Reviews (page 4 of 8)
This was a really good album, which surprised me. I was well aware of 'Genius Of Love' - if you are my age it'd be almost impossible not to have heard that track, or any of the multitude of tracks that have sampled it. The rest of the album was very good. No real weak tracks. This is a big shock to me as The Talking Heads albums I've had served up have been very hit and miss (mostly miss).
Fun and energetic.
If being in Talking Heads wasn't quite quirky enough for you, why not create an even quirkier side project? Well, here it is. It's party music for people who try too hard by carrying a biscuit tin and wearing bowling shoes. Best Tracks: Wordy Rappinghood; Genius of Love; As Above So Below;
Catchy stuff! 3/5
The only song I'd heard before this listen was Genius of Love, but I was very impressed with the rest of the album, very groovy. Feels very decidedly 80's but in the best way.
Unexpected banger, loved this one. This became talking heads? wow
This album was just so much fun. It was cool to hear songs that have been sampled in other places. I loved the multitude of languages used and the cool electronic sounds. On a whole the album seems like it was made more recently than 81.
It's so nearly Talking Heads it upsets me
Amazing sample on Genius of Love! Fantasy by Mariah Carey and Big Energy by latto. Overall a pretty "talking-heads-side-project" type of album. Cool, easy to listen to, and a ton of groovers.
Perhaps the most compelling argument for cocaine in the history of popular music.
Phenomenally groovy. Phenomenally ridiculous.
Very creative pop music, surprisingly good.
Weird and fun. But probably not weird enough.
Fun little album. Very jiggy.
Talking Heads and Talking Heads accessories are great.
Booming and Zooming was a sneak fave that I was not expecting. OFC, Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love have been in my repeats for years, but the rest was very fun to explore.
bunch of retards on acid found a synth Some nice beats tho Somehow sounds really good and really bad at the same time The lyrics are kind of intolerable Part of me wanted to hate it from the first song, but was tapping my feet through parts of it It’s a good album, but not great in my opinion
I couldn't tell if they were trying to be funny or not on most of these tracks. Are these songs what they spoof on Portlandia? Some of the lyrics are prosaic, and in other songs it's like they were running out of money for lyrics and just had to keep reusing the same lines. That can be effective if you can assure your audience you're in control of it. When I imagined then just having fun and being goofy, I enjoyed it a lot more.
This is pretty awful. And yet seemingly half the tracks here became a memorable sample for fun rap and pop songs in the 90s. So they’ve got that going for them, which is nice.
Somehow very good but also very bad. A strange but enjoyable project
Not for me
After the first track, I was expecting to dislike this more than I did. Wordy Rappinghood? Corny. Like, real corny. However, Genius of Love, L'elephant, Lorelei and On, On, On.. were all pretty solid. Still not exactly my bag, but it could have been worse.
The Talking Headless. Members of the Talking Heads make a new band minus one David Byrne. Enjoyable side project but I still prefer the original band of heads talking. One of the songs does get stuck in my head constantly though, the one about boyfriends. 8/10
Started off ok but went on waaaaay to long and became irritating pop
this was fine but i didn’t love it. just didn’t really care for the vibe the put out there
Not for me
What a ride!
1. uuordy - 1.5 2. love - 3 3. tom - 0 4. Elephant - 1.5 5. Below - 1 6. Lorelei -1.5 7. On - 1 8. Booming - 0 9. boardwalk -0 10. Love - 1 11. Again -1 12. Foxy -1 13. Bamboo -1.5 14. Hips -0 15. Measure - 1 16. Penny - 1 17. Baby -1.5
Super unique. Dumb but so catchy and I really liked it.
Genius of love almost raises this album to a 3 on its own but the rest of the record is just lame.
Got some mixed feelings on this one. Genius of Love is obv an ATJ and there’s a couple of other bangers but I find a few of the songs hard to listen to. Respect it but don’t love it front to back
Fun album and different
One thing this project has taught me is white folks shouldn’t go down to the Caribbean and use the vibes down there for their own white people shit.
Take the first two tracks out of the equation and there was little there to maintain my interest. It gets a 2 because I've always liked Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love
It's quite nice but pretty corny
Fun album
Labai ilgai truko, bet dėl to, kad antram diske yra įkėlę instrumentinius dainų variantus. O šiaip patiko. Puiku užsigalvojimui.
It's really fun funk/new wave. Genius of Love is an absolute classic, one of the best dance songs ever.
This whole album is a vibe, and there are some great standout tracks too. Pleasantly surprised (think my expectations were low mostly due to the awful cover art).
There's a fine line between catchy and irritating and Genius of Love is walking it
I wanted to like this but it sorta bored me
One decent song
Pas mal, fun, léger
Meh. Lyrics were pretty elementary.
Some really infectious beats. Really fun album. It started off very strong but kind of dragged a bit through the middle.
A few bright spots on an otherwise boring album. There’s creativity here for sure but a lot of creative exploration better left to the bedroom or private studio. Editing is a good thing and Tom Tom could have left 80% of this double album unreleased.
The songs I knew, I didn't like. I dislike the Sesame St energy of Wordy Rappinghood, and the "James Brown" cringe of Genius of Love. But pretty much everything else about this is great (until Booming and Zooming which is bad). It's got such a great vibe all the way through, just love it. Very surprised by how good it got.
One good song does not an album make
This record sounds cool as hell; fun and funky. Genius of Love still sounds totally fresh. Can definitely do without all the bloat of the 'deluxe edition' though.
Not much there
This was a very fun, quirky listen
3.5 stars. "Genius of Love" super catchy hook which understandably went on to be sampled over and over later in the 80's. Leadoff "Wordy Rappinghood" is fairly weird but good. Overall a decent funk album by the Talking Heads side project.
I like the Talking Heads but I like this better. I would love to be part of the scene where this is dominating. Not perfect, but very cool.
Started off pretty good but then got really weird. About what I would expect from a band that spun off from Talking Heads.
Innovative, one classic
bouncy, slightly goofy, and fun (in a way that Talking Heads never really were) two excellent singles, and quite a bit of filler - lifted to 3 stars by Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love
Wow, this one was really interesting. Seems way ahead of their time but, honestly, that's just another way of saying other people are still copying their sound. Had no idea this was an offshoot of Talking Heads. I didn't love it but really enjoyed. 3.5 rounding up.
Not sure I see the point of this album. It's cute enough and filled with competent percussion, but nothing stands out as "must hear," especially when I know this has been included on the list of 1001 albums but absolutely NO Warren Zevon albums made that cut. I've certainly heard albums on this project that I would drop from the list before I bumped this one, but I can't imagine it would ever have made the cut of my own personal list of 950 albums I feel people "must" listen to.
As Above, So Below takes about 2 stars off the album. 2.75*
Very inventive and interesting. Some seminal pieces when it comes to sampling sources. Drags on a bit too much.
Nice
It was assault on the ears. Rap for the under 5's. Bloody awful.
