Fear Of Music

Ough

This is good rock and roll uh, music?

Bem do bom

Het is geen Remain in Light maar het is godverdomme close. Wat een feest van een album is dit.

For many years I insisted that Talking Heads should have hung it up after this album (I was later convinced that Speaking in Tongues isn't half bad if you aren't expecting a Talking Heads album, and I guess I can now appreciate Remain in Light.) But this one is still my favorite. During the COVID lockdown I did these song workout videos by an enthusiastic young Canadian woman. They were ok but I thought I might like it better with better songs, so I tried to make up a workout to I Zimbra. Nearly killed me.

loved it! I hadn't really gotten into their music before, but I added a few of their songs to my playlist. Catchy songs and unique sound

I Zimbra Paper Cities Animals Electric Guitar

All songs! Even the alternate versions.

Interesting throughout, loved listening to it. I struggle to find something to be mad about, the production is great, the melodies are hitting and it sounds like nothing else. The diversity is my favorite part, and in a way it is so kaleidoscopic it coud be anything you would want really. My smallest grip is that Animals is a bit of a dudd, but pop off kings.

Love it!

You can't really go wrong with any Talking Heads albums, and this is one of their best.

Nice. Not sure I can give a first five* Talking Heads album anything less than five stars. *Little Creatures and later have their moments but aren't as end-to-end solid as the earlier albums.

9/10

Love this. Life During Wartime, I Zimbra and Heaven are perfect songs. Lots of other good ones too.

Нормально

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? - Robert Browning

wonderful album, theres absolutely nothing like it. gets better everytime i listen to it

My favorite TH album at the moment. Peak TH IMO

My beloved talking heads

The Goats, Goating

Weird music done to perfections.

David Byrne is full of such whimsy

totally full of bangers, can't believe i've never heard this record. SO much fun. I would be stoked if I were out dancing and any of these songs came on.

I don't think I'll ever have a truly awful thing to say about this band. Every album just grew and got better, and Eno had tapped into something utterly magnificent in his production. Byrne is dredging the depths of his emotion, yelping and howling, feral at times. The band was absolutely perfectly balance, just before they determined they needed to expand their sound with additional musicians. If Remain in Light is their greatest achievement (it is) then this comes on a very close second.

This is more like it. I've had a week of some tough albums, and I was hoping for one I was guaranteed to love. And I got it today. This is my third Talking Heads record from the project. And so far it's gone in order, which is very cool. I gave their first two albums four stars, but this is the beginning of their five star period for me. I love this album musically and lyrically. Each member of the band has shining moments but it's all very cohesive as well. It is amazing produced. Standout songs in today's listen were I Zimbra, Paper, Cities, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait, Heaven, and Animals. And the rest of the songs were just a step below, but could have been favorites another day.

This was actually (along with Murmur) the first record I ever bought! It's not quite as ambitious as they'd get on Remain in Light, but Fear of Music probably gets as close to it as they were ever going to be able to get (mostly) without bringing in additional musicians. As such, this one's probably the best example of Talking Heads as art school post-punk.

Solid album. Like the other Talking Heads albums Tina Weymouth is standout. Her bass playing is way above average and really makes the whole album for me. Life During Wartime is a classic tune. I've had 3 New Wave classics this week. Quirky, strange and awesome.

One thing I love about this list is that it made me actually listen to the Talking Heads - they rule!

One of the best albums from one of the best bands ever

This has Cities on it. Cities reminds me when my best friend & I would play covers in my garage. Of course, I stupidly thought Cities was a Phish song, until I learned. My friend had taught me how to play the drums, so that he can play guitar. He was amazing, I was mediocre at best with no flair, just kept a beat. Kinda. This album is so unique. It's funky, it uses playful sonic sounds & it's weird but also serious. Bryne's voice is so unique & timeless. 5

No private session used for Spotify. About 20 years ago I went into a Talking Heads deep dive, 20 years after their prime but the music holds up. After listening to it again it more than holds up, it still rocks. Lots of songs to love on this album and none to skip.

Low 5 Cracker this. Never listened much before, defo second best talking heads album. Only issue is some of the songs feel pretty unfinished, electric guitar for example. It feels like it doesn't quite meet its own potential, see life during wartime - the stop making sense version is way better

This ain't no PARTY This ain't no DISCO THIS AIN'T NO FOOLIN AROUND But what it is, is a 5 star album by a 5 star band.

Awesome. Mostly bangers. Never heard something quite like this before

groovy lil albummmm I like it picasso

So original and fun tonight listen to. Air I think is my favourite song.

Talking f heads. Fav tracks: I Zimbra, Life During Wartime, Heaven. RYM: Y (#193) Saved a song: Y

Love Byrne’s voice, love Talking Head lyrics 5/5

i zimbra. cities. life during wartime. heaven. memories can’t wait. classic funky heads. their first truly great album.

Fantastic

slappy slaps. david byrne has an insane voice and tina weymouth's bass playing is top notch too. grooves for days.

