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Fear Of Music
Talking Heads
1979
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!Never really felt the need to listen to some Talking Heads deep tracks. I feel justified in that now.
Similarly to what I've said about other artists, I feel that David Byrne is being very true to himself in his music. I don't know if he could do any differently. And that is a great benefit to us all because he is such a unique thinker and performer. We're so lucky that Talking Heads came into existence alongside/inside the punk scene in NYC where there was a great shift happening in music. Almost like a new opening being torn that they were able slide through among the chaos. They don't fit the stereotypes of a punk band but they were defiantly themselves and I think that's the bravest and most difficult thing you can do as an artist and you have to respect that. To me Talking Heads is one of the finest examples of a band that is able to walk a line between pop music and experimentation with grace and style. I identify with the music of Talking Heads/David Byrne more deeply than I do with most music. He chooses subject matter and emotions and ways of expressing them that are staring us in the face all the time but somehow we don't recognize them as something that would be able to constitute a song. One of his many incredible gifts. He had the perfect band to support him and the perfect producer at the controls in Eno here.
Sexy, weird, nerdy, wobbly but stunningly beautiful. This album is timeless but also a beautiful representation of the fusion intelligent music can bring.
Fabulous album. My brother had this on vinyl back in the day. When I bought my first car I figured its CD Player needed a friend so I bought F of M on CD. In retrospect it’s quite amazing how creative this is. How could a group led by a pasty white boy make Zimbra? There must have been something in the water at Mud Club? Life During Wartime is a classic. I recently thought Taking Heads (or perhaps Weird Al) should remake it as Life During COVID. “Have sanitizer, some toilet paper to last a couple of days. But I got no face mask, ain’t got no haircut, ain’t got CERB from CRA.” This trips off the tongue quite easily. Unlike Side 1, there are a couple of mediocre songs on side 2 but not so much to move it off a 5
Groundbreaking album by Talking Heads. Fear Of Music is spectacular art, giving foreshadow to the diverse creativity that David Byrne expanded into the 80z and beyond.
Seems like this is the Talking Heads album you’d pick if you didn’t want to like or recognise any of the songs.
Every Heads record back in this period sounds like a complete different band, and it's amazing they caught mainstream success. Wish I could have seen them live once. Basically you'll have equal numbers of people saying this, "Remain in Light," and "Little Creatures" is their best album, but 2/3rds of them are wrong. This is the one, just because coming out in 1979 it doesn't really fit with punk, disco, new wave or rock, but yet it does.
I had heard some talking heads tracks before but never sat and properly listened to them till now. I love the lead singers atonal wails, and each track on the album paints a landscape of a dreary industrial area with an unusual element to keep me interested. Favourite track is either air or the dancing for money outtake. I’m not sure why they never finished dancing for money with proper lyrics because it felt almost finished but it made me smile to see the creative process raw like that
I really like the Talking Heads and know they've had a lot of influence on other bands that came about later. I don't know if this is their first album but I think it's pretty early so I can see how this would be completely different than a lot of other stuff that was going on at the time.
still sounds as fresh as when I first heard it. Eno can found all over the place. masterpiece
With this album, TH started to separate themselves from the other "New Wave" bands. The Eno production was quite different from their earlier efforts, I Zimbra gives us a glimpse of the direction they were heading & the guitar licks on songs like Mind & Drugs where unlike anything I'd heard at that time - almost percussive. The lyics were amusing as always. All songs are not 5/5 but the great ones carry the rest.
Production: 15/20 Songwriting: 16/20 Innovation: 15/20 Bangers: 20/20 Emotional response: 16/20 =82 Yes please
right when TH hit their stride to become probably the best band of the era. weird beats and instrumentation, peak Eno ethereal production, and David Byrne delivering some of his best and weirdest vocals and lyrics. I Zimbra and Animals stood out to me as forgotten gems off this one.
I can imagine a large portion of first time listeners tuning out early on this album through not wanting to persevere with the somewhat ‘different’ sounding melody & vocals...they would be doing themselves and this whole album a huge disservice. As well as all the great music they would also miss the chance to go about their day whilst wearing a pair of cans & and appreciating the beautiful artistic and upbeat mastery of this whole album. They’d never know they missed out on such a caring and tender song like ‘Heaven’ for example. They would have no clue how much they would’ve felt like spontaneously breaking into dance will listening to ‘Mind’. Most of all they would miss going about their day with a music induced smile as a result of listening to these tracks. There truely is something for everyone here. Sometimes you just have to dig that bit more or scratch further away at the surface to reveal some hidden gems in life...this album is full of them. Five Stars!
Hadn’t listened to this album before but really liked it. The Talking Heads are amazing.
For me a perfect album has one or 2 tracks that grab you and pull you in. Then the more times you listen the more tracks pull you in until every track is a classic. This is one many albums like that that talking heads produced in their all too short career.
Very enjoyable. It was extremely catchy and forward thinking. I love David Byrne's voice and songwriting, and Fear of Music was a great step in the direction of Remain in Light. Highlights: 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.
This album is great. It gets weirder and weirder the farther in you go, but they play into it and play into it extremely well. The vocals are great, the instruments are interesting to listen to, and no moment of music is wasted. This was worth listening to. Favorite track: I Zimbra
Each track is able to invoke a certain kind of strangeness in my imagination that is controlled just as equally between the lyrics, the vocals, and the melody. The latter of which due to Eno's excellent production work that compliments Byrne's style. "I Zimbra" is a great opener that gives us a taste into the type of experimentalism we're dealing with. But it is "Mind" that establishes this constant anxiety and desperation in the protagonist. Someone who is helpless to change his lover's mind. Someone frantically looking a place in the city. Someone obsesses with some urban unrest. Someone stuck living in the highlights of his past. Someone at the mercy of air itself. Each song's lyrics and music builds up to an increasing level of disorder. And then we reach "Heaven" to calm us down in self-reflection. But not for long as we jump into what I find to be the strangest track, "Animals." Not sure if there's something deeper going on due to how much the lyrics seem to only be applicable to literal animals, but it reflects a severe level of psychosis bringing about the kind of absurd level of anxiety we saw in "Air". The next track "Electric Guitar" is probably my least favorite but I really enjoy that scifi atmosphere. I found the last track interesting as the instrumental opening puts us into this trip sequence. The protagonist tries explaining what he sees, but he's so far out of it he can only make out few details. My personal favorite is "Mind", but I found all the first side to be most imaginative. It makes me excited to give a deeper look at their other albums.