It sounds like a collection of music and sound effects from platform games of yesteryear. Didn't feel either way about this, but it's not for me.
2/5 just weird not particularly interesting
They have earned their cred but beyond genius if Love and Under the Boardwalk, this is for hardcore fans.
Funky and fun, but it's not near Talking Heads :-)
Funky
A bizarre and unique album. Enjoyed it but not sure how often I will re listen Standout songs: Lorelei Under the boardwalk
Bit too long - it sounds vaguely familiar but I can't put my finger on why.
Erikoinen levy. Ei säväyttänyt kuitenkaan. 3/5.
Oh I remember this one now! I remembered them but not the music. Once the first track started the flood of memories listening to this hit. It's....quirky. If you think this is Talking Heads the sequel it's not. It's got the fun experimental part of it. Wordy Rappinghood is an example of it, as is Genius of Love. Both decent enough tunes, but most of the album doesn't pull it together enough to be more than a quirky experiment. Like they got more enamored with fun in the studio they forgot the rest of it, making a more coherent album. You have some great parts of songs but that doesn't make things work. It's worth a listen as there are a few songs that are decent The fist couple and the last couple are about it.
Fun earlier electronic weirdness.
This is why I’m persevering with this project. One year in and many, many country albums later I am rewarded with this. Hadn’t heard the name of this band before, but instantly recognised the first and second songs. The first because it’s a regular on 6Music and the second because it having been sampled. It’s a wonderfully eclectic, fresh and exciting album from start to finish. 5 stars without question!
★★½
The ridiculously long albums tend to be amongst my least favorite. Over 2 hours is crazy. Just split it up into two albums if you must. Also, I’m not sure I do really grasp the concept of this album. Was it supposed to just be covers??
It was a vibe at times, it was a bit forgettable at times. I do think there’s a lot of 80’s music that has aged so very poorly, but this actually holds up alright! “Genius Of Love” was a pretty cool beat for its time but goddamn I could happily never hear another song sample it again and I’d be perfectly happy with it. “Lorelei” miiiiight be my favorite track purely for how catchy it was. Kinda like a talking heads cut. Either that or “On On On On”. Maybe a soft 3 on this one
first listen great sample material
One of my favourite albums. Outstanding.
Love the bass. I can see how many bands were influenced by this one
The deluxe edition got repetitive.
2.1 I really didn't get this one. Love Talking Heads, but first time listening to the spin-off and actually don't get it. Amazed and confused by David Byrne dismissing this as too commercial. If anything it's way more experimental. And just not very good. The first track is such a bad start. The one hit wonder that comes next is bland but acceptable. And the rest passes by without any fanfare whatsoever. At least it was short, when you ignore the hours of bonus tracks on Spotify.
Really fun album!
Very fun
Unfortunately, really nothing's special here.It does have some of those talking head vibes and slick eighties production.But the songs kind of drag on, and they needed a little bit, they needed to build a little bit more on each track
Hatar inte det men låtarna är lite för långa och fjantiga.. 2/5. Känns som La femme/Limperiatrice fått mycket inspiration
A bit unusual. Probably not one I’d listen to again
Sounds like someone brought some coke and a casio and started trying to sell raps to sesame street. There may be a reason I'd never heard of them.
I've never heard of Tom Tom Club, but I Genius of Love sure did sound familiar. I'm not sure how to describe the album as a whole. There's a bit of not great rap, some Bananarama-type pop, and a bad cover of Under the Boardwalk. Why did she have to change "my baby" to "my boyfriend" anyway? I liked the song Lorelei, though. All in all, an average 3/5.
Joyous
Club music sucks donkey farts. 1
A talking heads side project? I was wondering why this is a must listen then "Genius of Love" came on. Now thats an iconic song that I've listened to in full and only ever heard sampled. Stopped after Under the Boardwalk. Even that felt too long. Anyone listening to the Spotify Deluxe version I recommend the same unless you want remixes and extra long version of songs you've already heard. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.
Classic. Love
Fun. Really good. Lorelei, Wordy Rappinghood, Genius Of Love - all bangers.
This is another one that I've been wanting to check out for awhile. While its definitely not as good as what the Talking Heads were releasing around the same time, its still an enjoyable record. "Genius of Love" is the obvious highlight and unfortunately I don't think the rest of the album really compares. Favorite track: Genius of Love
Not something I'd normally put on, but it was fun and groovy, and unserious but still well put together
On sens bien la vibe Talking Heads, sans être une copie carbonne. Ça me fait juste apprécier David Byrne encore plus, pis ça me donne juste envie d'écouter plus de Talking Heads
Some of this was quite fun, but there sure was two hours of it.
Overly long, but some great tracks on this album. Nice one Tina.
It's a 3.5, but gets rounded up to 4 on the strength of "Genius of Love." Lots of fun grooves but the "Wordy Rappinghood" rapping is bad in that 1981 sing-songy way that a lot of people who had no business rapping ended up rapping around that time.
2,6/5
Every single song on this one is both catchy and at least a minute too long. I suppose this makes it a precursor to modern electronica.
This album didn't ring any bells, but now that I've listened to it, it has a very familiar sound.
6/10
I would have loved to really enjoy this one, but I couldn't get into it. Despite the upbeat synth-pop tunes, a lot of the other creative decisions on here are baffling and just flat out annoying. When it all comes together-as it does on "Genius of Love", one of the most earwormy tunes ever concieved-it really works, but overall this one is missing some of the cohesion I know these musicians can bring to the table.
First two are great. Rest is fine. 3.5
Its got a good beat and the lyrics... Are ok. But man these songs are so long and go nowhere. I get it, it's for doing coke on a dance floor, but it makes for a sober listening on my way to work a bit tedious.
Liked it better than I thought I would, but it’s not going to make the rotatiom
I absolutely love the zany approach they took with the synth. This album is really weird and a little off-putting at times, but they did what so many other artists who try to make an off the beaten path kinda album can't - the choices seemed really intentional and made the music better. So many of these 'out-there' albums are weird for the sake of being weird and expect you to applaud it because they did something weird, not because they made good music. This album threads that needle and is really impressive.
Listened Before? N What a cool and polished new-wave album. I was unaware of the spinoff from TH until now, these guys were a pleasant surprise. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Genius of Love
I've always seen this as the platonic ideal of a side project. Try some new stuff, have some fun, low stakes. This one just happened to produce and all-time classic song. The rest of the album is fun and touches on some cool sounds and techniques. Standout Track(s): Genius of Love (duh), L'Elephant
Haven’t heard it for a long time, but fell in love with it again
Not bad, some catchy stuff.
bullshit, like a bunch of cavemen just got some instruments and they do random sounds
sample heaven
Various styles, songs flowed well from one to another. Sort of feels like something you have to actively listen to and a background album at the same time strangely.
I had never heard of this, but i like Talking Heads so it is no surprise I like this one too. Very fun!