As I said before, this fucks and cums. But it's so much more complex than that. This album gets better the more you listen to it. I initially wanted to give it a 2, which climbed to a 4, and now a 5 after making a whole new profile.I Zimbra and it's opening notes show you to expect a journey, a sound that is funky, playful, groovy and transformative. Mind is calmer, but still masterfully blends different sounds, aesthetics and vibes to create an eclectic but cohesive piece. Paper is cinematic. Cities is what I wanna listen to for the rest of my life and what influences you to think about this album to give it another listen. Life during wartime again shows you this is about rebellion, resistance and history. Memories can't wait is a breath of fresh air, but also a gut punch. Need the line "there's a party in my mind and I hope it never stops" as a tramp stamp. Air feels like something profound that you can't reach yet, a hidden subtext that one day you'll discover. Also this was somehow written about Max Verstappen and you cannot convince me otherwise. Heaven is well, ethereal. Animals is a tonal shift we need, a tempo bump. Electric guitar feels personal in a weird way, gives me a deja vu, a sense I have been here before, yet I do not know what will unfold next, just how to be kept in this time loop. And the final song gives one clarity. It makes you want to wait for a moment to process before putting the needle back on this record. Need to listen to this again and again ad naseum. No words. (Bitches will say no words after well a lot of words.)

Nothing like it

this album FUCKS, relentlessly // pure anxious propulsion, music from your nervous system // physically awkward in the best way, like your limbs dont know where to go // paranoid, twitchy, tightly wound but never in the same way // rhythm dynamics feel alive and unstable, always pushing // i zimbra as an opener is feral and delicious, perfect opener // life during wartime is all adrenaline and dread, no wasted motions or e-motions // air floats strangely, unsettling without being aggressive // paper is my spiritual anthem, obsessive and affirming // art-rock at peak tension- smart, weird, and fully bodied // sounds like thinking too fast

This was great and I will listen again

gives me lemon demon vibes. i'm sick rn and feel pretty miserable but this album feels nice fav song: Cities

Great album

My only criticism of this album is that Life During Wartime and Heaven somehow sound even better live on Stop Making Sense.

What a nice surprise to see that, despite being near the end of the challenge, there was still another Talking Heads album waiting for me! "Fear of Music" is considered by some to be their best work. The band are at the top of their game here, aided by Brian Eno once again, and a guest appearance by Robert Fripp. The lyrics depict a disaffected (and dystopian, with some artistic license) existence searching for success in New York. All set to very danceable rhythms. Talking Heads get a lot of spots on this list and there's probably not a great justification for that. But I'm not complaining.

Great album! Entirely wasted on my shitty job, would have been much more enjoyed smoking and dancing around my kitchen with my cat.

I Zimbra - 5/5 Mind - 4/5 Paper - 4/5 Cities - 4.5/5 Life During Wartime - 5/5 Memories Can't Wait - 4.5/5 Air - 4/5 Heaven - 4.5/5 Animals - 4/5 Electric Guitar - 3.5/5 Drugs - 4/5 I'd first like to thank the generator for somehow giving me a Talking Heads album in back-to-back weeks, with last week's being More Songs About Buildings and Food. I wasn't exactly sure what was missing from their second album, and then I started listening to this one and it hit me. Talking Heads works way better if they mixed influences from disco, funk, world music, and the like, and that shows on this album. The way they mixed these elements all comes together to form something experimental and "higher-brow" that just works, and will continue to evolve with the band. Two of my favorites (Life During Wartime and Heaven) I think were done way better in Stop Making Sense but that's more nitpicking than anything. I hope next week I get Remain in Light with this pace. Overall: 5/5 Favorites: I Zimbra, Cities, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait, Heaven

Wiiterhin LOVE LOVE LOVE! Die chönd nüd mache wo mer ned gfallt. 5 Kartonschilder mit “I love you” ide erste reihe

Rick James said it best when he said “cocaine is a powerful drug”

An apt title, cause this would probably scare the shit out of a lot of folks back in the 70s. I especially loved the song that was a paranoid rant about animals. Talking heads are just a blast man.

Terrific

Of the first 5 Talking Heads albums, this is the one that perhaps took me the longest to appreciate. It has some of my favourite tracks and is the first album to properly embrace Afro beat and disco rhythms, with the influence no more apparent than in the opening track. The album is edgy, angular, groovy and no doubt influential. I still regard Remain in Light as their best album, which to me is a 10/10 album I gave 5 stars. I was thinking I’d be giving this 4 stars but I was enjoying this so much that I thought I’d give it the full 5 stars, a generous round up for what is maybe a 9/10 album. I think the last few songs on the album are always where it comes down from great to good, at least momentarily. Not quite perfect.

Just pleasant to listen to. The last few tracks were slightly weaker and I did get whiplash in between Heaven and Animals, but I think this might be the best Talking Heads album I’ve heard so far. I had only listened to Speaking In Tongues outside this challenge and it’s a shame I missed out on this one for so long.

Bom álbum boa banda

Another great album by Talking Heads. I Zimbra is such an iconic song to open the album with and the stellar songwriting doesn’t let up. Cities, Life During Wartime and Animals were stand outs. Heaven is my favorite TH song although I prefer the Stop Making Sense version more. The rearrangement of the lyrics in the live version makes the last verse hit even harder. All in all this is a great album

Easy

I want to be david byrne when i grow up

if it's first 5 albums of Talking Heads you better believe it's a 5

Discazo. Los Talking Heads son el mejor grupo de la historia. I Zimbra como origen del Remain in light es un temazo histórico. Todo buenísimos temas me ha encantado. Siempre le di más a otros discos suyos y me ha encantado poder prestarle esta atención exclusiva. Cities y Mind diría que son mis favoritos del disco son de lo mejor que hicieron.