This album is fearless. David Byrne is unafraid to toss in disco influences with rock influences and create something new but coherent. His frantic lyrics and singing add a sense of manic urgency to this album. This music is off-kilter, yet still finds a groove.
10/10 why didn’t I start listening to these guys sooner?! this album is FUCKING AWESOME! definitely gonna check out this bands other stuff.
Oh this is one of the best albums in the list. The music. The lyrics. All great from start to finish. Too bad one cannot give 10 star!
Things what I did done learn from the 1,001 Albums: Part 4 - Talking Heads are really bloody good. No idea why I paid them so little attention before. If they were a football team, they would be Brentford (a breath of fresh air) as opposed to Burnley (Aimee Mann - a bit dull), Norwich (The Incredible String Band - really, really shit) or Man United (any jazz - loads of fellas doing loads of different playing with absolutely no cohesion).
It's Talking Heads. It's one of 3 consecutive masterpieces. (Though, here's a fun little tidbit about me, it's my least favorite of the 3 consecutive masterpieces!)
I had always heard of the Talking Heads as being the “type” of band I would like, but never really listened to them. This album is really cool, and definitely seems like it was ahead of its time. Would have fit right in in the 90s. Some really good tracks on here.
-"Cities" has some great back bass and groove, but I do prefer the more intense live version on 'Stop Making Sense" -"Life During Wartime" is an awesome song -The end bit of "Animals" is really cool, with the layers and layers of David Byrne singing -Memories Can't Wait is pretty cool like psychedelic stuff kinda -Just generally solid, even if the live versions are way better
2nd best Talking Heads album. Damn near perfect. 9-10/10 1. Life During Wartime 2. I Zimbra 3. Memories Can't Wait
You know what I love about Talking Heads? They completely existed in their own musical headspace. This is a band that basically invented their sound as they went along, frequently wandering into uncharted territory. They could draw on what was hip at the moment musically if they felt like it, but bend it into their own weird concoctions. Their music was off the wall, lyrically complex and sometimes pretty challenging. This is wickedly smart music that is also incredibly engaging and fun to listen to. There really is no other band like the Talking Heads and I live on this music. Fear of Music has everything you want or need in a Talking Heads album, full of funky grooves, offset with a little punk-tinged terseness and grit. The band is in top form with jagged, urgent guitars, frenetic drumming and some seriously funky bass. Byrne's singular vocal style lilts from whimsical to menacing and even melancholy in a sometimes surprising but always entertaining fashion. Not every song on this album is an easy listen, but the band is able to strike a balance between being adventurous and being fun, which is really hard to do. They get even better at it on the albums that come after this one. Fave Songs (All songs from most to least favorite): Cities, Life During Wartime, Heaven, I Zimbra, Mind, Memories Can't Wait, Air, Paper, Animals, Electric Guitar, Drugs
One of my faves- minimal and sparse at times, other times jagged and claustrophobic. Always driving rhythms and progressive. Still listen on the reg. Pulled me out of a really bad headspace at Bighorn 100, mile 72-ish. Highlights: Mind, Air, Cities, I Zimbra
loved it. talking heads 77 is better but this turned me on to a whole bunch of songs id never heard.
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around. This is just another awesome Talking Heads record. It might be my third or fourth favorite Talking Heads record depending on the day but it's still a great time.
It's very difficult to give an impartial review on one of my favourite bands. An influential masterpiece, unlike anything else released at the time.
"The better the singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying" - David Byrne. It doesn't ring entirely true, but goes a long way towards explaining Talking Heads' approach to music: capture a flash of inspiration, cling to the authenticity of it, worry about everything else afterwards. To me, "Fear of Music" (what a title) is when all the components of this brilliant band come together for the first time. David Byrne's unique and neurotic worldview was projecting out to everything around him, the band were starting to explore new ground and styles musically while retaining a sense of spontaneity, and Brian Eno's partnership with them was soaring to new heights. The concept of "Fear of Music" - detachment from any sense of stability, and paranoia concerning just about everything - unravels beautifully across the set of songs. We're treated to what is, in effect, a Talking Heads rulebook containing the following insights: Love is as weak as paper. Heaven is a con. Don't trust animals, they're laughing at you. Don't trust electric guitar, it's breaking the law. Don't trust the air you breathe, it can also hurt you. Bim blassa galassasa zimbrabim! Musically, they're on stellar form: Byrne and Jerry Harrison's jagged and brash rhythm guitar, Tina Weymouth's bubbling, disco-esque basslines, and Chris Frantz bringing rock-steady drum parts. Some occasional stuttering keyboard accompaniments go a long way, as does Eno's cold production. Even including the weakest link "Electric Guitar", every track is either lyrically striking, irresistibly danceable (a frenzied strut, but danceable all the same), or at least ear-grabbingly intriguing. The coda of "Animals" holds a special place in my heart. Robert Fripp's guitar cameo in "I Zimbra" is dizzying wonder. The build-up in "Memories Can't Wait" is triumphant and disturbing at once. "Heaven" sounded a lot better four years later on "Stop Making Sense", but it's still a melodic gem. Every track is completely original and arrestingly immediate. They would move onto more ambitious work immediately afterwards, but "Fear of Music" shows the band absolutely mastering three-minute songcraft.