Wow was this a long weird drag!
REALLY could not be less of my thing
Me and my brain cells vibing today: https://youtu.be/DTfBIMK8JZ4?feature=shared
Lots of good music owes some credit to this Tom Tom Club sound. Good funk and lots of fun. Genius of Love is a classic, very recognizable from its use as a sample in Mariah Carey's Fantasy. Under the Boardwalk had me bobbing my head pleasantly at work. Overall, the record moves just a little too slowly for my full enjoyment, but this is a solid entry in the album canon.
Genuis of Love was fun, I hadn't realized it was so heavily sampled. Not amazing, but it was an enjoyable listen
Genius of Love makes me think of Always Sunny in Philadelphia (they all dance to it in ridiculous ways)
Loved the first couple songs but thought the album dragged on
# In-Depth Review of Tom Tom Club's Self-Titled Debut Album (1981) ## 🎵 Overview and Background **Tom Tom Club** (1981) is the debut album by the side project of Talking Heads rhythm section **Tina Weymouth** (bass/vocals) and **Chris Frantz** (drums). Recorded at **Compass Point Studios** in the Bahamas during a hiatus from Talking Heads, the album emerged as a vibrant, genre-blending work that contrasted sharply with their main band's art-rock intensity. The project began as a casual studio experiment but evolved into a fully realized album after Island Records founder **Chris Blackwell** encouraged them to expand their sessions into a full-length release. Featuring contributions from Tina's sisters (Lani, Laura, and Loric Weymouth), guitarist **Adrian Belew**, and Jamaican session musicians like **Tyrone Downie** (keyboards) and **Uziah "Sticky" Thompson** (percussion), the album fused funk, reggae, new wave, and early hip-hop into a playful, sun-soaked masterpiece. --- ## 🎤 Lyrics and Themes ### Playfulness and Linguistic Experimentation The lyrics on *Tom Tom Club* are characterized by their **whimsical, nonsensical, and often multilingual** approach. Unlike the cerebral, anxiety-driven themes of Talking Heads, this album embraces joy and absurdity: - **"Wordy Rappinghood"** explores the power and limitations of language, referencing everything from "pollution" to "Koko the signing gorilla". The song incorporates a childhood Moroccan chant ("A Ram Sam Sam") and typewriter sounds, creating a collage of linguistic playfulness. - **"L'Éléphant"** (sung in French) tells a fable about an elephant and hippopotamus disguised as men, with the villagers fearing human conflict more than the animals themselves—a subtle commentary on war and human nature. - **"Genius of Love"** celebrates funk and soul legends like James Brown, Smokey Robinson, and Bohannon, blending shout-outs with flirtatious boasts ("I'm in heaven / With my maven of funk mutation"). ### Repetition and Mantra-like Phrases Many tracks use **repetitive, mantra-like choruses** to create a hypnotic, dance-oriented vibe. For example, "On, On, On, On..." relies on minimalistic phrases to sustain its groove, while "Tom Tom Theme" uses percussive vocalizations to emphasize rhythm over narrative. ### Weaknesses Some critics find the lyrics **too silly or superficial**, particularly on deeper cuts like "Booming and Zooming," which features spoken-word passages about a jet pilot's crash. The playful approach may not resonate with listeners seeking deeper lyrical substance. --- ## 🎶 Music and Sound ### Genre Fusion The album seamlessly blends **funk, dub, new wave, and early hip-hop**, creating a sound that felt ahead of its time: - **Funk and Dub Foundations**: Tracks like "Genius of Love" and "As Above, So Below" feature Tina Weymouth's **syncopated basslines**, layered percussion, and dub-inspired echoes. - **Electronic Elements**: The use of **Sequential Prophet-5 synthesizers** adds squelchy, melodic hooks ("Genius of Love") and atmospheric textures. - **Tropical Influences**: The Bahamian setting infuses songs like "L'Éléphant" with Caribbean rhythms and steel drum-like guitar tones. ### Vocal Delivery The Weymouth sisters' vocals are **deliberately unpolished**, with overlapping chants, raps, and harmonies that feel more like a party than a studio performance. Tina's deadpan rap on "Wordy Rappinghood" and the group's cheerful harmonies on "Genius of Love" became defining features. ### Standout Tracks 1. **"Genius of Love"** : A funk masterpiece with a bouncing bassline, addictive synth riff, and shout-outs to funk legends. Its **103 BPM tempo** made it a slow-burning dancefloor staple. 2. **"Wordy Rappinghood"** : A quirky rap track with congas, typewriter sounds, and multilingual chants. 3. **"L'Éléphant"** : Features Adrian Belew's guitar mimicking elephant trumpets over a tropical rhythm. 4. **"On, On, On, On..."** : A minimalist funk groove highlighting Tina's bass skills. --- ## 🎛 Production Quality ### Analog Warmth and Clarity Produced by **Steven Stanley** (with Frantz and Weymouth), the album benefits from **pristine analog recording** techniques. Compass Point Studios' noise-free mixing desks and 24-track capabilities allowed for a clean, percussive sound. Key production choices include: - **Bass and Drum Separation**: Tina's bass was tuned to 150Hz to avoid clashing with the kick drum, creating a crisp low end. - **Layered Vocals**: The Weymouth sisters' harmonies were recorded with three mics and tracked three times for richness. - **Dub Techniques**: Delayed echoes and sparse arrangements on tracks like "Tom Tom Theme" showcase studio innovation. ### Collaborative Energy The production captures the **spontaneous energy** of the sessions, with improvised performances and contributions from Jamaican musicians like Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (who were recording nearby with Grace Jones). ### Limitations Some modern listeners might find the production **too dated**, particularly the drum sounds and synthetic effects. The album's minimalistic approach also means that some tracks feel more like sketches than fully developed songs. --- ## 🧠 Themes and Conceptual Approach ### Escape and Celebration The album embodies a **vacation from the intellectualism** of Talking Heads. Themes include: - **Joy and Abandon**: Tracks like "Genius of Love" and "On, On, On, On..." prioritize danceable grooves over cerebral content. - **Cultural Fusion**: The blend of Bahamian, Jamaican, and New York influences reflects a **utopian vision of musical unity**. - **Feminine Perspective**: Tina Weymouth and her sisters bring a playful, female-centric voice to a male-dominated funk/rap scene. ### Reaction Against Talking Heads' Hierarchy Frantz and Weymouth promoted a **collaborative ethos** in contrast to David Byrne's top-down approach in Talking Heads. This album was a deliberate effort to share credit and celebrate collective creativity. --- ## 📈 Influence and Legacy ### Sampling and Hip-Hop Impact - **"Genius of Love"** is one of the **most sampled songs in history**, used by Grandmaster Flash, Mariah Carey ("Fantasy"), 2Pac, and many others. - The album helped **bridge underground new wave and hip-hop**, inspiring artists like LCD Soundsystem and !!!. ### Cultural Reach - The album reached **#23 on the Billboard 200** and went platinum. - It introduced white audiences to rap and funk, challenging racial barriers in music. ### Long-Term Impact Tom Tom Club's debut is now regarded as a **classic of 1980s pop**, appearing on *Slant* magazine's "Best Albums of the 1980s" list. Its influence persists in dance music, hip-hop, and indie rock. --- ## ✅ Pros and Cons ### Pros: 1. **Innovative Genre Fusion** : Blends funk, dub, and rap in a way that felt fresh and ahead of its time. 2. **Timeless Hits** : "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood" remain iconic and influential. 3. **Collaborative Spirit** : The diverse musicianship creates a rich, global sound. 4. **Production Quality** : Clean, inventive analog production that still sounds vibrant. 5. **Playful Vibe** : A joyful escape from the seriousness of post-punk and art-rock. ### Cons: 1. **Lyrical Superficiality** : Some lyrics may feel too silly or nonsensical for certain listeners. 2. **Inconsistent Depth** : Beyond the hits, some tracks (e.g., "Booming and Zooming") feel underdeveloped. 3. **Dated Elements** : The early '80s production might sound thin or overly synthetic to modern ears. 4. **Lack of David Byrne's Edge** : Fans of Talking Heads' cerebral style may find the album too lightweight. --- ## 🏆 Conclusion *Tom Tom Club* is a landmark album that transcends its status as a side project. Its infectious energy, innovative fusion of genres, and historical influence make it essential listening. While not every track matches the brilliance of "Genius of Love" or "Wordy Rappinghood," the album's overall creativity and joyfulness secure its place as a classic. It remains a testament to Frantz and Weymouth's musical vision and their ability to create music that is both fun and profoundly influential.
