Fear Of Music

Hmmm. Is okay.

OK, but all the songs seem to sound the same.

Het zal vast een invloedrijke band zijn geweest, maar ik heb het nooit begrepen. Dit album dus ook niet.

Joopa joo, eipä ollut tämä levy sen parempi kuin edellinenkään (vai seuraava?) Talkkari-lätty. Kunpa ei enää kolmatta tulisi!

Patchy

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.

Just gimme the classics

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.

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.

Nope

Disappointing

Not my genre

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.

it was ok but wont be back

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.

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.

Bit too all over the shop for me.

Eksperimenterende, 70’er rock, art-School punks, intellektuelt

not really my cup of tea.

A band easy to admire but hard to love. Like Bowie once you get past the non singing affection is there really that much there. This is an early irritating offering. One for the musos and the chin scratchers

one of the most confusing bands to me. They suck so much but get so much universal praise

This shit is boring asf

Boring

Nope, boring and weird

This whole album was a bunch of nothingness. Incredibly bland and repetitive instrumentals with horrible vocals that sounded like a drunk Elvis impersonator. Even though this album only had 11 songs, it was 40 minutes long. Which is way longer than it needed to be for the substance that it provided: nothing. Worst album I've listened to on this list so far.

The lead singer's voice is unique and fun for one or two songs, but a whole album is a lot. DNF

I promised myself I would listen to all the songs in all the daily albums from start to finish, but I failed here. I scrubbed through the last four songs: enough was enough by that point. The vocals are truly unbearable. The pretentious affectation he carries throughout the entirety of the album makes the whole project an earsore. The fear of music is truly the soundtrack of pseudo-intellectuals who get off on smelling their own farts.

was NOT a fan at all. not my jam, didn't like the music really. So uh, 1 star :)

ماش

These heads need to shut the fuck up

Didnt like it

Notable Songzeile: Electric guitar is copied Copy sounds better Call this law of justice, call this freedom and liberty Joseph Beuys Voice: Ja Ja Ja Ne Ne Ne (1968) - uff, das ist mir echt zu gewollt nervig. Die Textes sind als Miniaturen vielleicht eigentlich cool, aber die Art des Schreiens nervt. Die Rhytmusgruppe nervt weil sie absichtlich (?) ihren Rhytmus verkackt und die Gitarre schreit genervt auf. Ich verstehe ja Brian Eno sowieso nicht, warum er das produziert hat auch nicht. Ich würde mir ja fast wünschen, dass mir was positives einfällt, aber bis auf die unverfrohrene Art sich nicht um die Zuhörerinnen zu scheren, fällt mir leider nix ein. Sorry Musikgeschichte, falls das jetzt absolut dilettantisch ist, aber dann passt es ja auch zum Album, ne?

oh je, so eine Band mit der ich gar nichts anfangen kann. Ich mag alle Teile an deren Musik - die 80er Gitarren , die abrupten Rhythmen, die billo Sounds, die gehetzte Stimme, sogar die Avantgarde -aber-Musical Inszenierung. Ich mag ganz viele Bands die sich auf Talking Heads berufen. Ich mag einfach keinen der Songs.

Not for me

not for me at all

muy feo tiene una energía muy oscura que no me agrada para nada,

Var klar for å gi 2, men såååå kom jeg til Dancing for money - unfinished...

Talking Heads really put the fear of music in me after this one. Oof talk about a one-hit wonder band.

I didn’t like this

Вообще не зашло

what an odd album not something I would listen to but if you like the late 70s vibe this is it. It giving rocky horror picture but what the characters would listen to

Vocais insuportáveis. Não dá.

not a fan

Juste non ??

Page is a nonce

Started pissing me off around Paper. It’s albums like this that make me really question this list.

T1 that was an experience, some cool key changes T2 T3 T4 starting to see this is a concept album for sure. This song has that same chord progression used throughout most of Pink Floyd’s animals. Also hear dogs barking now, is that Seamus? T5 beginning of this sounds like Morrison singing and the beat itself sounds like the doors. Yeah this for sure sounds like something straight from L.A Woman T6 ‘Take a walk through peaceful meadows.. try not to look so disappointed’ is straight out of the doors by the doors, specifically the song ‘the end’. Got a bunch of different sounds going on in this one, think I might actually kinda like it. Didn’t love the intro but all these weird sounds are kinda coming together. T7 alr let’s get weird. At 2:55, that show the good place on Netflix stole this riff completely. Also I was wondering what the deal was with those weird cool echo sounds and I looked it up and it’s Brian eno, legend. Surprised to learn he produced this record and 2 other talking head albums (remain in light, and more building about buildings and food). Very cool. T8 feels like a reprise of Mind or Paper? Not sure, sounds better though. Relistening now @10am: Following day, think this is a 2.5/3 outta 10

No thank you

I have noticed that so many albums from the 70's and 80's just dont stand the test of time Listening to the Talking Heads now in 2025, things are hitting very differently from how it did back in the day Never a huge TH fan, but hearing this again is a little underwhelming

I sadly did not enjoy this album. I was very interested in Talking Heads too.