"Fear of Music" is dance music. Themes of fear, paranoia and dystopia transformed into rhythmic motion. And when you tap into the rhythms, it's impossible not to get completely immersed in it. We always said that we were going to get ridiculously fit, just by copying David Byrne's dance moves throughout "Stop Making Sense". The art rock fitness routine. His energy and movement just doesn't let up for the whole gig. Much like this album. "Fear of Music" is an album of rhythm and texture. Every song brings something unique to build this rhythmic force. "I Zimbra" brings Afrobeat, Fela Kuti vibes, and guitars acting as percussion. "Mind" brings layers and layers to a simple melody. "Paper" brings frenzied guitars that get more frenzied as it goes on. "Cities" goes so hard that Byrne's voice breaks down at the end. "Air" brings b-movie sounds to dystopic topics. "Animals" brings a mix of unease and release to dissonant sounds. "Electric Guitar" brings Eno-esque, nuttiness. "Drugs" brings experimental vocals and atmosphere. "Memories Can't Wait" bring Heroes-era Bowie influences. It's dark, brooding and then morphs into that incredible ending. "Life During Wartime" brings the energy, with that relentless unbroken beat, and the incredible shift from verse to chorus. "Heaven" brings a genius concept. The concept of heaven, this place of perfection, being incredibly boring. What's interesting about going to a bar where nothing happens? "Fear of Music" seems more interested in rhythm than melody, but everything is somehow still catchy as hell. It's a masterpiece, the stuff of genius. By the end of it all, you feel like you've gone through a sort of religious experience. Like you've been to one of those megachurches. A preacher screams in your face, you start convulsing, speaking in tongues, and everyone starts screaming and dancing around the place in excitement. You're wrecked, but cathartic. Like the demons have just been expelled from your body through a strange and brilliant shamanic ceremony of rhythm.

Paper🥵

incrivelmente bom? porra os outros que vieram aqui tavam numa preguiça do carai, esse parece que simplesmente ligaram o motor e fizeram música bruta. brabo.

depois que escutei o speaking in tongues deles eu finalmente entendi a pira. e esse aqui eh o primeiro da run dos 3 melhores albuns deles!! dá pra ver o caminho que eles começam a traçar aqui mas sem perder o art punk maluco deles. bom DEMAIS, não economizarei eh 5 estrelas nessa porra. eu sempre fico PUTO porque Psycho Killer é a PIORZINHA deles e a que mais fez sucesso. mto paia.

Increible disco lleno de éxitos.

<3

🤩🤩🤩

African rhythms. Darker than the others.

Perfect pick up mid morning.

Okay HERE WE GOOOOO, I love the song "Heaven"! It was featured at the end of an ESPN documentary about, among other things, the OJ Simpson Bronco chase and all the other sports stuff that happened on that day... maybe the Houston Rockets winning some important game? I think it was in June.... idk. In any case I became obsessed with that song and the line "heaven is a place where nothing ever happens." OK "Mind" fucking rips. I love that weird opening riff!

This project is making me into a Talking Heads fan for sure. I knew them from their hits and once dove into More Songs About Buildings and Food, so I knew I liked the deep tracks there. Buy this is also quite enjoyable to me as a whole. Love the jangle pop turn on “Heaven” … “Life During Wartime” has long been a fav and sadly seems more relevant than ever.

I think if 90 percent of artists were to make this same album I would find it unlistenable. Through some alchemy Talking Heads and Brian Eno make it not only listenable but amazing.

loved it so much, a diff kinda vibe

I first heard Cities aged 14 on a local radio station's "alternative" show. I saved up my pocket money and bought Fear of Music. I was a weirdo then. I still am. Fuck the straight world with its boring music. I ain't got time for that now.

David Byrne you’ve done it again

Talking Heads havde et utroligt run fra 1977-1984. Remain in light var den bedste plade, men det her var måske den mest spændende

As someone who has felt like an alien in disguise during every social interaction, the Talking Heads is the music of my people. Especially the last few tracks on this album.

Dette høres fortsatt ferskt ut idag! Like energisk, original, og rytmisk pop-musikk skal man lete lenge etter. Har alltid holdt en knapp på dette som den sterkeste Heads skiva, til tross for at den Eno-produserte Remain in Light ofte regnes som deres magnum opus. (Fear of Music har kanskje ikke et spor som er like sterkt som The Great Curve, men Light mister på en måte piffen i andre halvdel.) Må innrømme at jeg var veldig i tvil om denne skulle få 5, men når jeg tenker over hvor mange sterke spor det er her -- Mind, Cities, Life During Wartime, Air, Heaven -- og hvor lett det er å sette på skiva gang på gang, så snakker det for seg selv.