Wow! I’ve always meant to listen to the Talking Heads and I’m glad this 1001 album endeavour finally forced me to. This is the first album I’m giving 5/5 because I will definitely listen to it again. When it finished playing, I let it start again. Loved it from start to finish.
Офигенный альбом. Предтеча Discipline группы King Crimson. То, что доктор прописал. То, что я очень люблю.
Talking Heads is a band I have not dived into much, although I know they are a big influence on a bunch of bands I like (Radiohead especially, considering they took their name from a Talking Heads track). I am not a huge fan of the singer's voice when it's straight, but after a few listens its acceptable to me now. Some crazy instrumentals and interesting progressions. I can appreciate some of the experimental/different instrumentation/tempo/key changes. For 1979 it's quite forward thinking. I can definitely see the influence it had on Radiohead. Part of the vocal stylings/delivery do remind me of RCE (Cities, Life During Wartime). I can see parallels with Jon's vocal delivery here. If I loved the vocals more it could be a 5. At first I thought I wouldn't listen again but I did it twice. With RCE there is a joke aspect that is fun, but here it's just commentary that is purely negative. I am listening to this one twice though, as it was a lot for just one listen. RCE could definitely cover one of these songs and it would be "on brand". Fav Tracks: Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait
Very great (Talking Heads very much my thing, going back to the very early days), though I think not quite at the full cohesion of the sound or themes yet at this point. Still one of my favorite albums.
If I wasn't but a child in the 80's, I'd like to think I would've been a Talking heads superfan. Just great music.
Didn't make much of an impression on me this time around. But it is a precursor to the amazing Remain in Light, and has a lot of interesting sounds on it. It also has one of my favourite Talking Heads songs on it - Heaven, which is still hauntingly beautiful.
Solid album. Definitely hear why we often discuss TH as a reference point for our music. The end of "Mind" made me think of Open Door Policy. The repetition and winky-ness of the songs is very RCE. Not sure I had listened to this album before. Most familiar with "Heaven." Liked it even more upon second listen. They're like demented party jams.
Art punk made with professionalism but balanced with campy subject matters and surrealist lyrics. Too dumb to take it seriously, but that's how you get to make weird/great stuff.
I'm going to ignore the song Animals. The rest is the right amount of adventurous and fun. Funky and experimental, and just cool.
I love Talking Heads. David shouts in the corner of a room - the album(makes it very echo sounding). Every song before 'Cities' seems to lead up to that particular sound, it's almost eclectic before 'Cities' brings it together. 'Life During Wartime' is probably the most recognisable song from this album, which seems to sooth down the rest of the chaos from earlier with a nice jazz note and David's softer tones, though later he may express more exasperatedly it's still quite literally the middle of the album where it's finding itself. I recognise with 'Memories Can't Wait' this is Talking Heads in their 2 years after their debut, with a lot of drug taking. David saying there's a party in his mind and he never wants it to stop and then later the last song of the album 'Drugs', you can begin to see why the music arrangement in some areas is eclectic and less thought through. ' Air' sounds like a pre-cursor to something by The Pixies, but clearly there's an indication that David's on an LSD trip. Overall I think this is Talking Heads finding their feet, legs, torso and arms. In their infancy, greatness yet to come
Ahora entiendo porque muchos de mis grupos favoritos los cuentan entre sus influencias.
I hadn't dug into this one yet, so I'm glad for this opportunity. At first listen, I think "Paper" is my favorite track, but I can see "Heaven" taking over next time.
Quizá me hice más expectativas de este disco, que sí me gustó, pero no tanto como quería (?). Igual, de repente tiene sonidos muy padres y suena a varias emociones. No pienso que tenga skips, pero no sé si regrese igual a este álbum como a Remain in Light. Mis favs: "Mind", "Life During Wartime", "Animals" y ese final del lanzamiento original, "Drugs", muy top. 8/10
starts off with a bang with the nonsense dadaist lyrics of I Zimbra... Gadji beri bimba clandridi Lauli lonni cadori gadjam A bim beri glassala glandride E glassala tuffm I zimbra. Like, how does Byrne come up with this brilliant shit? Life during Wartime is also one of their best singles with a funky jerky African rhythm. I like how their sound is evolving with the Eno collaboration also. This is a great album, but not their best, I would rank Remain in Light, 77 ahead of this, so it gets a sold 4 from me.
Buenos ritmitos, no se escucha 70s ni 80s en realidad, así que supongo que sí eran másonemos únicos y detergentes. De repente dan crack adict energy. Me gustó sobre todo Memories Can´t Wait con sus toques algo oníricos, pero igual conservando algo de momento de las canciones más rápidas que le anteceden, sobre todo esa guitarra en el min 1:13 muy simple, pero satisfactoria. Animals también chida: medio dark. Mood: Cocainomanos.
Intresting album. It didn't sound like a music recorded in 70's. It's not the best funk that I heard of but I will back sometimes to this album.
Late breaking news: Talking Heads are awesome! I've always been aware of them, and some songs that were great, but had no idea what was lurking on their albums was better than any of the singles released. All interesting tracks, none sound remotely like they're over 40. I'm very late to this party, but I'm really enjoying Talking Heads.
This album doesn't have any of my best-remembered Talking Heads songs. Still pretty good.
Niiice. I've listened to their first two albums and Remain in Light quite a lot, but never paid as much attention to this one in the middle. It's great. Imagine having strange enough ear to take all the sinister, menacing energy of post-punk, and filter it into weird surreal funk stuff. There are some "straight" rock moment and a ballad, but none of it is really played straight. It's like a group of weirdo aliens trying to make their idea of normie human music and failing beautifully. Not the best Talking Heads album imho, but I guess it shouldn't be punished for sitting amongst greatness.