I really liked this. I've known the song Genius of Love forever, and recognized it sampled in other songs, but never realized where it originated or that it was from 1981. 4/5
Enjoyed this one. I learned a bunch of things from it: 1. Side-project of Talking Heads drummer and bassist 2. Drummer and bassist of TH are married 3. Bassist of TH is a woman Outside of that, of course I've heard Genius of Love, but found the other tracks really fun too. Good shit 3.5/5
Favourites: Wordy Rappinghood, Genius Of Love, L'éléphant, Lorelei, Under The Boardwalk
Fun pop, I enjoyed the beats of the first couple of songs and under the board walk was fun to sing along to.
Too long… can be fun if you’re in the mood. When 3D technology was not yet there, many games were made 2.5D. This album gives me the same feeling.
Weird album that I cannot say I really enjoyed. It was definitely creative and they get points for originality and having an iconic hit. I couldn’t get through Booming and Zooming though. The walkie talkie bit got real old and as soon as I paused it the headache I didn’t realize I had went away.
This is probably the most fun I’ve had with a new wave album. Pretty consistently, I tend to drag the genre through the mud, but honestly I had fun with this album. I would have preferred the original version, with eight tracks though. An extra hour 20 of content didn’t really do much for me, but I won’t knock them for that
They have some creative samples and an interesting style, but it really just isn’t for me. I got bored after a few songs.
Just alright. It was a lot of fun to listen for samples that had been used in other music, but that’s about all of the positives I’ve got for this one. Would only come back to listen to Genius of Love.
Bahahahaha fuck it, 4 stars for the Big Dick Energy sample! What a fun and silly album.
A gold mine for sampling but this was weird to listen to as an album. Repetitive and kind of creepy. Light 3.
Always felt like a bit of as novelty record, but I can't dismiss a Talking Heads offshoot. This is a fun, but not particularly great album. I think its as bit repetitive after a while.
Very 80s. Only knew the big song. Songs kind of sounded the same to me.
I had no idea that Genius of Love has been sampled so much in modern music! Classic tune, used in 163+ songs since it's release!!
Ok
cool
Super fun and silly and goofy and memey I'm kinda a big fan. Outside of Genius of Love which I'm sure everyone and their mother would recognize, the rest of the record is a decent listen with some funky detours and styles. 7/10
I mean everything about this is just a normal Talking Heads album, except it isn't David Byrne singing, so can't complain.
Fun album with a unique sound. 3.5/5.0: Very Good
i think i wouldve actually enjoyed this without the vocals. the instrumentals were interesting and had a lot of variation but the vocals really took me out of it. after the first song i was thinking this would be a one so i ended up rating it much higher than i thought i would
It's probably very clever and innovative, but it got irritating after about 2 mins
Sososo good tres pop
Very recognizable hooks. I get it, Not my thing
Yuck. This Talking Heads side project really emphasizes the genius of David Byrne. Without him, things get grim.
It was almost ok, and by that I mean tolerable, but went in far too long. Thirty minutes of this would have been more than enough. No real highlights.
Some of the tracks were fun but ALL went on for WAYYYY too long
Hey, this sux. Sorry. Sounds like it was written by and for a five year old. The album cover and band name don’t do much to dissuade that take. 2/5
More or less Talking Heads without David Byrne, at least in terms of personnel. That's a disservice to Chris Frantz (drums) and Tina Weymouth (bass), though: that a side project formed by 2/3 of a band would sound similar is inevitable. That it should be as infectious and interesting as this is a credit to the creative contributions that Frantz and Weymouth were clearly making to Talking Heads -- sometimes reduced by critics to a mere Byrne vehicle -- all along. Nothing here is as affecting as 'Once In A Lifetime' or 'This Must Be The Place'; the sense of melody is simpler and somewhat less emotional in Tom Tom Club than Talking Heads but this is a fun album. Hits of synth, a disconnected sort of 'world music' rhythmic influence and some electronic drum stuff all combine to make this sound like the 80's pillar that it is, but without the cold, heartless, over-reverbed schlock that ruined so many recordings as that decade wore on. It certainly didn't hurt to have the chameleon-like Adrian Belew (equally at home in King Crimson or fleshing out Talking Heads' Remain In Light) onboard for some guitar work. You already know 'Genius of Love'. As is evident from my other reviews through this project, I'm no 80's stan. This is a good album from the decade, though: it has all the weirdness, the electronic production flourishes, the laid-back vocal delivery and the subdued guitar work that could've been great on other records, but without all the racks of muddling effects that hang around the decade's music like a cursed albatross. Instead, it's gently weird, in a playful way. 4/5: check this one out.
The music reminds me of that Club Penguin DJ mini game where I thought I was a music genius solely because I pressed on all of the DJ equipment. Seriously, I get this being decent when it comes out, but it isn’t my thing.
Original and a bit weird!