Har hørt mest på 77, og selvfølgelig Norges svar på Talking Heads: deLillos. Men Fear of Music var et gledelig gjenhør. Dette er en new wave-klassiker, og artrock? Vet ikke, men man kan høre at bandet har sugd til seg innflytelser som en svamp. Åpenbart allerede fra "I Zimbra", men for eksempel "Memories Can't Wait" låter som om Kraftwerk skulle spilt inn en låt med ekte instrumenter. Plata groover godt, kanskje takket være sugerøret inn i "verdensmusikken". Jeg tenker at det ikke er feil å kalle Talking Heads og The Police for New wave-søskenbarn sånn sett, kanskje til og med brødre. Men Talking Heads er i høyeste grad et band for seg selv, og som er vanskelig å gjenskape. Once in a lifetime, med mindre du er deLillos.

Strange, messy and bizarre in the best way possible

This update is crazy y'all. Anyways, Fear Of Music is my second favorite Talking Heads album. For a long time, I had some weird hesitation to check out Fear Of Music. I thought it wasn't going to be as good as R.I.L, but boy, that kid was stupid. I personally see Fear Of Music as a concept album displaying various phobias. Fear of Mind, Fear of Cities, Fear of Animals, Fear of Drugs, Fear of Air, etc. There's a lot of paranoid feeling in David Byrne's delivery and lyricism. Hearing him yell about how animals are useless over a fairly catchy backing track is quite the groove. My two personal favorite tracks display just how great the band had gotten by this point: Memories Can't Wait and Heaven. Heaven is one that I've heard for years because of its inclusion in Stop Making Sense early on, but Memories Can't Wait was one that took me by high surprise when I first heard it in full. That outro section where the title comes in and Jerry Harrison joins in is incredibly cathartic to hear. Add in the fact that Eno produced it and Fripp played on it and you have even more of a reason for me to love this album. While Remain In Light is relatively more groundbreaking, this record set them up to be the legends they are in my life. Why was I so fearful at first? (9/10, 5/5 on this scale)

Ohhh this is one all my Talking Heads favourites are from.

Talking heads dont have a bad album

This is why I live this challenge. I've been listening to these guys for almost 40 years and while spinning this I said "Have you ever listened to this?". I know every song. I'm sure I have. Probably many times, but I just can't remember. Either way, it's fucking brilliant.

4.5 - Great

Brilliant album, I’ve only every heard Talking Heads 77 before, 4 stars, but I think I prefer this one. They’re a band I really must go through the discography of at some point. Top Track - Life During Wartime

Amazing album from an amazing band. It starts off huge with “I Zimbra” and doesn’t stop until it’s over. Some of my favorite songs from the greatest band to come out of Punk/New Wave. 10/10 Favorite Tracks- “IZimbra” “Heaven” “Drugs”

On top of this being just an amazing album, this holds a ton of meaning to me. During the pandemic, we had twin two year olds and a 4 year old. This album was on almost daily for months and it would incite and immediate dance party for my kids.

I'm largely a novice when it comes to Talking Heads - I like, and own Remain in Light on vinyl but have never dived any deeper than that. On my first listen to this one, I think I prefer it over the latter. A consistently weird and angular, yet strangely inviting album in some respects. The funky, rhythmic bass is to die for, there is a paranoia hanging over it that keeps me intrigued and on edge at all times, and the well-pronounced production allows the songs to come to life. I've just ordered it on vinyl and can't wait to explore further.

This one will be easy, glad I got into TH seriously a year or two ago. Out of 11 songs, 10 are in my Talking Heads playlist and I like 8 so this is easy 5 stars for me. Great, great album with clear influence from Fela Kuti and of course produced by Mr. Eno.

FAVOURITE GROUP

Not a huge fan of the alternative takes on the deluxe version of this, but that album itself is FAN FUCKING TASTIC. Loving the subtle disco rhythm section

yes. nice african feeling

God so damn good. It has always been my second fav TH album. So many great songs and the production is a great amalgamation of the early talking heads and remain in light. Studio Heaven is kinda goofy I will say lol

Weird. Skizo. Love it.

Jams all the way through

Just going about my day and Heaven hits me like a ton of bricks. Talking Heads, some of the best to ever do it!!!!

David Byrne es uno de los creadores más originales que ha dado la historia del rock. Su vehículo de expresión ha sido fundamentalmente la banda Talking Heads. Ahí ha dado rienda suelta a su eclecticismo y su poco convencional sentido de la música. Esa es su aportación y bien que nos gusta. En este álbum hay canciones que me dejan más bien frío pero la gran mayoría son aciertos. “I Zimbra” (claramente crimsoniana, no en vano el mismísimo Robert Fripp toca en ella), “Cities” y mi favorita “Heaven” son buen ejemplo de la originalidad de la banda.

Easy 5 star, talking heads in their prime and most creative.

This has the TH hits like Life During Wartime and Heaven, of course. But I so dig the spooky classics like Drugs and Electric Guitar. Drugs, btw, is your brain when it's deciding whether to plunge you into a full fledged bad trip. Love I Zimbra.

Thoroughly enjoyed this album.

Not my favourite Talking Hesds record, but then they’ve never put out anything less than an 8/10 so that’s not a bad thing. One of the best bands ever, could happily listen to their back catalogue and nothing else for the rest of time.

I forgot how good this album is.

5 out of 5. Heaven is one of their best songs so there's some bias here. Overall just a really interesting and fun album.