My god. Can they not do better? I'm being told these are key albums but they are fucking awful.

The first 2 songs were terrible. Overall, it’s hard to listen to David Byrne strain and whine. He’s an interesting song writer, completely unique really. But that doesn’t mean I like it.

Meio chato, não consegui terminar... e tanto faz também, não voltaria nele.

2 - TERRIBLE

Checke einfach nicht, was an denen besonders sein soll. Finde es langweilig.

Another band that I view as the musical equivalent of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. There were 2 or 3 tracks that didn't jar with me, the rest was utter shite. I had to turn it off during 'Animals'.

The neurotic whining, the constant mocking of society. The tone reminds me of the boys who bullied me at school. It lacks any optimism, any "let's make this world better". I hate every bit of this. The instruments are ok I guess, but as soon as the singer opens the mouth it's like torturing in hell.

still Nothing for me. why is he so bored

Melophobia.

Surkee, en kuunnellut loppuun, 0/5

no lo escuché entero. no es mi tipo de música.

Ooookkkk it's a mash up of some sort of animal placed between instruments,an ape or maybe a small grouping of Raccoons wandering around and over them mixed with people that want be able to sing.

Not my flask of Calpol.

Psycho Killer is a masterpiece. But that particular album is meh...

May have been groundbreaking in 1979 but nothing stands out as innovative. Disappointing.

This is the most overrated band in the world.

1,3/5

I like Talking Heads but incredibly unsure on this one. Ngl this was shit from a butt

Don’t get it. They’re annoying.

"I zimbra", is a loop and D Byrne shouting. "Mind" is a loop and D Byrne singing on top. He sounds as if he really doesn't care. "Paper" is something like "ticket to Ride", the intro. Then bloody D Byrne comes all over.. with the same approach as befor ? "Cities", another funky loop with Byrne annoying with his horrible voice. "Life during wartime", guess what.. yes ! a loop with the same guy preaching about his stuff. and so on.. I loved Talking Heads "77" and "More songs about buildings... ", even "little Creatures".. but this album is insufferable. David Byrne was ok on those albums, on this ones, I can't really finish it. The bass tone is good. But overall, caca

Talking Heads is hit or miss for me, usually a miss. David Byrnes’ voice is high pitched, whiny, and he strains sometimes. I don’t mind that in a few of their songs. But this album wasn’t the case. I give it a single star. I had to skip thru songs less than half way through because his voice was pissing me off.

Another Talking Heads? I can accept Remain In Light in this list, even if I don’t like it, but I can’t see this band meriting two entries for notability alone. Let’s see if I like the music. Uh Ok I can respect how true to their artistic vision these guys are, but do I have to listen to this drivel? Again with the tribal drums, weird vocals and bizarre noises. I gave them three stars for Remain In Light just for historical significance. This can be a one star.

Do not like.

To be honest, this one was a struggle. It took me most of the day to make it through, and it wasn't the best experience. Individually, the songs ranged from fine to good. Dissonance can be a useful story telling tool in music, but their reliance on it throughout their tracks is too much. I wonder if maybe live it wouldn't be quite as painful for my ears, if maybe the production value (which seemed fairly high) on the album ended up making the dissonance far worse to sit through.

Not my type of music at all. It kind of hurt my ears

Am I being tortured? It brings no specific elements originality or a profound sound

Make it stop

Either you love or hate this vocal style. I'm in the later category...

Meh! It's not road to nowhere!

1. zimbra - 1.5 2. mind - 1 3. paper - 1 4. citiez - 1 5. life - 0 6. memoriez - 1 7. air - 1 8. heaven - 1.5 9. animalz - 0 10. guitar - 0 11. drugz - 0 12. money - 0 13. life - 0 14. citiez - 0 15. mind - 0

Yeaaah, this one just isn't it for me. It's extremely repetitive, some of the songs sound like they were constructed from really cheesy music sample packs, I'm not hearing anything that's catchy, a lot of songs grate on me. To be fair, I've never been a huge fan of Talking Heads, even on the songs I do like (Burning Down the House and Psycho Killer), but this is just not good. Maybe I'm being too hard on it, but stuff like Electric Guitar and Drugs are awful. Like, I can see where they were going on *some* of the album, but it just doesn't work at all. This'll be my first 1/5. Really struggled between a 1 or a 2, but yeah, nothing on this comes close to being enjoyable for me. (I somehow came out of this record with Psycho Killer stuck in my head... what?)

balls balls balls

Not my cup of tea. "Heaven" is not bad, but the rest is not for me. The song "Air" is not bad either.

Eh... Not for me.

Nope.

I didn't get it at all

Can’t do it.

Uuuurgh. I've already had to review a Talking Heads album. Maybe this one is better? Nope. Could not finish this. Like some weird food someone offers you that they are evangelical about, but you think tastes spoiled. I have no taste for this, and life is too short. One annoying weird star.