The only Talking Heads song I had heard before this was Psycho Killer. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. It’s good, not good enough to be a 4, but I also can’t give it a 3.
Prefer this to the other Talking Heads album we've heard, it's a different style and I enjoyed it way more
Talking Heads is about as "weird" as my music taste gets. Listened to their greatest hits album growing up, so I know those songs well. Excited to get to know more of their catalogue.
I've heard this one before, but I've always loved talking heads. Remain at light is still my favorite, but this one goes hard too.
Weird and wonderful. Pretty hooked the entire time, will listen again and explore more Talking Heads for sure.
An album I should listen to more often. (7/10) Favorite Tracks: Life During Wartime, Heaven
Czyzby talking heads wysunelo sie na prowadzenie w rankingu najwiekszej liczby pickowej na liscie, bo jest to juz trzeci album ktory slucham w ramach codziennej listy, jednoczesnie jest to trzecia pozycja w dyskografii bandy, a druga z bohaterem wczorajszego picka panem Brianem Eno, ktory wyprodukowal lwia czesc dyskografii headsow, fear of music jest dziwnym albumem, bo nie obrodzil w zadne hity wedlug countow na spotifaju czy lasfmie, nie jest on nawet w top 4 najpopularniejszych plyt zespolu, a jednak jest on ciekawym punktem w transformacji pomiedzy 77 a remain in light, eksperymentowanie z cudami elektroniki, ktore swoja osoba wprowadzil pan eno, ktory jest oczywiscie odpowiedzialny na klikanie synthow na plycie, jak prawie zawsze zreszta na albumach ktore produkuje, ale nie na tym koczy sie jego influencja, bo jestem przekonany, ze wokalny styl Davida Byrne rowniez moze byc zasluga pana Eno, bo slychac w nim wiele podobienstw do stylu wczorajszego roxy music, a wydania dzieli blisko 7 lat, taki pastiszowy styl stal sie wrecz wizytowka headsow polaczony z diskowymi rytmami, a raczej ich inkorporacja w typowe rokowe brzmienie, taki wlasnie byl pomysl na nowa fale w wydaniu gadajacych glow, ale jak dla mnie headsy to rowniez kontent liryczny, bo byrne nie zawodzi swoimi tekstami, ktore zazwyczaj poruszaja na pozor trywialne watki, ale swoja postacia potrafi stworzyc dramat oparty na tak niewielkich rzeczach jak papier, miasta, zwierzeta czy niebo, to niektore z tytulow kawalkow tej plyty, bo sam tytul, fear of music, mozna interpretowac jako fear of wstaw nazwe songa i robi to sens, bo z paranoicznych tekstow jest przecez pan byrne znany, ale jest i trak ktory odejdzie od tej koncepcji i bedzie blizej czemus co nazwalbym blue printem pod remain in light, jest to otwierajacy I zimbra, ktory sklada sie z giberyszowych lirykow bedacych adaptajca poematu w stylu dadaizu, wiec giberisz najprosciej, dosc orginalne, wrecz przegiete afrykanskie brzmienie oparte na gitarkach fripowych i drumersach frantza i na eksperymentach enowych, jako fangej headsow ciezko mi ocenic pomiedzy soba te trzy picki, wiec standardowe 4 gwiazdki, a na plejaka rzuce minda, aira i life durning wartime, ktory jest jak dla mnie najlepsza mini historyjka tej plyty, bo jak inaczej nazwac opowiesc o urbanskim guerrilli co zyje o masle orzechowym
Great stuff - driving baselines, funky but not overbearing guitars, and David Byrne doing his vocal thing. I hadn't heard most of these, and will dive deeper into their catalog.
I always have a great experience with Talking Heads, you never know what you’ll get, but you’ll get a new twist to their signature sound. Eno really comes out in this one too.
Late breaking news: Talking Heads are awesome! I've always been aware of them, and some songs that were great, but had no idea what was lurking on their albums was better than any of the singles released. All interesting tracks, none sound remotely like they're over 40. I'm very late to this party, but I'm really enjoying Talking Heads.
I like to think of this album as the dark horse candidate of the Talking Heads discography. It’s where they really started to get inventive with their music and also fleshing out their new Afro-Beat style which would take them to great heights
This is already one of my favorite albums ever, I have this on vinyl and will be listening to it later today. UPDATE: This is such an incredible album. Weirdly dark in places, lots of different influences mixed in.
Never listened to this entire album before. Pretty good , and I think these guys are still influential today. 3.5 and rounding up due to “Life during Wartime”.
Another one that I’m more of a fan of on paper than reality. Some interesting hybrids of DIY disco and electro but did grab my attention as much as I was hoping.
HECCIN GROOVYYYYY delay experimentation for the 70s. can see where the fall etc got some vocals, also maybe black midi lol this is quite brilliant and i will listen to it more
Really enjoying this one. Not sure how I hadn't listened to this entire album in the past. Definitely starts stronger than it ends. 4/5
Legendary album full of experimental grooves. Not my favorite talking heads album though, misses the mark for 5 stars despite having lots of awesome songs because some parts of this album can be abrasive and borderline annoying at times. It’s a unique piece of art but not the most enjoyable talking heads album to listen to
I love Talking Heads, but haven't listened to these songs much before now. I'm sure that'll change.
this was a very good album. I enjoyed listening to it. got a lot of modest mouse vibes with david byrne's singing so, that's probably where isaac brock, uh, got that idea, but it's working. Instrumentally some of the songs I was really into and some of them I could leave it. Mind was particularly catchy and i'm not sure i'd heard it before.
