Reviews (page 4 of 7)
This is definitely not as good as anything by Talking Heads, but it is still a really fun and upbeat summer listen that had some cool parts to offer.
Very weird
This album is funky, like a really old gorillaz album lmao
fun and silly in a good way :)
Funny, different and sometimes quite nice.
Not available on Spotify. Heard another one and thats ok
Yeah, not bad
this album is like going to karaoke night and just hearing rapture by blondie on a loop for two straight hours and also david byrne is there favorites: rapture--i mean wordy rappinghood, genius of love, under the boardwalk
Didn’t really set my world on fire. Not terrible but I’m unlikely to listen again
75
Genius of love, obviously carries, but overall this is still a really fun album
I went down a fun rabbithole of mixing the songs that sampled of Genius of Love together. It really is one of the most iconic, catchy beats of all time. But other than that, I wasn't super enthused by this album overall. A bit silly, plenty experimental, and mostly not anything I would put on again.
Definitely funky. I would say outside of Genius of Love and Under the Boardwalk I was not too impressed.
mooi plaatje... misbaar maar toch mooi
Música para ginástica e indie. Ok.
Too long but other than that a good funk record of you like funk
It's Talking Heads for those who think Talking Heads weren't experimental enough. Or if you just really hate David Byrne. Not as good as their main project, but interesting enough.
Oddly into this vibe and understand why it made the cut.
fantasy better
Reminder to look for regular release. This app linked to super deluxe over two hours long. So this was early 80s new wave. Some cool grooves here. Genius of love is a giant song - I feel like that has been sampled a million times. And it has. Apparently almost 200 times - most famously by Mariah Carey. Ah this is a talking heads side project. Nice.
Not my cup of tea
Very enjoyable.
It was fine but it was so long. Did not finish
Interesting, not bad. Had a solid rhythm and beat that I can respect, even if I didn't love it.
Interesting listen but not one I’d rush back to
Funk.
Wasn't overly impressed, but I did enjoy listening to it.
I couldn’t find this album on any platform so I listened to the Good The Bad And The Funky instead which was alright
The name sounds familiar. I thought they were a new wave band from the 1980s. I’m sure I’ve heard a song or two from them. But we’ll dive in, and everything will be revealed. Track 1 is Wordy Rappinghood, and it sounds like the beginning of " Electric Avenue. Then a woman comes in and raps? I guess it’s rapping for 1981. This is weird. The rapping isn’t much worse than Debbie Harry’s rapping in Rapture, I guess. It’s got a nice groove, a little reggae to it. Holy moly! This was the first single off the album. It was top 10 in the UK and made it to number one on the U.S. Billboard Disco chart, but I wouldn’t necessarily call this disco. It’s got great percussion in it. It grows on you the longer you listen. Though at around six and a half minutes, it is a bit long. Track 2 is Genius of Love and it was the second single off the album. It made it to number 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and hit the top of the Billboard dance charts. Oh wow! This song is basically the hook for Mariah Carey’s Fantasy. It’s also been used in any number of hip-hop songs. It's immediately recognizable. I remember this song on the radio as a kid. I guess Fantasy became bigger than Genius of Love, and people don’t really know Tom Tom Club’s song. Maybe the group is a dance band and not new wave. Could my friends at Wikipedia have lied to me? Does the internet lie? It’d be a first. I can tell this may be more of a dance record than a new wave record because so far, the songs are way longer than they need to be. Each is around six minutes long, but they got their message out in three and a half minutes. However, back in the day, you tacked on three more minutes of music to allow the disco freaks to keep dancing in the clubs. Track 3 is Tom Tom Theme, and I’ve always loved it when a band has a theme song. Even KISS had Love Theme From KISS. It’s essentially garbage, but it still counts as a them song. This song is around a minute and a half and is nothing much. Track 4 is L’Elephant, and it’s a jaunty little tune. Still dance worthy, but sliding more into new wave. This is a fun song. The lyrics are in French, it appears, or sounds. But they’re sung in a kind of group chorus of women. Throughout the song, when there’s no singing, someone with an electric guitar is making these strange elephant noises. I really like this song for some reason. I think I’m finally getting a grasp on who Tom Tom Club is. Just an interesting little jam. seems Again, about one minute too long. Track 5 is As Above, So Below, and it starts out with a lot of percussion and a solid bass line. Another five and a half minute song, but they’re building it. Some keyboard plinking comes in here and there. The same chorus of girls is chanting something. Oooh, the women are now singing, and it sounds like the vocals for the Age of Aquarius song by the 5th Dimension. Not exactly like it, but it reminds me of that vocal style, and the music is similar, at least the chords Again, this song, while it has a groove, sounds more new wave to me than dance music. I wonder if there were different songwriters in the