"Fear of Music" is the third album by American band Talking Head. New wave, post-punk, art rock and psychedelic funk are the Wiki-listed genres. Can't argue with any of those for this one. The band didn't want to be a singles band after the success of their cover of "Take Me to the River" and wanted to expand on the subtle disco rhythms from their previous album "More Songs About Buildings and Food" Co-producer Brian Eno helped them do that by building the album with electronics. Talking Heads were David Byrne (lead and backing vocals, guitar), Jerry Harrison (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Tina Weymouth (bass, backing vocals) and Chris Frantz (drums). Commercially, the album reached #21 in the US and #33 in the UK and, critically, it had favorable reviews for its unconventional rhythms and Byrne's lyrical performance and as one of the band's best albums. Fast drums, polyrhythms including congas, a rumbling bass and and building guitar riff kick the album off in "I Zimbra." A swirling keyboard melody as Byrne teams up with recording engineer Julie List, Brian Eno and others on the vocals. Mostly non-sensible lyrics but with a theme of World War I artists attempting to rekindle their fractured world after the war horrors and linking it to the 1979 era. Disco, afrobeat and a song Byrne said influenced the direction of their next album "Remain in Light." "Cities" comes in charging with the guitar, fast drums and rolling bass. They get the dance going again. Byrne with anxious and paranoid vocals and lyrics. The band's residential preference is urban. The frantic, anxious vibe gets amped up a notch in "Life During Wartime." Synth melody driven. An irresistible funkiness with the bass and drums. Byrne with shotgun vocals as he he places us in a dystopian world where he is the unheroic urban guerilla and normalcy is lost. If I had to point someone to the most Talking Heads' song, this would be it. Why would anyone protest the atmosphere? Well, that's exactly what Byrne does in "Air." Creepy synth and guitar. A tight rhythm section. Even breathing hurts at times when your depressed. It's hard for me not to picture the "Stop Making Sense" footage of David Byrne and Tina Weymouth alone on stage when hearing "Heaven." Dreamy. A great guitar melody and bass. Byrne's echoing vocals are both emotional and unemotional as he imagines eternal bliss being a monotonous, uneventful state. My favorite Talking Heads' song. This is an album which I bought when it came it out, liked it; it continues to sound extremely good and has also aged well. The band accomplished their goal of expanding the rhythms and beats of their previous release with polyrhythms and a very tight drum and bass section. The vocals are chanting, echoing, anxious and paranoid. A proposed overall theme of fear is very interesting and I agree that every song can be imagined to be a fear of whatever is the song's title. The marriage of the lyrics, vocals and music perfectly match the intent. This album has the most Talking Heads' Talking Heads' song (to me) and has my favorite Talking Heads' song. Is it my favorite album? Hmmm? It'll always be in the top three. Obviously, I give this a very high recommendation and a must listen.

life durring war time

Remek djelo. uvik mislim jel mi draži on. Ili remain in light

Talking Heads in their prime. What more needs to be said. 5/5

251/1089 - David Byrne's phrasing really makes this record. Probably my favorite Talking Heads one of the one's I've listened to since it's the least repetitive.

Surprisingly I don't think I've ever listened to this album, though I've heard a bunch of the songs from their live album (I Zimbra, Mind, Cities, Life During Wartime to name a few). In the studio environment these songs sound so much more contained -- especially I Zimbra feels like there is a lid on it. Mind is a great encapsulation of the quirky essence of Talking Heads -- video game sounding bass twills, and Byrne being Byrne -- absolutely love it. Cities is fucking great. Love the propulsiveness and sense of urgency nearing on desperation for Byrne to find a city to live in. Life During Wartime is an absolute jam made to get crowds up and shuffling. Memories Can't Wait is a wildly psychedelic detour with deeply unsettling instrumental as Byrne laments the never-ending party in his mind. Air is a simple jam; love the breathy vocal support. Heaven is an oddly sober reflection in this context. Always have loved how they leaned full force into the off-kilter nature of his voice. Such a kook. Really dig the muted bass tone on Electric Guitar. Drugs is true to its name as a spaced out closer oscillating between sections of groove and bliss(?) with plenty of other random shit thrown in here and there for effect. Well that was a ride that I was very much in favor of. Certainly nowhere near the punchiness of Remain in Light, but fantastic in its own right. Solid 5 / 5 in my book.

Nerdy and weird new wave music that just needs to exist

Loved this.

Belting, always love talking heads. Toe tapping and funky, clever and funny and man what a voice. Life during wartime could raise me from the dead.

5 of 5 Love every single song. Talking Heads is a phenomenonal band

UHOOOOO

This band was soooo great. This is one of the weird ones, along with Remain in Light. You can't go wrong with Fear of Music.

I've always liked this "worldy" album from the Talking Heads. Every song slaps.

ОЧЕНЬ КЛАССНО!!!

Really unique album from a very unique band. I have this album in my collection, but for some reason it hasn't got the same attention as the debut or Remain in light. Was about to give it 4 stars, but then listened it for the second time and added one more. Great album!