Some great tracks on this. Instrumentation is fantastic. Basslines pop out and synth is everyewhere. Rhythmically complex and interesting, and probably only let down by David Byrne's voice. Heaven is a killer tune.
I’ve always liked The Talking Heads, although I have never heard this album. Glad that has been addressed, because this is a great album. It is really fun to listen to with its interesting rhythms, quirky lyrics and fun musical touches. But underlying all that is a lot of fear in “Fear of Music.” There’s a palpable desperation as the album grapples with the challenges of modern life. I was familiar with the song “Life During Wartime.” The problems it explores have not been addressed. The singer of “Cities” struggles to find a place to in the world that the pandemic has made a top-of-mind issue for many. Our increasingly polarized societal splits makes “Mind” something that could have been written today. Climate change could make “Air” its anthem. “Fear of Music” does not feel like an artifact from 1979. Am I reassured that despite this being true 41 years ago we are still here or frightened that this is so relevant after 41 years? Timeless. Fun. Disconcerting. Great!
I run hot and cold with Talking Heads. Love some songs, find others really grating. This one's got more good to it than grating. Glad for that.
Another of these records where the hit is misleading about overall texture, which is interesting throughout and occasionally weird, though it scans as much less weird today than 40+ years ago. It's a whole album, a unit of measurement that isn't much used anymore. I still think of it all as a peace with the other three early albums. Whole lotta Eno, too, works for me. Zimbra, Air, Heaven, Drugs are the personal faves.
"Deep breath, stay calm, try and hide those sweaty palms." At first, I liked Talking Heads. I got into them at around 18, after reading Rip It Up and Start Again. I bought lots of albums because of Simon Reynolds’ writing about them, and the chapter on Talking Heads and Wire was among my favourites. At that age, I still liked the idea of a band as a self-contained unit of guitars, bass, and drums, ideally with one non-musician. This album was my favourite; it seemed a good balance of that tradition and musical experimentation, before they expanded into a funk orchestra with Remain in Light. I had a rough time over the next couple of years. I’d moved from a quiet, rural place to go to university in London, running away from teenage drama with the vague feeling that everything would be better when I got there, and I was completely out of my depth. I’d always sailed through exams and essays with ease, which made things look alright from the outside and taught me to see what intelligence I had as a kind of protection. Suddenly, I felt like I couldn’t even read any more. Things I didn’t immediately understand felt like attacks. At some point during all of that, Talking Heads stopped making sense to me. Their music felt purely intellectual in a way that was beyond me. With the exception of I Zimbra, which I always liked, it felt like something that needed to be decoded. I thought of it as emotionless. I didn’t like feeling that I was missing something obvious. A lot has changed since then, thank god. I’ve come to understand social phobia better. I’m less scared of being thick and better at asking questions. Recently, I listened to Speaking in Tongues and quite enjoyed it. Even so, I had some trepidation about going back to this one. It has the reputation as the one that fans like the most, rather than the one we’re supposed to admire. The Revolver to Remain in Light’s Sgt. Pepper, perhaps. Then it hit me: melophobia, the fear of music. Some of the symptoms are common to other forms of anxiety, including elevated heart rate, panic attack, breathlessness, an urge to flee, anger or loss of control, and the inability to speak or think clearly. Maybe that last one is why it took me 15 years to pay attention to the title. It’s not cold and emotionless at all, it’s music of fear. The scene is set with Hugo Ball's sound poetry, a form that erupted during the cataclysm of "world war without end...revolution without beginning." It appears as form without content, but the disrupted content exposes the futility and arbitrariness of form alone. The Dada manifesto, in translation, calls Dada "the word soul," the definitive essence of communication without borders in a time of unstoppable turmoil. It can't give you answers. There is no sense, only sensation. This sets up an album that's not funk as dance music, but as a mind itching for a definite answer where there isn’t one; David Byrne freaking out in a freezing bedsit with the radio on and the news on the tv. The relentless rhythms and warped, psychedelic guitar tones put me in the cortisol-zapped mind of the vocalist as he races through every trigger and hopelessly cycles through every available coping mechanism. At first glance, Electric Guitar seemed like an outlier to me, as it essentially retells the concept of Rush's 2112, in which an authoritarian regime has banned rock. It seems far-fetched from a comfortable western perspective. It might seem more immediate to a paranoid, panic-stricken mind, or indeed to anyone who had to etch pop songs onto old x-rays to share them. To put it in an historical context, the album was composed during the Iranian revolution; the band went into the studio to record it about 2 months after the Ayatollah took control in Tehran. I appreciate Fear of Music a lot more now I'm not too close to take it in. It's a tense record, but that's kind of the point, and I find it less claustrophobic than I used to. I’m really not going to make it through The Young Gods, though, am I? P.S. because I just noticed this and can't resist putting it in: the Dada Manifesto says that "In German it means 'good-bye,' 'Get off my back,' 'Be seeing you sometime." I wonder if Patrick McGoohan was a fan.
Très sympa ! J'ai toujours du mal avec le fait que la musique des Talking Heads me paraît un peu lugubre (peut-être parce que c'est en mineur) mais l'album est très sympa !
Amazing highlights. Heaven, life during wartime, cities, mind are really great. Sadly, some other songs sound filler. Great listen though
Yes, this was very David Byrne, some of the tracks I've never heard but I felt like I could have known them for years.
I've been trying to get into this band for what feels like forever, and I think this is the album that finally opened the door a bit. Each track is distinct 'Heads' material, but the off-kilter guitar tones now match up to Byrne's eclectic delivery and leave every song an earworm. Lots of head-turners in terms of instrumentation, rhythm, and production only complement the sense of artistic weirdness and make this a fun but easily digestible listen.