This feels a little like early B-52s. But with Adrian Belew. I think that if they had a contrasting vocalist, it would have worked better for me. But as it is, it didn't do that much for me. Tina Weymouth's rapping wasn't bad, but it just seemed like she was trying too hard on that opening track. I did like the fact that the tracks ran into each other. "Genius of Love": They still get residuals for this on ALL the acts that have sampled it. They probably got something for me writing about it. But there's a reason why it's sampled so much: it's a real catchy tune. But aside from that, the other songs are fair to mid at best. I didn't hate it, but I felt it could have been better. Top tracks: "Genius of Love," "Lorelei"
It's funky and poppier than Weymouth and Frantz's work in Talking Heads. Fun, if not a bit bizarre. And I would say most songs run a couple minutes too long. Like, yeah, I get the thing you're doing now wrap it up instead of beating that dead horse. Wordy Rappinghood feels like a slightly better style of 80's rap by the Sugar Hill Gang or Grand Master Flash - same rapping flow (which is a bit cringey) but better beats. Still, at 6.5 minutes, move on already. You know they nailed it with Genius of Love given how many people have sampled it since (Mariah and Latto being the ones the kids would know). Still, it doesn't need to be 5.5 minutes. The other songs were ok but not as memorable.
Any album that I think is just a good background bop but then sounds better on close listen is a good album in my book. Just a fun, clever album. Plus, I automatically add a star for anything with Adrian Belew (although interestingly, he wasn't as present on this album as you'd expect, except for the obvious guitar/elephant sound...well, obvious to any King Crimson fan! I love that the blurb in the 1001 book referred to him as "stunt guitarist" Adrian Belew. EDIT: Wow, per Wikipedia, "recording engineer Steven Stanley erased the majority of Belew's solos during the mixing sessions" - so it wasn't my imagination!). Really enjoyed this album - can't call it a five, but I would definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love (one of those "Hey, I know this one!" the moment it started), Lorelei (really liked this track - creates a cool mood).
HAHAHAHA, what the fuck is this?! I like these little nuggets of weirdness in this list. Not that I like them at all, but it is interesting what kind of music people create.
Definitely missing David. But still unique with a couple catch tunes.
I read the reviews and found out more about them and by all rights should really like this album, but I really don’t. Many songs are just plain hard to listen to and the discordance overcomes the creativity IMHO.
A lot of raw material for early rap.
Had a hard time stomaching the first song. Next few songs were fine. At “Lorelei”, I started enjoying it a little more.
This is odd. Oh my, I didn’t expect the best to a Mariah Carrey song to just show up. This album isn’t for me, but it has its moments.
Really enjoyed this, it is like a more comforting version of Talking Heads mixed with Stereolab. Oh wait, it is a subset of Talking Heads! 4
Es ist okay würde ich aber nicht regelmäßig pumpen
Genius of Love is the only keeper
That was pretty nice Will I listen to again: 50%
Under the board walk
Let’s go
This album is a torture device. Maximum cringe. I need to lie down.
Jerry and Tina fly on! Genius of Love is the obvious highlight here, a song that feels like it has been around forever (although, sigh, I guess 1981 is forever now). This album feels like a direct influence on what Stereolab would end up doing in the 90's and onward, which is a great thing! I need more time with the album, because as of now, I like it but don't love it. Seems a little long, even before all the remixes and whatnot. But I do love some of the individual songs, like L'Elephant and As Above, So Below. It's a 4 for now, possible moving higher.
Didn’t really like it.
This is probably excellent on drugs
i kinda get what kinds of pop sentiments they were getting at but just didn't land too hard on the whole
never heard it before, just the hit
Amazing album. Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz without Byrne are still a great act.
Its wild to hear this crew without David Byrne, and to see what exactly Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz brought to the Talking Heads, which turns out, was quite a lot. I'll admit, some of the songs here are the worst kind of American New Wave drivel that I hate (looking at you Wordy Rappinghood, Booming and Zooming), but other songs are a lot more enjoyable meditations on sound (L'Elephant, As Above, So Below, Lorelei). I think it is the context in which this album comes out that makes it so interesting. "Tom Tom Club" is released a year after The Talking Heads made "Remain in Light", and the same year as Byrne and Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and both showcase the members of the band experimenting with different sounds that find them both making interesting music. No wonder then that when they came back together to release Speaking In Tongues it became, arguably, The Talking Heads most successful album. Clearly their collaboration was improved by being able to seperate for a bit. It also bears mentioning that "Genius of Love" is a song with a much farther reach than a fair amount of the other music by being sampled and refrenced by people like Mack Morrison, 2pac, and Mariah Carrey.
This is excellent on drugs
Decent. Besides that one super recognizable sampled moment, nothing really stood out to me.
These songs would be better if they were shorter, I think. And the rapping was kind of embarrassing? It’s fine, but pretty slight.
Ah, the part of Stop Making Sense where it’s time to go to the bathroom. This had some OK songs on it, and I didn’t hate it. It can have a 3.
I like talking heads a good bit. At the start of disc 2 I thought to myself "this is a little like talking heads but includes the elements I don't really love". Like a sugar free version. Now, I love Weymouth's bass work for TH and how deeply nerdy TH is but I just felt like, devoid of knowledge of the provenance of this album, that it felt like French disco off-castings. Imagine my surprise.
I was familiar with Genius of Love. Had heard it many times just didn’t know what it was called or who sang it. There were a lot of catchy tunes on this album. I liked Wordy Rappinghood, On,On, On, On, This Is a Foxy World, Bamboo town, I have to say that their version of Under the Boardwalk was pretty cheesy. It kind of had a Karaoke feel to it. lol I think I would listen to this album again. I didn’t know until reading other reviews that they are connected to Talking Heads, so I’m anxious to check out their music as well.
"Tom Tom Club" is the debut album by American new wave band Tom Tom Club. Funk, post-disco, new wave, dance and synth-pop are the Wiki-listed genres. That covers it. The band was formed by husband and wife Tina Weymouth (lead vocals, bass) and Chris Frantz (drums, backing vocals) as a side project from Talking Heads. The band was comprised of a loose aggregation of musicians , sound engineers and artists of the Compass Point All Stars (session and recording artists from the Bahamas' Compass Point Studios) including guitarist Adrian Belew and Tina's three sisters, Lani, Laura and Loric, on backing and lead vocals. Other bandmembers were Monte Brown (guitar), Tyrone Downie (keyboards) and Uziah Thompson (percussion). The album had favorable reviews and, commercially, reached #23 on the US Billboard 200 and #78 in the UK. A typewriter, synth and drum beat open "Wordy Rappinghood." A bass, slow synth keys and scratchy guitar are added. The music settles into a hypnotic dance groove. Tina and her sisters on vocals, chanting, rapping and singing, and a lot of repeating the word "words." A fun song. Heck, they throw in a Donald Duck voice. "Genius of Love" has the catchy synth keys, bubbly guitar and dance beat. Another great groove. Tina and her sisters in a higher voice register as they pay tribute to black musicians including Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and, of course, Chris Frantz repeating "James Brown"in that weird voice. Their third single "On, On, On, On..." has synth handclaps, a steady beat, prominent bass and guitar slashes. The four women join in on lead vocals as they repeat "there's more of us coming." This is Belew's best song as he brings and edge to the guitar. This album is fun, funky and danceable. The lyrics from I can tell are nonsensical; this is a dance party. There's s great hypnotic groove to most songs especially the first two mentioned. Not all songs works but overall this is good album. The early 80's/late 70's was very fruitful for Talking Head' members with great albums from themselves, David Byrne with Eno and this one. This album is recommended alone for the first two songs.