Brian Eno and Talking Heads = Peanut Butter and Jelly 5/5

Love this album. Been in my collection for many years. Esp like Heaven, Life during wartime and drugs. 5/5

92/1001. FEAR OF MUSIC is a green staircase to nowhere, rattling like a typewriter eating rain. Houses in motion? No — the houses breathe. The floorboards whisper, “I Zimbra” in zebra Morse code, while cities turn upside down to comb their hair. This record is not a record, it is a black rectangle filled with invisible giraffes dancing to the sound of boiled clocks. David Byrne’s voice? An umbrella that refuses to open. The bassline? A polite earthquake wearing silk pajamas. You don’t listen to Fear of Music — it listens to you, then nods and rearranges your furniture in alphabetical order.

for some reason this album has appeared twice for me. I gave it 5 stars then. I will give it 5 stars now

i've only partially heard this in the past, but obviously i'll be rating this pretty highly I Zimbra - 5/5 Mind - 5/5 Paper - 5/5 Cities - 5/5 Life During Wartime - 5/5 Memories Can't Wait - 5/5 Air - 5/5 Heaven - 4/5 Animals - 4/5 Electric Guitar - 3/5 Drugs - 4/5 Average score: 4.5/5 (rounding up)

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco.

This album is alternative and a great listen

A classic album that I have listened to hundreds of times

take me to the river .

awesome

Amazing

All time fav

One of my favorite albums of all time. 5 stars for sure lol. Listened to it many many times

Great album

10/10 One of my all time favourites. Interesting, experimental, funny, funky. No bad songs.

I used to say I’ve never heard a Talking Heads song I didn’t like. I still do, but I used to, too. This is my first time listening all the way through a Talking Heads album and I didn’t know any of the songs, but I had a good time with it. David Byrne is a unique voice in music and Brian Eno helps make this one special.

very catchy, expressive!

SHIT ON THE GROUND

This album is a place

Loved it! I still think there are some better Talking Heads albums, but I had never given this one a fair shake and ended up enjoying it quite a bit!

This album feels like pure anxiety, and that doesn't always mean it's a manic mile-a-minute, but rather a look into an individual riddled with paranoia and submerged in conspiracy. The album still has this funk, and if you've explored the album before or after it, you know this feeling is not unfamiliar to Talking Heads, but the pure disbelief happening around this album and its emotions is what drives the listener from track to track. Some of the topics here are relatively trivial, while others just seem deranged, but it's those moments of actual fear that oddly keep the band moving, and while its anxieties perhaps make for a more jittery sound, that blends incredibly well with the minimalist funk introduced in the beginning track. The whole theme of the album just feels like making complex issues simple, and vice versa, and that makes for an incredibly engaging album, one where you always wonder what Byrne will warble about next. Its loss against its fellow Talking Heads albums, in my opinion, is that while the slow descent on Remain in Light felt tonally justified, here the slowdown across the tracks doesn't feel quite as earned, nor as heavy, and can lead to a noticeable drop-off in quality in the final stretch. Still good songs, of course, but the slow-course anxiety displayed on Air is done to perfection, leading the other slow tracks to be easily cast to the side when looking for a fix. However, that does not detract on how well the band was able to not only represent the sound of the era, but also form it themselves into something heart-pounding yet groovy, and that more electronic sound found here really adds to the cold mental state. Being able to create a feeling of anxiety and translate it into music is incredible, and being able to still make it extremely dance heavy is just that much more so.

I had only really listened to Remain in Light before, but this is also a great album. I clocked Robert Fripp in I Zimbra, which made me realize how much thebKing Crimson album Discipline owes to the Talking Heads. I want tongive this a 4.5, but I can't. I'm giving it a five. It's not perfect, but it is far from a four.

usual brilliance by this band. fine art rock

I mean, Talking Heads and Eno, like chocolate and peanut butter. Also I’m pretty sure this was my friend Jamal’s favorite Talking Heads album. So that counts for something.

I love Talking Heads, and this is my favorite album of theirs.

Brimming with nervous kinetic energy, nonstop post punk grooves, swirling ambient menace and explosive joyful melody, darkness and light, whimsy and paranoia, irony and earnestness.

erer

ma vrh. doduše vrckasti autizam s prethodna dva albuma u nešto manjoj mjeri prisutan. zadnje kad sam slušao, shvatio sam da je album dosljedno jako jako dobar; teško mi je izdvojiti najlošiju pjesmu - možda čak heaven? najbolja mi je uvijek animals, prejebena

GOT SOME GROCERIES SOME PEANUT BUTTAH!

I have to admit that this is a Talking Heads record that I never listened to prior to this list. I am now realizing the true gravity of that failure. I expected to hear more upbeat, cryptic new wave, which I absolutely love, but something about this album feels darker, almost spookier than what I’ve come to expect from David Byrne and co. There’s still plenty of funk and that new wave bounce, but this feels far more post-punk. I really enjoyed listening to this record. My favourite track is “Memories Can’t Wait”. I feel like it really embodies the dark and vaguely terrifying vibe of this record. I could picture this song playing in a dark 1980’s goth club in New York, and it sounds like something I wish I’d experienced. 5*, no question about it.

