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Fri Apr 28 2023
3
An eccentric album. Some of it’s good but some is just annoying
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Tue May 02 2023
3
Basically this is all the sane people from Talking Heads. Interesting, experimental, fun. Ultimately this is an experiment in rhythms with loose melodies and lyrics tying everything together. I enjoyed it but probably will not revisit this often. Glad to have the opportunity to listen. 3.5 stars. Extra point for real guitar and drums.
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Thu May 04 2023
3
Mira, no está mal. De hecho, es algo nuevo para mí, como si los 70 y lo más raro de los 80 se juntaran
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Thu May 18 2023
3
Beetje eigenzinnige muziek, maar ik vind het wel leuk. Klinkt verder best leuk, melodieus en met een goede zangeres.
***
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Thu May 25 2023
3
Good album, with songs i recognize after not hearing them since once before!
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Thu May 25 2023
3
Listened to the LP version. Very noisy album. But at least I can hear something that would be considered new in 1981.
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Sat May 27 2023
3
Begon funky, maar vond het wat veel van hetzelfde
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Mon May 29 2023
3
Simultaneously the best & worst thing I've ever listened to.
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Wed May 31 2023
3
Catchy, funk, new wave, reggae-vibes, elguitar
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Wed May 31 2023
3
Enjoyable but the 2 big brilliant hits come 1-2 then you are left with quite a lot of ramblings which are not very satisfying. Interesting though.
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Thu Jun 01 2023
3
Fun music but wore on me a bit by the end
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Sun Jun 04 2023
3
Genius of Love & Lorelei slay, everything else is more hit or mess, but album stays fun throughout. 3.5/5
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Mon Jun 12 2023
3
If you add a David Byrne to this fabulous rhythm section, you would get a decentTalking Heads album ... almost. Genius of love is a funky, quirky, world music dance masterpiece, Wordy Rappinghood and the man with the four way hips are also quite good. This album shows just how good Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were. The album fades a bit near the end, but overall it's a great artifact from this era.
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Mon Jun 12 2023
3
Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love are two of the greatest dance tracks of the 80’s.
Genius of Love is probably one of the best song of the 80s period. It still sounds amazing today.
Tom Tom Theme just fills in some time before L’Elephant. Which is another great dance track.
As above, So Below is decent.
Lorelei is catchy with a good beat.
On On On On… has a fun beat.
Under The Boardwalk….not a fan of this one…l very over covered song.
Above average album. 3.5/5
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Wed Jun 14 2023
3
Pretty nice new wave funky record, really danceable and quite enjoyable.
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Mon Jun 19 2023
3
Dit werd op een gegeven moment echt vervelend, terwijl ik het eerst wel verfrissend vond.
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Mon Jun 19 2023
3
Kind of good funky stuff. Nothing really shined for me though.
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Mon Jun 19 2023
3
I reaalllyyyy didn't enjoy the A side, even with the ever-sampleable Genius of Love. But the B side had me straight boppin, so I guess it balances out?
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Thu Jun 22 2023
3
Nice bit of funk but nothing too unique about it, fav track: under the broadwalk
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Fri Jun 23 2023
3
Good
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Sun Jun 25 2023
3
Album 85 of 1001
Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club
Rating : 3 / 5 Favorite Tracks : Wordy Rappinghood & Genius of Love
I had this back in the day and always found it to be a fun listen. That Talking Heads feel is certainly present. One to go back to. I had forgotten all about it.
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Fri Jun 30 2023
3
Genius of Love is a great song. The rest is alright and nothing mind-blowing. It's nice background music.
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Mon Jul 03 2023
3
It was a decent album. I would categorize it as electronic funk. I was familiar with Genius of Love because of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
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Fri Jul 07 2023
3
Fun, a lot of light hearted, familiar sounding songs that don’t take themselves too seriously
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Tue Jul 11 2023
3
I can see why it's on the list, backstory is interesting enough. Songs are good enough, and good album length. Didn't excite me, but didn't annoy me either, 50/50 with me.
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Tue Jul 11 2023
3
Pretty good. I got into this more when I knew it was a Talking Heads spin off.
Nice guitars and catchy tunes.
Wordy Rappinghood reminds me of the kind of things that teachers do in a school assembly which seem like a good idea at the time.
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Tue Jul 11 2023
3
Shame the momentum of the cracking opening tracks wasn't sustained, but fun nonetheless
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Tue Jul 11 2023
3
Alright so it
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Wed Jul 12 2023
3
Funky. Has a few great moments, and a few weaker ones.
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Thu Jul 13 2023
3
I didn't know there was Talking Heads spinoff band! And it sounds even more prescient of 2000s indie-pop than TH, what with its heavily electronic inclinations.
Fun music and amusing vocals/lyrics? Tick.
Repetitive and irritating? Eh, almost. But it stayed on the right side of those things for me. I'd rather focus on the energy and creativity on show.
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Thu Jul 20 2023
3
I would like to forget I ever listened to Wordy Rappinghood.
The song, genius of love gets all the points.
I’m not sure why I was surprised that this album came out in 1981, but I was.
L’Elephant was fun.
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Thu Jul 20 2023
3
Fun and relaxing. Good to know who sang Genius of Love. Word rap reminded me of Blondie.
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Thu Jul 20 2023
3
Very 80's their version of under the broadwalk was a bit of fun
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Fri Jul 21 2023
3
It was alright, I liked some songs more than others.
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Mon Jul 24 2023
3
For whatever reason I was expecting an 80s band with a dude who has a Rick Astley voice of some kind or another, and that's not at all what this is and that made me happy.
I liked it. The first half and the second. "Booming and Zooming" was fun and then it turned into some weird air traffic control or CB radio call and somehow I liked it even more.
I'm not going 4 stars in case I wake up in the morning with a hangover and rethink my choice, but this is solid 3 for me.
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Mon Jul 24 2023
3
Lots of sonic hijinks here and a bona fide disco classic in 'Genius of Love'. 'Wordy Rappinghood' suffers from the disadvantage of sucking hard, but there's enough to redeem elsewhere. 'L Elephant' is a hoot. The musicianship throughout is stellar. Adrian Belew is one of the most fun guitar players around.
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Tue Jul 25 2023
3
Mostly groovy fun with great bass and keys.
I just wish this didn’t end on such a cheesy note with that terrible Under the Boardwalk cover.
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Tue Jul 25 2023
3
Tina Weymouth is awesome, she doesn't nearly get enough credit for the sound of the Talking Heads as she should. I've listen to this album multiple times and I want to love it so badly, but I just don't. It's good and times very good but I think it falls short of the potential this band had, you have Adrain Belew on guitar and you would't even know it.
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Sun Jul 30 2023
3
C'est bien, juste un peu weird par endroit. Le francais fait monter la note un peu mais tout de meme c'est assez generique.. 3.25
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Sun Aug 06 2023
3
I was excited for this album and was hoping to like it a bit more. The highs were pretty high, but some songs were just boring. Still, I'm glad I finally listened to it, given how iconic it is. I'm content with my time with it, and it's defintely worth a listen for the good stuff on here. My favourite songs were Genius of Love, Lorelei, and Wordy Rappinghood.
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Mon Aug 07 2023
3
Genius of love is a pretty decent song, the rest of the album is a little less decent. Overall, that balance out to…. Decent!
Cool electronic blend with the reggae sound.
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Fri Aug 11 2023
3
- overall 6/10 decent record pretty unqiue pretty trippy and has some solid moments occasionally but not really my type of music
-also the fact this is a talking heads side project is cool, easily prefer talking heads stuff tho
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