band? There are, kind of, but for the most part, the whole band essentially wrote the album. I love the synths in this song. They make some interesting sounds. This may be my favorite song on the album thus far. And, so far, I’ve liked what I’m hearing. I’m noticing now that the album has 12 tracks and is just over an hour long. However, the last three songs are just remixes of songs on the album. I may skip those depending on how this album finishes up. Track 6 is Lorelei and has the chorus of women back, but there is another woman singing lead. This song, again, is more new wave for me. It’s got a great groove, and the bass player is holding things together. The song has a feel of mystery or darkness to it, which sounds cool. I can see how this album would have gotten people moving back in the day. Damn, I’m really starting to love this song. There’s nothing really amazing or special going on. It’s just that everything is so well arranged, and there are a lot of little sounds that blend together so well. This is a song I could listen to for seven minutes. Track 7 is On, On, On, On, and it was the third single off the album. Wikipedia has no information on how well the song did on the charts, which is weird. It’s crazy, the further you go on this album, the more it changes from dance music to new wave. This sounds kind of like a Cars song musically, which I dig. The vocals sound more like Devo if they were fronted by a woman. This is a song that I can easily see why it was a single. It has an upbeat, positive sound. Again, I can’t explain it, but you can feel it. It seems to be a rallying cry for the youth or something. I really haven’t been paying attention to the lyrics at all. Track 8 is Booming and Zooming, and you couldn’t convince me this wasn’t written today. It’s weird though. Holy crap, they used the word defenestration in the lyrics. The vocals seem to be a man on a CB or air traffic controller trying to get a young troublemaker to settle down or land a plane or something. Again, it’s weird. According to Google, the song is “quirky, mostly spoken-word track featuring a dialogue between an F-104 Starfighter pilot and ground control.” That’s exactly what it is. I wouldn’t put this on a playlist to listen to over and over, but it’s great. “I’m preparing to defenestrate.” My new favorite track on the album. Track 9 is Under the Boardwalk, yes, that Under the Boardwalk. It’s a cover song. Why, of all songs, did they cover this? I hate this song anyway, but at least they’re trying to make it weird. It appears this was released as a single in the U.K., and it made it to number 21. In parts, it has an island groove, then near the end, it has almost a country feel. But it’s still a song I dislike. This may be my favorite cover version of it, though. Wait a minute…..I think they put some sounds in there alluding to what a young couple might be doing under the boardwalk. Not sure we needed that, but we all knew what this song was about. Another six-minute song that would have been fine at around three minutes. It is getting funkier at the end, though. This album was nothing like I expected. I was thinking Thompson Twins' Don’t You Forget About Me style jams, and instead I got dance music. But good dance music made by people, not computers. As for this being a must-listen? I don’t think so, really. Did I like it? Yes, I really liked it. But I probably won’t ever listen to it again. If this piqued your curiosity and you like weird music, then check this out. Otherwise, I think you'll be just fine sticking to the Thompson Twins.
6/10
Quite hard to find a way to listen to this album in my region. Managed to find the shorter version of the album somewhere luckily. Genius of Love is a classic I really enjoy. Other tracks not so much, but alright.
Saying this makes me sound like some kind of Talking Heads superfan but this album kind of feels like a rhythm section saying 'We can make our own album' and then making a bunch of tracks that could get built into songs but not really finishing that. It wasn't great for me as an active listen but maybe if it was playing in the background. Criticism aside, Genius of Love is obviously an utter classic and I love it.
Wordy Rappinghood (and the remix), and Genius of Love were the standouts, I think I've heard them before. Fun enough, jumbled my brain. One of the tracks seemed like it was recorded underwater.
Must admit that the mention of talking heads and the high praise from Graeme worried me. But, this was really good. Knew the opening 2 tracks, probably the best ones. Not sure we need an Uber the boardwalk cover. Overall enjoyed it though. Weird that it's not on Spotify 3.5
Hard to find on streaming services, but worth a listen. It kicks off strongly with the quite silly “Wordy Rapping.” Then “Genius of Love” comes on with a really cool groove, I recognised it from its use in “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey, but had no idea it originated here. The rest of the album is solid, though it never quite matches the opening tracks. The cover of “Under the Boardwalk” is surprisingly fun, though. 3 stars.
Started a 4 but ended up a 3.
Fun! 80’s funk-pop at its finest!
it was fine, fun and groovy
I enjoy the music a bit more than the vocals. Glad Tina had an outlet for her creativity since I imagine that David Byrne wasn’t huge on band input.
wtf did i just listen?!? fuck yeah i like it. 3.5 to me.