Aðeins ójöfn, og ég er í sjálfu sér enginn aðdáandi raddar Byrnes, en þetta er oftar en ekki töff og skemmtilegt, gæti vel hlustað á oftar.
Such a great band, musical genius. Incredible album to sit and listen to what is going on with each track, harder if you are just taking in if it's background music
Funky new wave, and an agree David Byrne. And then it’s got Life during wartime on it. What’s not to like
I like the talking heads as much as the next guy but at this rate we’re going to have listened to their entire discography by the time we get done with this list
Honestly, I could never really get into the Talking Heads so this album was pretty average for me
Great album by a great band. This album sounds like a band coming into their own. 4 stars. On a separate note, can we talk about how many Brian Eno-produced albums are on this list? Pretty amazing really. I can’t imagine there’s any individual who has contributed to more albums on this list than Eno.
I am certain that the titular fear is tongue-in-cheek, but one could easily read it in the monotone of the opening songs. Intention is evasive like that, and divining Byrne's feelings about melody seems annoying and useless. Talking Heads wake up late in the tracklist with a fabulous run of songs. Drugs proves that there's still range there, and suggests that I should revisit the music I initially found boring.
This was unfortunately more mediocre than I expected. However, I still liked listening to it on the second half. First half was lacking.
I Zimbra whips, whole album reminds me of the other Talking Heads album I like but more jammy / maybe less innovative, still a great album
Yelly rock, sorta reminds me of Modest Mouse actually but quite not as good. It started getting samey toward the end.
Es una gran disco, pero no me engancha muy cabrón. Lo puedo escuchar 24 horas seguidas y sigo sin saber cómo calificarlo. A diferencia de otros discos inescuchables o que a la primera ya sabes qué pedo.
Despite the fact my brother plays guitar in a Talking Heads cover band… and their band is called Fear of Music… I’d never listened to this whole thing before. I mostly liked it! The back half especially. But anyway, if you’re ever in Richmond, VA go see Fear of Music. They’re good. Maybe skip telling my brother I’d never heard this album until 2021. Thanks.
So far this album is better than 77, listening to them back to back is very interesting. Still have the consistent rhythmic thing going on. Their use of electric guitar almost exclusive for high riffs is super funky, especially when you layer in all the laser noises. The song "electric guitar" is just objectively bad though.
“Fear of Music” by Talking Heads (1979) With clean and crisp percussion and electronic effects, this music sounded new in 1979. It still works, even if only for a non-serious listen. Talking Heads sounded LIKE robots, but now we have REAL robots making music, so a bit of contextualization is in order. New Wave mocked convention, so we have to laugh along to appreciate it. The lyrics are generally good, prompting occasional speculation and eyebrow-raising—but nothing deep (“Animals” is fun). Compositionally, this work is flawed by needless and ineffective repetition of short phrases—you could get a complete sense of the music and the lyrics by editing out three fourths of the tape. But the exploratory chord structures and progressions are intriguing—a definite plus for this album. Lead vocals (David Byrne) are very weak (“Air” is atrocious), even when lapsing into the all too frequent atonal ‘conversational’ mode. The album is very well produced (Brian Eno); except for the engineering of the lead vocal, but Eno didn’t have much to work with. Bass guitar lines (Tina Weymouth) are very well composed, arranged, and performed. Actually, the bass is the musical highlight of the album, making it a good selection for a long road trip. Good, but in no sense a classic. 3/5
I think this one comes down to whether you personally like Talking Heads or not. I happen to be a fan, but amidst the limpid guitars, rinky-dink chord voicings and Byrne's near-hysterical yelp, there's something missing. Where's the snap and urgency, I wonder? Still, not without its highlights, especially the murky churn of 'Memories Can't Wait'.
Ieder jaar begin ik de Talking heads meer en meer te waarderen. Volgend jaar dus 4 sterren
This is the second Talking Heads album we've had. Released two years after the other one. I rated that one a 4, but feel like this one is a lot less interesting, a lot less fresh. It's not bad, but not good enough either.
21st July 2021 Listened mainly in the morning on another scorcher of a day. Quiet week this week but super busy with training at the FT. I enjoyed this more than the other Talking Heads I listenee to I think. This one was really fun, had some world music disco vibes.
Inte riktigt min stil, men intressant och fanns några låtar jag gillade. Bästa låtar: Life During Wartime I Zimbra Cities
No doubt this music was innovative at the time. It sounds quite fresh even now. However, I can't listen to it for pleasure, mostly because I don't like David Byrne's voice.
Brilliant in places but a bit hit and miss. Still a very interesting and enjoyable listen overall.
With this album, I confirm my first impression that I only like the hits from Talking Heads and not of all of their songs. The album is not bad for me but is absolutely nothing special. I'll keep the hits in my playlist, but I'll probably forget almost all songs from this album tomorrow.
Não tem jeito, sempre ficava a expectativa da próxima música a tocar ser psycho killer. Mas mostrou de onde veio Life during wartime.
I enjoyed and got a bit bored by this in equal parts. Has some good ideas and is fairly fresh sounding, but some parts just go on too long.
Some stand out tracks, but I still think talking heads 77, remain in light and speaking in tongues are more cohesive and listenable.
Sounds like if David Bowie was trying to be Pink Floyd. It’s fine. Songs are fine but nothing stands out.
Made me dance and enjoyable to have on in the back ground but wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it again
Not really my kind of thing. Relatively interesting, musically at least, and can hear the influence on loads of bands and artists. Sounds very 80s, which I guess means it was ahead of its time
i zimbra - so vibey 4/5 mind 3.5/5 paper 4/5 cities 3/5 life during wartime 3.5/5 memories can’t wait 3/5 air 4/5 heaven 4.5/5 animals 3.5/5 electric car 4/5 drugs 3/5 73% overall!