If you compare the Talking Heads' previous album, 'More Songs About Buildings and Food', to 'Fear of Music', the difference is remarkable. This is the album, in my opinion, in which they stop being just another cool, funky CBGB post punk group and become the Talking Heads, one of the most musically dynamic, interesting, complex, wholly unique popular acts of the 80s. The opening track to 'Fear of Music', "I Zimbra", is an excellent example of the kind of Talking Heads song that only the Talking Heads could've made. The guitar work in particular on this song is engrossing and this is probably my favorite song on the album. With the obvious afrobeat influences, it feels more like a test run for their next and best album, 'Remain in Light', than like it fits sonically and thematically with the rest of this album. While the rest of this album varies quite a bit in sound and style, from the frantic funk of "Life During Wartime" to the sedate almost-country of "Heaven", the unifying feeling of this album is anxiety. The subject matter ranges from pieces of paper to apocalypse prepping to the afterlife and many stops in between, but all of them are treated with an agita that bleeds over from the lyrics into the music. This is an incredibly cool album and occasionally quite funny ("Memphis, home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks"). Absolutely one of their best albums. Favorite songs: "I Zimbra", "Mind", "Cities", "Life During Wartime", "Air", "Heaven"

I was not too impressed with the first talking heads album i had to rate but weirdly enough I started to dig his voice and loved many songs on this album. It must have been great to listen to this live. I should probably relisten the other one… five stars!

Man, I love the Talking Heads. The whole thing feels big and dancey when the lyrics are, in many cases, bleak. It feels like Byrne is challenging you to pick one- the dark reality he’s painted in his lyrics, or the energetic beats he’s enticing you with. Best example of this is “Life in Wartime”. The lyrics are bone chilling, and listening to this song while watching the protests in LA (fuck ice) feels surreal. But goddamn if that song doesn’t make me want to get up and dance. Fear of Music, indeed.

What a vibe. There's no mega hit on this album but it's just so good all around. David Byrne lives in some other multiverse and just happens to leak music here and you can't convince me otherwise and Tina Weymouth is immaculate as always. I think this is a little more bass driven than other heads projects which might be why it's my current favorite.

Best Song: Life after Wartime The best song may be a little premature, but it is the song I am most familiar with. The entire album is out of this world. You know it's good when the first thing you do after listening is go to Amazon and grab it on vinyl!

This album slaps. The highlight for me was 'Mind'. What an excellent jam. I love this band so much.

Talking Heads shaped so much. The sheer versatility of their sound of art school punk. I’m more familiar with Speaking In Tongues when they dipped more into “popular” pop but you can feel the foundation of it here with the Eno twist. Mind reminds me a lot of David Bowie - Heroes. Album makes me wish I could see them live. Life During Wartime would be superb.

Not my favourite talking heads album but still a great listen

This is great! Nice and short too so I had it on a few times and it kept getting better. Even the extra track on Spotify without any discernable lyrics were fun.

Exceptional music by an oustanding band.

this is album generator at it's best, i loved this album

This record was my “go to” for a really long time. After Remain In Light and the rest, this kind of got loft behind, like the singer in Almost Famous. Playing it again today was like hearing it gir the first time all over again. It REALLY holds up. Short and sweet, all killer no filler. Mind. Drugs. Heaven. Cmon! Five big stars!!!!

I’m not gonna lie I cried just seeing this album pop up. This has what we call big feelings songs. Sure it busts out the gate with the worldly disco funkish I zimbra and you can tell Eno influenced it. Every song is so touching for me. I’m a fan tho. I get that it’s more experimental than buildings and food and definitely more prog than punk but it’s great for just that reason.

The logical next step after Buildings and Food. I used to be contrarian and say that this was my favourite Talking Heads album but I can't act like Remain in Light isn't the peak. Still a favourite though. It gets me going.

I know, I know Eno produced it- so it's perfect.

5 stars but I'm biased and love taking heads,

Nunca havia ouvido algo tão louco e eletrizante. As composições são divertidas e interessantes. É um album que tem instrumentais e arranjos estranhos e misteriosos.

I'm a longtime Talking Heads fan but I don't listen to this album as much as Remain in Light or Speaking in Tongues, but this is typically great stuff from them. The band is really hitting its stride here, an energetic album start to finish. Standouts: Cities, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait

So fantastic in scope and execution. Somehow Talking Heads were able to be so unique and true to themselves and seemingly be uncompromising and still draw large crowds not only because they were genuine, but because their messages hit home and they were pop enough to please. A major pride of Rhode Island for sure.

This is one of my favorite records, period. This album and "Remain in Light" are both outstanding and while they didn't have the commercial success of "Speaking in Tongues" they are better!

4,5/5

Great Talking Heads album. One of my favorites.

peak

Not the Talking Head's best album exactly, but the Talking Heads are definitely up there among my favorite bands, and Fear of Music is a part of their incredible 5 album run from '77 to Speaking in Tongues, it was never going to be anything but a 5 from me. They just are that fascinating a band.

Big fan of David Byrne and the Talking Heads in general. Had not heard this album before but it's filled with the groovy beats and quirky guitar licks I crave. Would listen again

I’m incredibly biased on this album cause I am a huge Talking Heads fan and a huge David Byrne fan. This is probably in the top 5 Talking Heads album. It’s not as iconic as Remain in Light, ‘77, or Speaking in Tongues. However it is probably the most under appreciated album in their catalogue. You could make the argument that the most underrated is More Songs About Buildings and Food which I could see cause it definitely doesn’t get the love it deserves, but Fear of Music I like better personally. Seriously if you have never heard the Talking Heads you should check out this album as well as the other 4 I mentioned and then go watch True Stories, that movies really crazy and really funny.