Interesting vibe
Interesting
Very average. Cheap man’s talking heads.
Fun album.
Can't say this wasn't interesting. First track sounded like a female Ian Dury but somehow a bit more cringeworthy. Rest of it a mix of interesting in its variation and slightly annoying. Appreciate more then enjoy.
this was weird in a fun way.
I really enjoyed the first few tracks on this. Really funky, obviously very talking heads. Especially love that intro which grand master flash sampled I thought it really dropped off from loralie onwards. The cover at the end was fairly cheesy and forgettable. The synth noises and the guitar stabs were great all the way through. I'm gonna knock it down to 3 just cos it got boring.
I hate wordy rapping hood but the rest is cool
Fun, inventive, def have their own thing going while fitting in nicely with sounds like Talking Heads, etc.
It's funny how much you can hear Talking Heads in this album, and also why Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth might have made this band and album as a reaction to David Byrne and his obsessive control over Talking Heads. It's definitely more beat oriented, and nice to get female vocals, but the lyrics aren't nearly as interesting overall as Talking Heads material. I'm also really struck by how different their two big hits from the album are from each other; "Wordy Rappinghood" has always seemed like an incredibly embarrassing white-person version of rap (sort of like how ads in the later 80s and 90s tried to capitalize on rap's popularity with incredibly un-fun spoken rhymes that even Dr. Seuss would have cringed at), while "Genius of love" has held up so much better and was sampled extensively by rap/hip-hop artists. The rest of the album isn't quite as distinctive, but still a fun and largely positive album (and "On, on, on, on..." is a particularly catchy anthem). I'm impressed that the Weymouth collective and others involved in this album made several more albums over the years, hopefully releasing the kind of creative energy that infects this album.
Very interesting and funny album. Sometimes it felt long for me, but I understand the general sound and groove of the songs.
fav songs: genius of love lightweight, infectious, pleasant 60/100
Most people know the Tom Tom Club as “the other members of Talking Heads”. And they the likely also know “Genius of Love”. Their music is creative. But overly repetitive.
I’m guessing all the stuff that’s missing is a bunch of demos and live versions. Nice to put a name to Genius of Love which I pretty much only know from instagram Sunny memes. A few other interesting listens too. Solid
First thing that hits me is those compressed drums, in 1980 this was surely ahead of the curve. Ooh, I have heard Wordy Rappinghood before but never knew what it was called or who it was by. So, we're 80s new wave with full embrace of synths, and a notable funk/disco influence. Also some art/experimental later on in the album. Super wide panning on Genius Of Love is fun. From The Tom Tom Theme onwards it's a bit avant-garde and self-indulgent. A bit of a tease really, you can see they could write strong hooks but they choose not to to wallow in experimental pop. Great cover of Under The Boardwalk, but not on the original LP according to Wiki. Best track - Genius of Love, On On On On 3 stars - but so much potential wasted.. and I normally love this genre.
A funky oddity by some of the Talking Heads lot. 'Wordy Rappinghood' is influenced by early hip-hop. Tina Weymouth's rapping vocals have aged as well as one might expect a white person rapping on a 40+ year old song, but the instrumentation is quirky and alien enough that you can overlook the sup-par rapping. Weymouth's playful vocals are a delight when she's not rapping. As soon as the guitar comes in on 'L'éléphant', I immediately noticed the roaring tone of one Adrian Belew and his playing is very similar to what you can find on the King Crimson records he contributed to around this time. I'm not sure how often I'll return to this, but this was a weird and unique listen that I wouldn't have heard of if not for this project.
Not my thing, but I can see why others enjoy it. I liked L’elephant and their version of Under the Boardwalk. Album provides somehow calming danceable music.
Rv
??? solider 80s pop talking heads muskier noch ohne David Byrne erster song hit! c
little mixed with this one. some of somes on here flow like dont hug me im scared songs they're so silly. and obviously thats the point, its supposed to be fun and lighthearted and it is. but idk its not rly my thing. not bad jus not for me. genius of love is excellent tho
too long
brings back some memories
I've long respected the creativity of Talking Heads, even if I only like a couple of their songs, and that same adventurous energy is evident here on this side project by two TH members. Genius of Love is irresistible. Not a lot else really grabs me, but I can also say I haven't heard many other albums like this, even though it came out 45 years ago. Tip of the hat to those who expand the sonic landscapes of their time.
Listened in the car. Honestly it was fine but I'd rather just listen to Talking Heads or Blondie. This sounded like a lot of fun for the musicians to make but wasn't that fun to listen to.
Weird first song but got better from there.
Better start than end
It’s fun, but a little too weird at times to be really enjoyable. Genius of Love has an infectious groove.