Talking Heads. They're a tough one for me... I'm glad this one came on a weekend so I've been able to listen multiple times; I just knew I wasn't going to connect on first listen and I definitely didn't. There's this weird dichotomy I've found with Talking Heads (and most definitely on this album) of sounding rhythmically worldly yet stilted at the same time - very pronounced to me over the first few songs especially. For example on "I Zimbra" the opening cut - my first instinct was that it was/is too repetitive/boring. But that's also my Western perspective - there's a hypnotic element which seems reminiscent of African beats. Perhaps this is the point - this band forces me to step outside of what I'd traditionally think of in terms of a pop music structure for a song. Rhythms and chord progressions that don't resolve in a traditional sense (e.g. both "Mind" and "Paper") initially are frustrating to me but I start to "get it" a bit more each subsequent listen. The second part of the album starts to drift back into more-accessible structures (e.g. "Heaven") and there are a few tunes on here that I'm familiar with (esp. "Life During Wartime" and "Memories Can't Wait" oddly enough initially through Living Colour's very cool cover version...). This is one of the weirdest "3" ratings I'll give. I kind of think there's a ton to unpack here, yet I still can't fully connect with some of the frequent atonal aspects of it. I think in the end very often with Talking Heads...I very much appreciate the skill and composition yet I can't connect emotionally with them. It feels like a total copout but they're a good "sure I'll listen to them" band for me. 7/10 3 stars
3.5/5. This was a difficult album for me to rate because I actually enjoyed it but it wasn’t a 4. I thought it was different enough to be fun but not amazing.
The best of this album IMO: - Drugs It's okay. Nothing memorable in my opinion, except Drugs. Mmm, drugs. 2.7/5
The Mid-to-Late-70s-Bowie-Vibes are strong with this one, without reaching Bowie's level. The music is quite experimental here (Brian Eno's influence), but not enough tracks stand out. Nice album, which I don't absolutely have to listen to again. 3/5.
Listened Before: N Old Talking Heads! Sweet! Pros: A few catchy ones in there. It's fun to hear where their sound originated. Overall a solid album though. Really liked Life During Wartime. Cons: Sometimes a little bit TOO experimental for me. "Drugs" in particular.... Although I'm not sure what I expected with a title like that! Added to playlist: Life During Wartime
Meh. Very British and mostly good beats and jamming. I liked the Electric Guitar song because of the riff/beat. Overall would not listen again except the one song that I liked. Mind is actually pretty decent tho. The alternate version. I like the songs that are clear and less busy.
While I've always enjoyed a lot of their music, the Talking Heads always felt a little like they were for much cooler people than me. And this album really felt like a set of deep cuts from their œuvre. Too cool for me. I felt the first half was fine, but I had a hard time getting through the second half. I think a little more time might help me out, but I didn't have it to give today.
Je tiens à prendre les devants suite à l'événement s'étant produit hier. J'ai en effet brisé l'un des commandements du générateur par erreur, contre mon gré. Vous n'êtes pas sans savoir que je possède plusieurs générateurs pirates, que j'ai déjà évoqués dans de multiples reviews d'albums. Or, l'un de ces générateurs a présenté un dysfonctionnement, et m'a généré automatiquement l'album Heroes de David Bowie. Mes générateurs pirates sont conçus pour ne me donner que des albums ne figurant pas dans la liste de Robert. Pensant le système infaillible, j'écoutais cet album, sans me douter qu'il figurait dans la liste des 1001 albums à ne surtout pas écouter avant qu'ils soient générés. Après quelques minutes d'écoutes, je reçus immédiatement un message de robdenayer, m'invectivant d'un "Eh mais t'écoutes Bowie là ?!". Je compris immédiatement que j'étais dans l'erreur, et avouait directement ma faute à Robert. En revanche, je ne compris pas comment rob avait pu être alerté aussi rapidement. Je vérifiais donc les réglages de mon générateur pirate, et y découvrit un virus, déposé là par un hackeur du nom de "RobCrusaders". Je fis donc rapidement le lien entre ce hackeur et l'ignoble rob, et clarifiait une deuxième fois toute la situation à Robert. Ce dernier se montra magnanime: il générera seulement une liste de 5 mauvais albums à la suite en guise de punition, et me fit jurer, pieds et poings liés, que cela ne se reproduirait plus.
I like the Talking Heads, but this was nothing special. The first track (I Zimbra) is super catchy, though. 6.5/10.
I have always put Talking Heads squarely in the "new wave" genre, but one thing I noticed with this album in particular is that the band, at least at this point in time, had way more funk and disco influences in their music than I realized. I Zimbra was a very unexpected but pleasant opener; I listened to that track several times. Overall, I really dig the bizarre rhythms that are used by Talking Heads. I think the band's vocals fit the progressive take on music, but sometimes those vocals come off as more hypnotic and monotonous than anything. I found myself really enjoying the first half of the album, but was kind of bored with the second half.
i wanted to like this more than i actually did. i guess i went into this thinking it would be pure and catchy new wave. to be fair, this album isn’t bad! i listened to it several times and couldn’t find it in me to love this album. there’s some great, interesting beats here (“i zimbra”) and i love singing “this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco,” but that just wasn’t enough. i wonder if it’s because byrne’s vocals are rather soft. still a good listen, but it’s rather average.
Mixed bag of some of my favourite songs by them with a lot I don't particularly feel anything for. Definitely don't love this as much as some.
Enjoyed this much more than…checks notes…the other Talking Heads one that was AOTD recently. I particularly like Drugs. Probably as it’s under Eno’s influence more than other Heads’ output. Parts of this - unsurprisingly - put me in mind of Bush Of Ghosts, which is no bad thing. I played this twice and enjoyed it both times.
Overall didn't enjoy it, and yet I can see why it's influential. Good to have heard, probably won't revisit.