Det her er et ret sjovt album at gå på opdagelse i. Hold nu op der er meget nyere musik som stadig trækker på dette album.
Åh gud det er hvidmands-rap 😂 Og børneremser 😅 Er det sjovt eller er det plat? Man kan godt fornemme Talking Heads i det, men det formår bare slet ikke set samme.
Whenever I see an 80's album on this list come up I shudder a little. This one was a teensy but of a nice surprise. Started off strong then just got weirder.
Love it
I'm glad I know where that Mariah Carey sample is from
Overraskende gøy
Nej, inte såld alls (bara lyssnat på det som är urpsrungsalbum). Det var däremot kul att höra genius of love, som spelats i min varitserie "It's always sunny in Philadelphia". Pendlar mellan 2 och 3. Får nog bli en trea trots allt, så illa att det förtjänar en tvåa var det inte. Men fullständigt ointresserad att lyssna mer.
Udda men kul skiva. De två första låtarna och covern på Under the boardwalk var bra och däremellan lite mer sisådär. Underhållande lyssning ändå.
I enjoyed « Wordy Rappinghood », it’s funny and playful and doesn’t take itself seriously (fortunately, because this is some Benny B level of rapping). Lorelei is not too bad either, it has at least some originality. But I definitely could have died without listening to the rest of this overly long, dull and repetitive album. It’s the kind of experiment that was probably interesting in the early 80s, but sounds totally irrelevant to me today. A single funky bass line, a couple of coconut drums and silly lyrics are not enough to make a compelling album. « Marchez marchez les hippopotames... »... sorry, just... no. It’s the kind of music you’d expect to hear at 04:00 in the morning at a cheap holiday resort party, after everyone has left and the shirtless old DJ is trying to hit on your drunk mom. I cringed for most of the album after the first track.
Looking at the cover art and track titles, my immediate feeling is that I'm going to hate this. "Wordy Rappinghood"? Well, I actually enjoyed Wordy Rappinghood, the opening track, but I did get steadily more irate as the album went on. Booming and Zooming was basically intolerable, with the fake radio chatter and every element of the backingmusic extremely annoying. The songs are much too long, most could be cut in half, and as I am listening to the deluxe version, I am skipping the remixes and alternative cuts which make up the back half of each disc, and if I hadn't committed to listening to the whole of every album on this list, I would be skipping almost all these tracks after about a minute each. Thinking back on this album, my overwhelming impression is of extreme irritation verging on actual anger. Hated it.
Genius of love -- is this the source of that hook? A fun little album, the boardwalk cover was cool. 3* Highlights: genius of love, under the boardwalk
Tom Ton Club is a very interesting side project from two of the Talking Heads band members. It's flashy, viby, and quite experimental. It has an unique feel and manages to sound different than Talking Heads, but does not surpass that group by any means.
Genius of love is a classic, but this whole album could have benefitted from slightly more refined vocals
I'm familiar! Just read their Spotify page and it seems that they were part of the Talking Heads trio! Which I didn't know. Don't know their whole discography, so this should be good. edit:It was good! a worthwhile fun listen. Can definitely hear elements of the Heads in it.
Hoot zee nanna zinna
Tom Tom Club
genius of love is great the others aren't
Quirky for sure, and using sounds I wouldn't have expected from the early 80s
A lot of sympathy for this album and even for the half Breton-French bassist Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Gorillaz), but certainly not enough material to make so much tracks. I understand why the two first track got successfull though. I give it a 3 because it's a new sound for the time... And you got to love the sleeve's artwork!
It’s clearly inspired and ahead of its time for 1981 (Wordy rappinghood is surprising with its humorous rapping at a time when rapping was far to be trendy), but it’s still a string of long, repetitive tracks. Kinda boring.
I don’t know. Is this too clever for me? My pedestrian bougie tastes don’t understand. Or is it undercooked garbage. I note the presence of never dull Adrian Belew. I don’t mind genius of love. I think I knew the songs that used it as a sample. But it’s really terrific. A lot of the rest seems half baked - a good idea not fully developed. I love Tina Weymouth’s bass playing. She’s not playing on all the tracks here.
I still play a lot of this album, via playlists. It's fun, silly and a total groove. The lesser known tracks are great and while some of the sister singing is a bit naff, it just does not matter. Great writing and playing, and fantastic antidote to some of David's excesses. It outsold Talking Heads for a reason: it's just straight out fun. Cool record.
Howard Hawks purportedly once advised John Wayne "“Duke, if you can make two good scenes and not annoy the audience for the rest of the film, you’ll be a star", which is a perfect summary of Tom Tom Club's S/T album. The album is all about the vibe, which is a breezy white-funk take on Zapp's 'More Bounce to the Ounce'. There is a strong influence of funk and early hip-hop, which then folds back into those same genres; Genius of Love is highly sampled, because it bangs. The classic singles, conveniently frontloaded at the beginning of the album, are stellar. Fun, funky, clever, and fresh, they still sound like a million bucks and are dancefloor bangers. The rest of the album could be described as filler, but it is fun filler, and I enjoyed spinning it. Nothing to annoy the audience there. A big shout out for nice guitar work from Adrian Belew, especially on L'elephant. I dig it and will play more often (especially Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love; "Bohannon! Bohannon! Bohannon! Bohannon! JAMES BROWN!") Fun fact: Tom Tom Club taped a performance on Soul Train the same day Talking Heads filmed Stop Making Sense. Good day at the office from Chris and Tina, there.
Helping alt-kids dance since 1981. Alt-Dance was born with this album, and that cannot be denied. The songs are maybe on the long side and might benefit from additional mixing, but it’s classic status and importance cannot be denied.
So a side project from the Talking Heads without David Byrne is still full of funky fun
Fun album, you can hear the artists enjoying themselves here. The entire project is quite cutesy, so are the album cover and the video clips associated with this artist. However, therein I find my biggest gripe with this album as well. It's fun but feels very inconsequential and unmemorable. It's 40 minutes of joyeous but forgettable boops and synths. Under the Boardwalk was the most memorable song, but that wasn't even on the original album. It's a nice album, but it definetely feels like a side project, before they got back to more imporant things.
Ok 80s
3- 4
Favorite Track: Genius of Love
Pretty good
It's the same song for 2 hours. No thanks.
Funky shit!!!!! This was so much fun
American New Wave strikes again.