Two or three songs is enough, thank you. ;-)
Kinda light pop. Feels a bit tongue in cheek with the lyrics all being very simple but ironic at times
Priemie, beetje bacteria music af en toe maar dat is geen minpunt,, er gebeurde gwn niet heel veel in de nummers. Als je de eerste 30 sec gehoord hebt dan heb de meteen de daaropvolgende 6 minuten ook gehoord, wat het een prima plaat maakt voor op de achtergrond maar niet iets om voor te gaan zitten
Pretty cool. Some nice grooves. I think I used to get them confused with Gun Club.
Not really smt that resonates with me ??!! Fun fact: this band is a side project of Talking Heads.
I'm a fan of what power couple Weymouth ans Frantz did here overall when they were still part of Talking Heads - "Genius of Love" is an all-time classic and is probably what makes this album. However, a lot of the songs veer more on the bizarre and strange but not necessarily listenable. It's like they were trying to explore a new sound that they had never heard before. They succeeded, but the end result is a bit puzzling at times. This might grow on me over time, but some of the pop sensibilities and clever lyrics that are found more with Talking Heads are sorely MIA here. 3.5 stars.
Wild album. +1 simply for Sunny
3.25 - I like it a good bit, I just wish there were more substance and less experimentation.
Canciones que escuche pero no sabía su nombre
I didn't know this was "the other two" Talking Heads. Knowing that makes me want to like this more than I actually do. I thought it was fine, it certainly has its moments, but it's not quite... anything. It's not quite punk enough, not quite new wave enough, not quite my thing. "Genius Of Love" is a keeper but I'm not sure I need the whole album.
tem alguns ritmos bom, mas a música eu nao gostei
being a talking heads fan is hard because on one hand you've got some of the best albums ever produced, but also half the band Fucking Sucks, and even david's a union buster so you just can't win (though his extensive cycling advocacy... i'll give him a pass). tom tom club with the half of the band that sucks, it's really average. you entirely have to consider it in context of talking heads' albums because this was at the time a side project, and it just does not hold a candle to remain in light (1980) or speaking in tongues (1983). it's painfully average, frankly. there's no spark to it. i have "genius of love" in my playlist, specifically from the stop making sense (2023) remaster because that version is drastically better than the studio recording, but that's it. only "wordy rappinghood" has anything else to offer with this album. the rest of it is hot air.
Tina really weirds me out as a person with all the anti-autism comments she's made in the past so I am predisposed to not give her too much of a chance. I haven't actually listened to this yet just wanted to put the disclamer out there before I do. This feels like what happens if you take sandpaper to the Talking Heads and smooth it out, and I don't really mean in a good way. It ended up feeling suprisingly samey for something so zaney, and as a result came across to me as more novelty then anything else. Genius of Love is great for its sample, but I actually think in context of the album it becomes less interesting due to the sheer amount of the same beep boop synthesizerrs throughout the whole thing. I do really love the cover of Under the Boardwalk on here, I prefer the original but it does add a unique sound to what is a pretty legendary song. Once again, take my opinion with a grain of salt because the well was somewhat poisoned before I started listening, but considering people always tell me that Tina and Chris are the "real geniuses" behind Talking heads I was expecting more here. It's definitely better then the worst Talking Heads albums, but nowhere near the average Talking Heads albums.
050726 22:43 3
Fun listen but it's not something that I'd go back to.
Weird shit, can't say I dislike it. There were some really really fun and enchanting parts. I have a feeling the word quirky was invented solely to describe this album.
Fun band/offshoot of the talking heads, I even went to see them live in nyc when I was in college they were great! Deborah Harry was standing near us♥️ but this album doesn’t hold up ass whole just the standout tracks
This is like reuniting with a high school boyfriend. Will there be a connection? Yes. There’s an instant flashback to a time that was exhilarating, new and fun. Those moments weave into the present ushering in a light and airy vibe.
This is my first time listening to a Tom Tom Club album start-to-finish. There's a couple hits on here I'm aware of. In the end, I've always felt like Tom Tom Club is an inferior offshoot of Talking Heads, and I just generally prefer Talking Heads to Tom Tom Club. This isn't bad, but it just isn't compelling to listen to in the same way that Talking Heads is.
I listened to this a few years ago on my own and was shocked at how dorky it was. It’s still dorky but at least I was prepared.
+Wordy Rappinghood +Genius Of Love +Lorelei +Under The Boardwalk
Kind of sounds like Talking Heads but somehow a little incomplete...;)
Painfully average. One sick song on here and everything else is polite background music. I longed for something interesting but instead got stuck with Booming and Zooming for what felt like forever.
It's a fun old school album
Equal parts creative and silly. Good background music for people who desire it.