'I, Zimbra' non male, la seconda torna già sui livelli che non mi piacevano. Godibile comunque. 'Heaven' devo ammettere che è molto bella. L'ultima boh. 3
It's okay, I liked the first song, but something about the singers voice kind of turned me off. I didn't like how sleepy the album was and how boring the project was to me. Probably good for the time but listening to it now didn't do much for me. 4/8, favorite song I Zimbra.
classic talking heads sounds. I didn't recognize any of the songs on this album. May even be able to dance some of these tunes.
Hitusen parempi kuin Talking Headsin edellinen levy listalla. Ei silti erityisen nautinnollista kuunneltavaa. Levy täynnä keskinkertaisia kappaleita ärsyttävän junnaavilla melodioilla. Heaven oli parempi kappale kuin näiden kahden Talking Heads -levyn muut biisit yhteensä.
I wasn't put off by this album or anything, but it was just *there*, with the vocals droning on and on as I waited for it to be over. None of the songs stood out to me or captured my interest in the slightest.
I really wanted to like this. But... no, I didn't. I really tried because I like other Talking Heads stuff, but this just wasn't good. A few bright spots, but the rest was just a bunch of weird stuff that didn't sound good.
David Byrne is a musical genius, sometimes going a bit too far beyond genius, as in the song Drugs. But he also has a tendency to repeat the same words too many times, like in Cities. Living during wartime is the commercial success, but doesn't carry the whole album.
Joopa joo, eipä ollut tämä levy sen parempi kuin edellinenkään (vai seuraava?) Talkkari-lätty. Kunpa ei enää kolmatta tulisi!
Het zal vast een invloedrijke band zijn geweest, maar ik heb het nooit begrepen. Dit album dus ook niet.
Olin antamassa ykkösen, koska tämä kävin vain ärsyttämään. Nukuin yön yli ja ajattelin, että joku syy tässä pitää olla, että jo toinen Puhuvien Päiden levy tältä listalta löytyy. Kun tietää, mihin varautuu, niin aina vähän paremmin kappaleet toimii. Bändipaita ei lähtenyt vielä tilaukseen, mutta arvosana hilautui numeron ylöspäin.
I thought memories can't wait, electric guitar, & drugs were decent, but the rest was extremely boring.
More Talking Heads! definitely a little weirder than the last album i listened to of theirs. Had some recognizable tracks, and some really kind of dark stuff. All in all relatively enjoyable, but not their best. Tough call, want to give it a 2.5.
I just about developed a fear of music after sitting through this bullshit. Best track: Heaven
interesting, experimenting, but not my style. Only got through about half and it couldn't keep my interest. 2.5
Talking Heads third album - Fear of Music - containing new-wave, post-punk music was released in 1979, and was certified gold six years later. There are many different musical genres sprinkled in to the various songs, and every songs' lyrics are well done. My personal opinion of the album is that - while having good rhythm & lyrics, and a dark & gritty theme - there wasn't any wow factor that would make me listen again.
Remember the talking head from art attack? He’s not on this album which is a crying shame
Maybe I'm the only person in the world that doesn't like the Talking Heads. This is awful. One and a half star awful, but I feel generous today.
More Talking Heads. This one was much more what I had expected from the band, an extra star for that "paper" song, but I'm not sure why this one's on the list.
Bien qu'ayant obtenu un quatre sur cinq de ma part lors du prime précédent, je n'accorderai cette fois-ci aucun passe-droit aux Talking Heads. L'album n'a pas du tout su me convaincre. Pour vous remettre dans le contexte, j'ai lancé sa lecture à l'exact moment où je montai dans un train en direction de Hanovre. Quelques minutes après mon installation, au moment de contrôler mon billet, l'employée de la Deutsche Bahn missionnée ce jour-là prêta une oreille à ce que vrombissait mon enceinte JBL dans tout le wagon. « C'est vraiment pas terrible… Ils avaient fait très fort avec Remain In Light mais là c'est vraiment pas terrible... » dit-elle avant que je n'abonde dans son sens. En bref, les Talking Heads devront prouver qu'ils méritent bel et bien leur place avec les deux prochains albums.
Man, that's just an utter mess of a record. It's a bunch of half-baked melodies over half-formed song ideas. The end result isn't even half-assed, it's a quarter-assed at best. What an annoying waste of time.
Tough one. Wanted to like this cos I do like the "hits" I've heard despite never really exploring Talking Heads much, but didn't think all that much of this. Was very obviously them, so if that's what you're into, I can see why you'd love it, but I'm not sure Eno/Byrne is for me.
Das Jahr 1979 hat großes hervorgebracht. Kraftwerk - Das Model zum Beispiel. Nicht aber Fear of Music. Hat mich bissi das Fürchten gelehrt. Laut Wikipedia viele Einflüsse vieler Kulturen. Satz: „I changed my hairstyle so many times, I don’t know what I look like“ fühle ich.
Really not my type of music Every song sounds the same Weird instruments barely noticeable in the background Never again.
- not taken with the vocal style, can he sing in tune? - feels like intentionally disconcerting melodies - I can see how influential this is but not something to listen to again. Didn't finish the album.
Haut mir noch nicht den Tornister von Rücken - da gefallen vergleichsweise konventionelle Nummern wie „Air“ & „Heaven“ noch am besten nebst Lieblingsstück „Drugs“. Aber sonst…viel Nichts. Furchtlose 1.3
Didn't like this album at all. Can't really find much redeeming about it. It's different, but it's not especially easy to listen to. Perhaps that's the appeal? These guys are raw and not sellouts? Finally turned it off at song #12... Couldn't make it through the whole album and didn't even want to. 1 star.
Experimental sounds but just can’t get into Talking Heads at all. Music or vocal styles.