Man, what the hell is this... and why do I kinda dig it? It appears that my long-lasting disdain for 80s music has come about entirely from laziness, as I could see myself liking this album at the height of my eightiesphobia a few years back. The songs on here remind me a good deal of Cibo Matto – an act I herald as one of my all-time favourites. Yeah, it’s pretty alright. The album really loses its focus in the second half, though this music is undeniably competent. I quite like the quirky lyrics and subdued synths of Wordy Rappinghood. Genius of Love is a good follow-up. A bit of a reggaeton sound going on, which is interesting. The chirpy synth in the background is pretty good, too. L'elephant has some nice guitar riffs and percussion. The French lyrics are also a nice touch. As alluded to earlier, the second half is heavily dragged down by a slew of unengaging tracks, and my opinion of the album sadly falters as a result. Still, I respect this inclusion. Gonna consult the book for reasons why this album is in here. Spinoff album of The Talking Heads, which I can definitely hear now that it's been mentioned. “...one of the earliest influences on the hip-hop movement.” Somewhat improvised. “...sampled by just about every hip-hop or rap artist of note”. Wordy Rappinghood topped the singles charts in 17 countries. I’m not used to there being this much reasoning in these entries. I’m impressed. This album is definitely worthy of being included on the list.
not a fan didn’t really dig early eighties alt punk rock
5/10
The Tom Tom Club was a side project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, bass player and drummer respectively, of the Talking Heads. When this first came out, most of us doubted this was really them since the music was nothing like the Talking Heads. Rhythm heavy, as one might expect from a bass player and drummer, The Tom Tom Club's music was club music with heavy beats and even (heaven forbid!) rapping. Genius of Love and Wordy Rappinhood quickly became major club and new wave radio hits. It was different, fresh, accessible, and forward looking. The Tom Tom Club has continued to make albums throughout the decades but none achieved the popularity of their epynomous debut.
Ahh, hard to decide. It's okay but also shit Better than Coldcut I guess
Weird
I have really enjoyed this album. There's something arresting about it. The songs in the middle aren't singles that I would think to add to a playlist, but are amazing album songs. On, On, On, On was one that really stood out for me.
The relentlessness of the rhythm is refreshing. Really liked this. Really consistent drive carries through while the vibe of the singing is both varied and congruent. Just really good fun high 4.
I actually found the rapping on the first two tracks a bit annoying. So for me it only really gets going on track 4 of 8. On On On On is amazing. Without the slow start I would be high 4 but I’m going high 3 (7/10)
Crazy good. Genuine find. Experienced as a 4, could become a 5 with time.
Chris and Tina from Talking Heads deliver some serious hits on the front and back ends of this album, taking the funkier elements from their sister band and ramping up the disco. It's a series of focused persistent grooves with surprising, sometimes funny and abstract vocals. It's nice to get a sense of the rest of the band’s personality without David Byrne who would otherwise take centre stage. The quality of Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love, On On On On… and Booming and Zooming seriously outweigh the rest of the album, which is otherwise a more patient affair.
Almost a 4 for me and could rise with more listens, enjoyed the meandering mid section more than the admittedly iconic singles.
fun!!
Funky and fun! I was going to give this a 3.8 but upon my second listen rounding it up to 4
# Album Name: Tom Tom Club # Artist: Tom Tom Club # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Two decent songs, the rest are clangers # Top Tunes: wordy / Genius of love # Would I listen to it again? No
Это очень странный бро группы Токинг Хэдз, и как бы супер-вайб, но прямо вот песен здесь почти нет (по крайней мере по первому прослушиванию). Лучшая песня - Genius Of Love.
"Wordy Rappinghood" may be one of the most annoying songs ever created, and that's saying a lot. "Genius of Love", with it's catchy hook, is really the only redeemable track on this album - and even on that, the vocals are questionable at best. The rest of the album ranges from just weird to awful.
01) Wordy Rappinghood - 7,0 02) Genius of Love - 9,0 03) Tom Tom Theme - 5,5 04) L'éléphant - 7,0 05) As Above, So Below - 7,0 06) Lorelei - 6,5 07) On, On, On, On... - 6,5 08) Booming and Zooming - 6,0 09) Under the Boardwalk - 7,5 10) On, On, On, On... (Remix) - 7,0 11) Lorelei (Remix) - 7,0 12) Spooks (Single version) - 6,5 13) Elephant (Single version) - 6,0 14) (You Don't Stop) Wordy Rappinghood (Single version) - 7,0 TOTAL: 6,82 (68/100) Current ranking: 395/607
Dated but fun
Genius of Love and other generally fun tracks outweighed by unforgiveable cover of Under The Boardwalk.
Mostly fun bops, with a couple moments of sounding talking headsy (derogatory)
Widely hailed by critics, loved by some of my friends, yes, but I find this all too soft and too quiet
Is heel funky niet echt voor mij
Another album that I ask why is this on the list. Sounds like any early 80’s pop band. Not a fan.
Repeat Repeat Repeat Duplicate Duplication Reduplication And there is a small summary of it.
What is this. Why am I supposed to be impressed by this? It was just weird and annoying and the songs lasted waaaaay too long. The only reason this is on the list is cause it’s two of the members of Talking Heads. Honestly I’m so annoyed by this that I’m giving it a 1.
wow-i do NOT get some of these reviews. WHY, why, why is this on the list? the sounds are so incredibly repetitive (and reflective of the cover art).
In high school, I got sneered at by a cheerleader for putting on a Tom Tom Club tape at a student council Carnival Ball decorating meeting, and later in life, she became an assistant coroner and was on a short lived reality-cop show about my home town and came off seeming like a horrible person while I am a ray of sunshine, so thanks Tom Tom Club! BIT IT buh bah BIT IT forever!
Tom Tom Club sounds like the ultimate early 80s Lower East Side art-punk side project, heavily influenced by the nascent hip hop coming out of the Bronx. Which it essentially is. It’s weird, spindly and funky. Some tracks (“Genius of Love” and the dubby “L’Elephant”) sound more finished than others (“Booming and Zooming”). But in the end it’s a fun listen and is aligned with my personal musical interests.
One banger single. Lots of filler and tracks that did not age well.
I've never sat and listened to this entire album before. I don't love it. But Genius of Love is, of course, genius. So...album? 3 stars. Genius of love? 8 stars so...I guess that averages out to 5 stars. Given how we hear Genius of Love at least once a decade as new artists find it and repurpose it, there's no denying the impact of this album on music over the past 40+ years. If it has a flaw, it's the dated 'early examples of white people trying to rap'. It took white folks at least another decade before they got the hang of it.
I think while its sounds quite dated, everything is really good. Always interesting musically, good little turns here and there I could see myself liking it more and more if I came back to it
Loved Wordy Rappinghood, which I remember from my youth. Really enjoyed the sense of fun and the lyrics in French (reflecting Weymouth’s Breton mother I assume). But found the long tracks a bit repetitive. Enjoyed the listen
I think "Genius of Love" is this album's biggest contributions. I first knew it from a Mariah Carrey song Fantasy. The rest of the album is OK. It has that early 80's new wave sound, reminds me a little of Talking Heads. I like the song "On, On, On, On..."