Cool record. Strong grooves, could have used a little more structure or melody at times for me. But all in all proof that Byrne was not the only creative force in Talking Heads.
Good, but I know too much about Chris Frantz.
I would probably give it 4 but I didn’t finish it because 2hr is a very long album…
7/10 – Good
Actually not that bad
This album is great for Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love. I listened to the whole double album, but I have to say that it eventually faded into background noise. I really liked what I heard and definitely want to revisit it in the future.
Well that was unexpected - Not sure what I make of it to be honest
A pretty big disappointment. I was hyped for this one when it popped up, but outside of Genius of Love, no other tracks grabbed me here. It's buzzy and a bit annoying. I'm giving it a 3, but it is mostly out of allegiance to the Talking Heads in general.
one of those albums where it's good and i can hear the influences that it's had but it just didn't really grab me so much
Didnt grab me
Sounds like they had fun
Weird but fun
A Talking Heads scholar or Wikipedia rabbit-hole enthusiast could surely share just what was going on inside the pressure cooker of that band to produce a rupture leading to Tom Tom Club as a side project. But you can already see that I imagine it as pressure and rupture, which gives us the propulsion of Tom Tom Club hurling at you out of what appears to be nothingness but is in fact a whole lot of something. Dig this Tina in Wonderland funky nonsense and know that Genius of Love is not the only moment of genius on this record.
Another in the long line of albums that I thought I would like more than I did. Still, it was a blast rhythmically and at times a little grating in terms of melody.
I've listened to this album before....I'm just kinda neutral on it I guess.
alright but not for me
not bad, kind of weird but has a vibe to it
Jammy and sunny. could see this as the background sound in a 7/10 liminal space
This album surprised me. I am a huge Talking Heads fan, but had never made it around to listening to TTC beyond Genius of Love. I was prepared for a peak 80's cheese fest, and yes it kind of is, but it's also kind of a great hang. The songs flow into each other like a DJ set, and while some of the synth sounds do come off like the band just fucking around with settings and experimenting, there is a musical playfulness throughout the tracks that lends cohesion to the wackiness. Overall, this isn't an album that I would be dying to revisit often, but I might start throwing it on at parties. Gonna be a 3/5 for me, influential for sure and more legit than I anticipated.
I very much like the idea of a poppier, funkier, trancier, dancier Talking Heads with even more prominent world music influences. That sounds like a way to design a perfect band for me to enjoy. But in practice, Tom Tom Club is just aight. Maybe that David Byrne weirdo is bringing something to the table after all. Also, it occurred to me listening to this album this morning that “Genius of Love” is a really weird song to have been a big hit and still be played and sampled today. Also, also, why change “baby” to “boyfriend” in “Under the Boardwalk”? Lyric changes in covers always bother me and this one is totally unnecessary. “Baby” is gender neutral. Bad choice.
I get why Booming And Zooming was replaced in other versions. Otherwise a quite fun album.
just found out that this is a side project or something like a sub-unit for talking heads. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone but yesterday my recommended album from this projects was from talking heads and I didn’t quite enjoy it. This one was so much better and some tracks were quite funky interesting and fun. Yet I still think that some of them were boring. I understand that this is more of a renovative thing during the era, yet I rate the albums according to my experience listening to them. So I found this album to be mediocre and too long. Disc 2 I think suits my taste better. “ this is a foxy world” has such a nice melody which I enjoyed truly.
Interesting genre and still don’t know how I feel about it but I will continue to listen
Relentlessly quirky, which I thought I would hate but I actually didn’t hate it. It’s got some pretty good hooks
Their debut album. New Wave / Funk. Wordy Rappinghood is a delightfully bonkers opening track, very funky. Genius Of Love is hard not to bop along to and is also slightly mad. I really like the album sleeve. Overall it's a fun album and something I'd never have known about if not for this list. Enjoyed it.
Im giving this a 3. But its better than that, but nit a 4 for me.
This isn't my style at all but it's not horrible.
Can we get Talking Heads, mom? We have Talking heads at home. But seriously a fine fine album. Crazy the amount of influence genius of love has had for the last 40-odd years.
An album for the goofs. An album for the goobers. You think it can't get zoopier and then they pull out the spoop spa doops.
Dancey silliness from the rhythm section of the Talking Heads
A Jamaican Dance Hall.