Not a fan

Wow - I was never much of a Talking Heads fan...but this album fell way short of my already low expectations. A fair number of the cuts are simply unlistenable. Pass...

Man, this was annoying... When it started, I was like "This might be a good record for riding the bike home". Then it kept going and became more and more annoying... Musically it is so bland, nothing sticks in my mind. This is a clear NO from me.

I don’t even like Talking Heads hits let alone their less known songs. Grating vocals. I appreciate him embracing weirdness but this is not my brand of weird sorry.

FFS

Nop thank you. Let's stay with psycho killer. What was even that album.

I don't know.... I just... I just don't get this. I don't care about it. I know this band is deemed one of the greatest... But I just don't care.

I can see how, at the time, it might have been seen as 'cutting edge' but now...? Nope. Not a track on the album that struck any kind of chord with me. I try to listen to these albums at least twice... I could barely manage once with this one - it did nothing for me at all.

Sorry Mr Heads but I did not enjoy this album whatsoever. There was nothing wrong with it I'm just a hater. 1/5 self-titled album better

I've been walking past one of their other albums for years, the one with the four heads, in the window of the record store, hanging next to Nevermind and Highway 61 Revisited, all blue tinted bleached out and I've been wondering if I should know this apparent classic. If I should have payed attention to those Talking Heads. Haha, nope. This sounds precisely like "they met in design school and openend for the Ramones" and I don't mean this as an accolade. Honestly, I'm puzzled by all the glowing reviews. People, 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, listen to Electric Guitar, Animals or Drugs and go "Wow, ohh, wonderful! 😍"? Huh?Because: this album's ~art wave rock~ whatever with Byrne's exalted vocals made me think of the 1978 'Dub Housing' by Pere Ubu (#52) and that one is currently rated the 14th worst album on this entire list. I went and had a look at the reviews and sure enough... "Talking heads but worse" "It reminded me a lot of Talking Heads, especially the singing, but a worse version" They have it backwards, though. Dub Housing was ★★★★☆, actually wild, interesting and experimental. This is not. Fear of Music reminded me of Pere Ubu but boring bullshit, with a stick up its ass. I'll give them the "ahead of their time", if I have to, and 'Heaven' had a strange low key beauty about it, I might keep that one, but other than that, this sucked, mightily.

Head banging 2

not quite Robert Wyatt bad but vocals make this pretty much unlistenable.

garbage

What the fuck is this..

Didn't gell for me.

Couldn't get into it. 1/5

It annoys me in the same way the music from the challenge island in animal crossing is annoying

No

I imagine this is what I would sound like singing high on LSD. Some interesting things musically, but otherwise just ok.

No for me. Sound doesn’t resonate.

Overall, kind of annoying.

Verrückt, funky, Pop. Nicht für mich.

Weird af

Ok, I really like Psychokiller, but this album never killed my boredom.

Didn't like it much, probably not my style of music.

j'aime pas talking heads de manière générale, cet album ne m'a pas fait changer d'avis

Kunst Electro Pop?

Most of the songs sounded like the instrumental track was recorded at one time, then the vocals were recorded in a completely separate room with no idea what the BPM/measures would be. So the vocals felt like they were just placed on top of a beat that didn't match, and the two don't align right. Some of the vocals felt completely off time. It wouldn't be that bad if the vocals were at least decent to make up for it, but they absolutely were not, and were mostly just hilariously awful. Overall this just sounded like decent rock instrumentals with a drunk singer slurring and falling behind when trying to sing to the beat, and was constantly trying to play catch up.

I hate it, white ppl make some weird ass music. overly upbeat

Not for me

Funk? Myyyyyyynd, Hold on to that Papuh,

Bland album, no groove, nothing that made me even tap my feet, not one stand out track. Will give it a 1/5 only for their attempt to be creative.

I only knew one Talking Heads song before listening and I like that one. I hoped I may like this album but I didn't. Didn't keep any of my attention

Really not my thing at all

David Byrne is Superfun and cool guy, and I like some of the songs , but none od those are not on this album…

This wasnt really for me. Couldnt vibe with it.

Not for me

Sounds like terrible 70s music

1 not a fan of the sound nor the vocals. I could prob sing just like this and there’s nothing special about it.

Sucked ass.

"Fear Of Music"? Yeah, these guys were deathly afraid of making good music. I don't get this genre at all. They're just talking... with their heads. Almost like they're The Talking Heads™ (Credits roll) There's like 5 Talking Heads albums on this list. Maybe I'll enjoy one of them, since I actually think Psycho Killer's quite a banger.

Experimental sounds but just can’t get into Talking Heads at all. Music or vocal styles.

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.

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

- 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.

merf

Started off good, then sadly it got weird in a bit great way.

Really not my type of music Every song sounds the same Weird instruments barely noticeable in the background Never again.

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.

Glaube der Schlagzeuger kann nur einen beat.

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.

not my cuppa tea m8

I like "Once In A Lifetime." Sadly that's not on this album.