Despite my affection for Talking Heads, I'd sort of written this Tom Tom Club off as a one hit wonder, which is a shame because I actually like a lot of this a lot. It's much more dance-cenyric and eclectic (even experimental) than Talking Heads, and it's surprising how little connective tissue there is between the bands, sonically. It almost feels more like a precursor to Gorillaz, which isn't 100% surprising, given Tina and Chris's involvement in that bands first album.
So ahead of it's time (hear shades of Le Tigre & Cibo Matto) while also cutely, quirkly early 80s in ways, too. I know David Byrne thought this was too poppy, but it blows all the Talking Heads albums we've had to date out of the water. Besides Genius of Love (rightfully sampled by everyone under the sun), I added 3 other songs to various playlists. A fun listen you couldn't ignore.
a slay
10/10 - this album has always held a dear place in my heart it’s nice having an excuse to listen to it again :)
Track1: Dumb garbage from the 80s Track2: What Mariah Carey's Fantasy is sampled from Track3: Garbage Rhythms Track4: Pointless Track5: They raided a high school percussion closet Track6: Ignorable background music Dumb in the way that Matt & Kim is dumb, there's not much depth, its a bunch of noise. Sometimes its OK but I'd never recommend this to anyone. Not my deal, I don't need to keep going
Genius of Love saved this from being a 1. It's missing David Byrne's charismatic autism. 2 stars.
This was total garbage. I didn’t need to listen to this before I died. If someone played this for me on my deathbed when it was over I would tell them I wish I had died an hour ago.
A goofy and natural evolution of the original vision of Taking Heads, (if Tina had been the band leader rather than David), set free to romp and dance.
Very good
Weird and not at all what I was expecting
Unlike anything else...but that doesn't mean spectacular.
this album is so fun, so original, so much more interesting to listen to than so much of the slop on this list. i loved it even more than i thought i would!
Some pretty vibey and super original stuff here. Clearly super influential. Some stuff sounds like it inspired LCD Soundsystem. Another was a top sample this year on a pop/rap song. With that said some of it got a bit out there.
80s but not in the good way
Super fun and songs I didn’t know I knew. Great 80s electronica
Weird and fun. Opportunities to lean new languages as well.
that one fucking funny ass tune everyone knows
No, si al final me va a acabar gustando el new wave ochentero. Solo que le haríamos un flaco favor a este álbum si lo etiquetáramos únicamente así. Es cierto que tiene mucho de new wave (está compuesto por miembros de The Talking Heads), con esas líneas de bajo tan pulsantes y destacadas, y esas influencias electrónicas tempranas. Pero es mucho más que eso. También está muy influido por el proto-rap de su época y, sobre todo, por el funk, con esos sintetizadores, bajo y coros vocales tan enérgicos. Incluso suena bastante caribeño a ratos, e incluso africano, con melodías marroquíes y de otros lugares que encajan muy bien con la tónica general del álbum. Un álbum visionario, muy peculiar y cool, aunque un poco extraño y de sonido algo “desperdigado”. No sé muy bien cómo definirlo, pero se acaba haciendo un poco pesado. Aunque no por ello deja de ser un discazo.
Experimental music for that time. Enjoyed listening to it. It gave an almost beachclub kind of vibe
so fun!!! And I've def heard some of these before.
A silly record. But considering that it was essentially part of the Talking Heads it makes sense. Not a bad album, just not particulary exciting. "Genius of Love" is a classic though, and most of the songs are enjoyable.
I had zero hopes for this based on the album art. Turns out this fucking rocks.
I love the talking heads so I knew that even half of them would at least be pretty decent. first song is unlistenable but the rest is really pleasant and you can tell it's 50% of the talking heads. rather listen to the full band but it's nice to hear them play around a little and have fun. favorite song: "genius of love" overall: 7/10
That sample is iconic
Serviceably funky 80s Synth pop.
Svake greier. Barne-TV musikk med dårlige synthlyder.
mislio sam da će mi bit puno puno bolje... početak dobar, genius of love odličan, al kasnije slabije. usto i malo krindž? ne znam. al da je loše, nije; vidi se da speaking in tongues duguje ovom albumu štošta!
This album has some early specks of hip-hop. The first track has some flows that don't work, and the chorus sucks. "Genius of Love" has been sampled by various artists since its conception. I do like the last few songs, though, except for the last one. I believe my favourite from the album is "On On On On". 2 stars for "Self Titled".
Loved this. Great percussion. Quirky, weird, all around a good listen.
Wordy Rappinghood - 1/5 Genius of Love - 5/5 Tom Tom Theme - no rating L'éléphant - 3/5 As Above, So Below - 4/5 Lorelei - 4/5 On, on, on, on... - 3/5 Booming and Zooming - 3/5 Average score: 3.3/5 (rounding down) rough start with the beginning track, but it got more tolerable after
About as weird as I thought it would be. Not necessarily bad though. Some interesting music but still can’t give it more than a 3.
Wtf was this
Too long too weird
New wave poo
Loved this from the title track. Each track runs so smoothly into the next and I adore well executed novelty music. Went in completely cold and was happy to learn this is a Talking Heads side project. Very glad they got back with Bryne but Tina and Chris still crush it on their own. So much fun and Genius of Love was wild both as a song and for all the places it's been sampled.
Genius of Love beat is iconic. The whole album is just a little too goofy for me.
This album gets pretty whacky at times and I honestly like the instrumentation but outside of recognizing the beat of “genius of love” and “boardwalk” I didn’t love this album.
Perfectly forgettable.
OK, so, I don't really like it. That said, it's one of those albums that I *absolutely* understand why it made the list. Do I ever want to listen to it again? I do not. Usually, that's a 2 star review. However, I can see the strangeness of this album, and how it pushed creativity away from the 70s sound into the synth-pop driven 80s. Bonus points that it seemed to be HEAVILY influential to hip hop, considering all the artists who have sampled music from this album. I'm giving it an extra star out of respect.
I never heard anything about the band or the album. It should have stayed that way. 1/5
This was... I dunno what it was, but it wasn't something I enjoyed.
I really enjoyed the first couple tracks on this (Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love) but after about the 4th song everything started to sound the same. Most of the songs were longer than they needed to be, and very repetitive. Overall I didn't dislike the sound but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to.
Solid album. I know Genius of Love but the rest of the album is pretty good, too.
Pretty good. Probably 3.5/5. I definitely hear the Talking Heads connection.
More funny than it was fun. Did not get through the whole thing…
CRAZY album, some highs and lows, but fun
Does the Tom Tom Club have tom toms? Indeed they do. Also a couple of good hits.
Achei o começo promissor, mas depois ficou meio paia.
Weird but beautiful album. Everything that is related to Talking Heads is worth listening to. This record is no exception.