11/01/2026 1. wordy rappinghood - liking the typewriter sound at the start. not massive on the synths.... sound a bit dated. drumming is nice. bass is really great as well. not a surprise from the drummer and bassist of talking heads. can't tell if i like this or not? very fun anyways. sounds very coke-fuelled. getting more into it as the track goes on. ended up really liking it :) 2. genius of love - already know this one from stop making sense and also that one scene in it's always sunny in philadelphia. great bass again! really sweet!! loving the weird synth sounds near the end.... this album is seeming a bit too twee for me. 3. tom tom theme - bit more experimental.... drumming is reallllly great, stops it falling apart. 4. l'elephant - loving the funk sound! distorted/screeching guitar is great as well!! it's in french?? almost three minutes in, getting a bit bored of it now... 5. as above so below - immediately very 80s synths.... bass and drums are great again! liking the rattling sounds. alright as background music, but dragging a bit. also goes on for an unnecessary amount of time.... *6. lorelei - very quirky sounds.... bassline great though!! again, can't tell if i like it or not.... leaning towards dislike at first. guitar riff is also really nice... leaning towards really liking it now about halfway though. wonder if this inspired the cocteau twins song.... like the more dreamy feel of this one compared to the others :) 7. on on on on... - liking the energy in this one.. alright! same things as the rest of the songs.... *8. booming and zooming - synth is reallllly nice in this one. bass and drums great as always. really loved this one :) instrumentals were fantastic! often toed the line between too twee/grating/annoying and being a really fun album, but crossed into annoying a bit too much for me. the first two songs were a really great start, but it dragged in the middle until lorelei. some of the synths and effects seem a bit dated, but as a whole, it doesn't sound like it was made as early as 1981. maybe would enjoy it more in a different mood? will give most of the songs a relisten again later, definitely lorelei and booming and zooming :)
It was fun and surprising. Not a sound I am used to but have find a lot of great surprise. I still feel like it can sound outdated be its okay.
Tom Tom, who's there?
I'm not sure if I enjoyed this, but it sure is different.
Interesting!
It was three starts it was fine, some of the songs were pretty good and some of them went on too long. Bloated. Went on too long
I can see the talking heads in here, interesting to see how the lyrics and tone of songs shifted without Byrne in a way I appreciated.
Another mesmerizing road trip vibe.
Listened at breakfast with G and Z
Sat on my couch feeling like absolute garbage while listening to this album. It was very well mixed. So that was fun to listen to. The percussion elements came out really clear and added a fun effect.
First two songs were catchy, the whole thing was a bit odd. But particularly really enjoyed the 2nd song. Think I knew that one already from social media....
Talking Heads without David Byrne gets real new wave.
Whilst the opening tunes really do stick out (wordy rapping hood and genius of love) there’s a lot to love in this groove filled pop
genius of love, what a tune
Love talking heads but this was kind of annoying tbh
Finger in the bum
That opening track is one of the cringiest songs I’ve ever heard. Rest of the album is interesting and experimental. Not bad, not amazing.
a new fan, this is great!
This was kinda fun
have not
I was today years old when I realized there weren't two singers in Tom Tom Club. They sure love echo effects.
I didn't think I knew any songs by Tom Tom Club, but everybody has heard Genius of Love at some point. I didn't realize they were 2/3 of Talking Heads, but some of the instruments were similar to Talking Heads tunes of that era. It was mostly OK. Nothing really stood out.
Tom Tom Club’s self-titled debut is good fun and an easy, breezy listen. For an album now over 40 years old, it still feels surprisingly modern. It’s also fascinating to revisit just how fresh this sound was at the time, especially as a Talking Heads offshoot and a creative project from husband-and-wife duo Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. The record is packed with great grooves and playful production, and you can hear how ahead of its time it was. That said, while the style was groundbreaking in the early ’80s, some of it now feels a little dated. As the album progresses, the tracks start to blend into one another, and beyond track five it begins to lose momentum. Favourite track: Wordy Rappinghood is a lot of fun even if it does go on a bit and overall everything is enjoyable with nothing actively bad. Least favourite track: Not one specific track, but the issue is how samey the back half of the album becomes, which makes it drag. Album artwork: A brilliant cover itscolourful, quirky, and instantly iconic.
At first I thought this album was very conceptual and odd. Then they played the origin of the hook for Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" and I was like okay, they did have some solid musical ideas here. They're still not many people's cup of tea. I'd call them concept 80s synth pop.
A fun record with a few great party jams on there. James Broooooown!
When Genius of Love came on my brain went: wait, what? Woah.
Okay, but a bit repetitive.
Sounded interesting, have to finish it
6/10… funky dance / 80s / *1981
fun, weird, and whimsical. a lot of good beats i enjoyed. wouldn't really listen to it intentionally, but this was enjoyable enough
Na me even kapot te zijn geschrokken kwam ik er gelukkig vrij snel achter dat er maar 8 nummers op de originele LP stonden, dus vind ik dat dat is wat ik moet luisteren. Wel benieuwd, want dit is me toch een bak aan muziek anders, maar wie weet bevalt het me genoeg dat ik meer luister!(denk het niet) Het eerste nummer is echt het meest witte hiphopnummer aller tijden, bijna erger dan toen Madonna ging rappen, ver-schrik-kelijk. Dit is waarom Eminem zoveel haat over zich heen kreeg eerst. Tweede nummer is wel een lekker synthpoppig plaatje. Funky en vreemd, dan heb je me hoor! Verder... mwah, ik vond het wel geinig, het is soms echt bijzonder maar een hoop is ook wel iets té chaotisch als je het mij vraagt. Prima album, maar niet zo fantastisch als de andere albums deze week, al ligt dat wel meer aan de fantastische album week die ik gehad heb. Net pech denk ik! FAVO: Genius of love, l'elephant
3.2
Getting some Talking Heads vibes from this. Tom Tom Club focuses on the electric side of that vibe more. *looks up Tom Tom Club* - oh.. it's two members of the Talking Heads lol. Makes sense! Also, the album is too long.
Fun, quirky and electronically groovy, easy to hear the Talking Heads in it
Some funky grooves on this album. Got a bit fed up after a while, it's way too long, great musicianship though. Can't go beyond 3, because it's not really my thing, although relatively enjoyable. Couldn't stomach Disc 2.
This new wave funk album is like a kaleidoscopic beach party—sun-soaked, silly, and groovy, where every loop and chant spins in bright, carefree motion while at the same time exhausting you by being overly long
It sounds exactly as you'd expect - Talking Heads-ish sound, but without David Byrne. And don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but it's a nice change. Very fun, some very good songs. Enjoyed the experience.
3.5/5
I don't want to break the first rule of Tom Tom Club.
Booming and zooming grew on me a lot, great song
Catchy stuff! 3/5
Phenomenally groovy. Phenomenally ridiculous.
Very creative pop music, surprisingly good.
Weird and fun. But probably not weird enough.
Fun little album. Very jiggy.
Somehow very good but also very bad. A strange but enjoyable project
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.
this was fine but i didn’t love it. just didn’t really care for the vibe the put out there
Fun album
It's really fun funk/new wave. Genius of Love is an absolute classic, one of the best dance songs ever.
I wanted to like this but it sorta bored me
Pas mal, fun, léger
Some really infectious beats. Really fun album. It started off very strong but kind of dragged a bit through the middle.
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.
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
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
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.
Fun earlier electronic weirdness.
first listen great sample material
The deluxe edition got repetitive.
Really fun album!
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
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.
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
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.
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.
6/10
First two are great. Rest is fine. 3.5
Liked it better than I thought I would, but it’s not going to make the rotatiom
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
Not bad, some catchy stuff.
bullshit, like a bunch of cavemen just got some instruments and they do random sounds
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.
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
Loved the first couple songs but thought the album dragged on
Fun pop, I enjoyed the beats of the first couple of songs and under the board walk was fun to sing along to.
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
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.
Ok
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
Some of the tracks were fun but ALL went on for WAYYYY too long
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.
Definitely missing David. But still unique with a couple catch tunes.
Had a hard time stomaching the first song. Next few songs were fine. At “Lorelei”, I started enjoying it a little more.
That was pretty nice Will I listen to again: 50%
i kinda get what kinds of pop sentiments they were getting at but just didn't land too hard on the whole
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'm glad I know where that Mariah Carey sample is from
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
Favorite Track: Genius of Love
Pretty good
5/10
Ahh, hard to decide. It's okay but also shit Better than Coldcut I guess
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)
Almost a 4 for me and could rise with more listens, enjoyed the meandering mid section more than the admittedly iconic singles.
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.
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
Genius of Love and other generally fun tracks outweighed by unforgiveable cover of Under The Boardwalk.
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..."
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.
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.
Weird and fun. Opportunities to lean new languages as well.
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
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.
Serviceably funky 80s Synth pop.
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!
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.
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 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.
Enjoyed listening to this album a blend of electronic pop with elements of left field talking heads underpinnings, potentially worth further listens a 2/3 but I’ll give a 3.
If Blondie formed the Spice Girls in 1971, this would be it.
This is maybe the ugliest album cover we have had so far. It screams of going to a modern art museum and your friend explaining to you "It doesn't matter that you could do it, it matters that they did it first." It's still shit. The album is good.
LCD Soundsystem owes a huge debt to Tina and Chris. Very fun and funky album but its somewhat of a mixed bag too.
drei minus genius of love ++
Of course genius of love is one of the all-time jams, but most of the other songs struck me as kind of silly.
Not my jams but I love to hear the origins of musical beats like fantasy from Mariah Carey
Nice really enjoyed it
Funky, but mwah
The Good: Tom Tom!!! The Bad: Wasn’t invited to the club… The Ugly: The fact that the only album available on Spotify was 2 hours+ long… When the first track started I was wondering what kind of shit early hip hop I was about to listen to, as the drums are electro-electronic! But then the sons actually kicks in and I was instantly brought back to the early early days of the ‘80s, playing in the pool with my buddies, and just having a dandy of a time. Sadly, that thought only lasted for 1 1/2 songs, at which point it all started to sound the same. What I did find interesting is that, while having the frikin’ long as album playing along on the background, time just kind of past by. So, if you are ever going to have an ‘80s party and you want something that will allow people to actually just have a good time, I can easily recommend this album. Yet, if you are lounging in your favorite seat (chair or sofa) and you want to have an excellent listening experience, you can skip this record without a doubt… Shooting this one straight down the middle… 3*
Kind of silly but I kind of liked it
Won't you look at that? The Tom Tom Club! As a big fan of the Talking Heads for a while now, this band consisting of bassist Tina Weymouth, and her husband, drummer Chris Frantz has always been known for their big hit sampled by other well-known artists years later. And without a doubt, Genius Of Love is a great song through and through even threatening to steal the show during Stop Making Sense. The rest of this album I didn't know about, so now is my chance to hear what else this band's got. I should highlight the fact that this record was put out a year after the release of Talking Heads' Remain In Light; a record which further integrated funk elements into the group's sound. So I consider this as Tina and Chris' own take on that style of music. The real perk of this album is that it lets the great Tina Weymouth be the center of attention for once. On Wordy Rappinghood, the groove builds to something you can't resist shaking your head too. The rapping (Dr Seussian?) even resembles David Byrne's brief rap on Crosseyed and Painless. The rest of the album serves as passable funk grooves with Lorelei being the highlight after the big hits. I wouldn't say it's a must-hear for the average Talking Heads fan, but if one wants to listen to more of a joyous take on Remain In Light's funky style, this exists. A better album than yesterday. (6/10, 3/5 on this scale)
Hello synths! Not being super versed in dance music, it feels like the fingerprints from this record are all over the party sounds of the 80s and 90s - it combines disco beats with New Wave irony and exotic instrumentation. What if Talking Heads went out on a Friday night? Massive groovy bass work, definitely a highlight. ----- Ok, I just saw who this band consists of and who played on the record. It all makes sense! Favourite tracks: Genius of Love, L'elephant, As Above So Below
There are some true bops in this album.
This was very synthy and electronic drummy which is not my favorite. But... these were catchy and fun songs.
Genius of Love is still so groovy, but I wish they had autotune going for Lorelei. Overall ok.
Must be hard being in Talking Heads and not called David. This is good stuff - funky and tight. But - I don't think we get this album on the 1001 if they weren't also in TH.
Solid
I didn't get it at first, but the more I listened the more fun it got I guess?
The album is uneven, but still so fun.
A fun and interesting album of funky, experimental pop. "Genius of Love" is the clear standout, but there are plenty of cool songs throughout the album. The fact that Tom Tom Club was formed by the bassist and drummer from Talking Heads is important context. There's a focus on grooves and rhythms throughout the album, as well as some of the experimentation Talking Heads is known for. 3.5
Pretty fun and interesting album for it's time, right from track 1 I started to really get into a groove. "Genius Of Love" is a certified banger, timeless sound, and has really lived on as a sample. "Tom Tom Club", what a great idea? A club for tom toms.
Eccentric comedy dance funk rap probably shouldn't be a genre, but it is testament to the supreme talent of Weymouth and Frantz that this album has endured. In hindsight, it's all just a bit silly, but, when it grooves, the music itself still sounds fresh as a daisy in places. A bit of a curiosity, but full of charm.
Ég hafði aldrei heyrt um þetta band áður. Lögin voru öðruvísi en ég bjóst við. Þetta var eiginlega eins og ef B-52s væru að koma fram í Sesame street þætti. Barnalega skemmtilegt en samt fullorðins inn á milli.
Heard Genius of Love before. I believe this album wasn't available on Spotify in my region not so long ago? But it's here now and it's quite good, I sometimes felt that the songs were ragging on a bit though 3/5
After hearing some of these songs for most of my life, it's entertaining to know Tom Tom Club is simply a goofy side project to offer the Weymouths some space from David Byrne and the pressure of the Talking Heads. Its light and fun, though a bit repetitive. Early traces of GRLPWR here allude to some of the bigger acts of the genre popping out in the 90's.
Funky, funky, summer fun.