After its dadaist entrance, Fear of Music gets frightfully realist: 'Science won't change you, looks like I can't change you / I try to talk to you to make things clear'; 'Had a love affair but it was only paper'; 'I will find a city, find myself a city to live in / Help me'; 'This ain't no mudd club, or C.B.G.B / I ain't got time for that now.' This is the heaviest Talking Heads out there, by far, w/ 'Memories Can't Wait' bordering on Joy Division's later innovations, and 'Heaven' presaging R.E.M's sincere ballads, but somehow there's still a party, rhythmically prompted, happening between the lines. The Talking Heads are never my first thought to throw on, but whenever I do, I am reminded of how impossibly creative, seamlessly inventive they really are.

The sewers singing.

Serious hooks with deep grooves

🏔️

I love this album. There's the strangeness of I Zimbra where I always start this album wondering if David Byrne is going to go Paul Simon on us, but he's exploring the huge diversity of musical styles, which I think has always been a strength of the Talking Heads. Mind is good. I don't know or care if there are any other words in the song. It's good talking heads. This was the first Talking Heads album I every owned. It was my point of entry past "Burning Down the House." Recommended by the dude in the record store where I went to college. This whole album makes me think of driving around Texas listening to music. Paper opens like a conventional song... until Byrne starts singing. Then we're back on familiar/unfamiliar ground. I met an Argentine music journalist who complained about David Byrne. Apparently he got really into bicycling and traveled around the world riding his bike and he wrote a book about it. His entry on Buenos Aires was really critical, which she said wasn't fair because it's a country that doesn't have a tradition of bicycling. So no matter what I always have a picture in my head of David Byrne as an angry bicyclist. Air I always think I'm not going to like because it begins with so much Talking Heads strange energy but then it resolves itself into a really nice song. I don't know what he's talking about but I find it very relatable. Heaven is maybe my favorite song on this album. I catch myself humming it. William Blake has this idea of a kind of heaven that he calls Beulah, and it's the conventional idea of heaven where everything is at peace and is tranquil, but to him that's a false kind of heaven because it's static, nothing happens, and it robs us of our dynamic human potential. I don't know the most about Blake or really about the Talking Heads, but that's what this song always makes me think about. I saw the talking heads perform one time and it was bizarre. They had these choreographed dancers doing a routine with office chairs. End of the day, not my favorite Talking Heads album. I'll hold that out for Speaking in Tongues (and the excellent movie). But this is a super solid album that delivers on what I love the Talking Heads for which is their strangeness and unexpectedness.

You get in the car. Turn on the engine. Things are in motion. Road is clear and endless. Windows down, you floor it. There is no need for hesitance, no buildup, you just go, no stopping on this journey. Maybe you slow to turn a corner or coast looking up to the heavens, maybe you don’t but this car can’t drop below 50 mph or the vibe will explode. Oh and all your friends are in the car and it’s a party, love is in the air. Pupils dilated everything hits at once and then we crash….queue Drugs. What a fantastic album listen to it a bunch growing up. Used it as pump up music when I used to paint the dorm rooms for Northwestern. It was my secret weapon. I found this album on my own. It was random and I just fell in love with it. I think it was the first Talking Heads album I ever listened to in full. Heaven is such a beautiful song. The guitar work, insane. Bass riffs galore and the drums are steady and danceable. Thanks 1001 gods… no more chocolate cake.

Just awesome. Still holds up over 45 years later. Many of the non-hit songs have been stuck in my head pretty much all those years. I didn't understand how good Tina's bass work was, esp when she was a latecomer to the instrument. Not many life regrets but not seeing these guys live is near the top of that list.

The first TH album I bought. Probably not the best introduction. But appreciated having the time as a teenager to learn to love it. Heaven.

i adore this record from top to bottom, it’s been an all-time favorite of mine going back years.

I love Talking Heads so much. Great music and song writing, and vocals that are my kind of weird. I was worried about this album since it's earlier than what I usually listen to, but nope, it was just what I wanted

Love. I prefer some of the live versions of this on Stop Making Sense but I can't just give it a 4

The lyrics of this record are masterful and Byrne’s vocals are among my favorite in rock and music in general. Life During Wartime Cities Memories Can’t Wait Mind Animals Electric Guitar Heaven Drugs Air I Zimbra Paper

Give me all the Talking Heads.

Te amo Talking Heads, te amo Brian Eno! Meu terceiro disco favorito da banda, integrando parte da triplice entente junto de Remain in Light e Speaking in Tongues (Lembrando que esses 3 foram lançados em sequencia, que absurdo!). Não acho esse disco melhor que os dois que mencionei, mas sem ele, os outros dois não existiriam. Quando você ouve a discografia da banda em ordem cronológica voce percebe o salto IMENSO que esse disco deu ! Se você fica parado ouvindo faixas como Cities, Air ou Life During Wartime, pode se enterrar porque tu ja morreu xD... E no mesmo album com essas pedradas dançantes voce tem tambem faixas como Memories Can't Wait, Mind ou Drugs que chegam a te paralizar... David Byrne é um mestre em evocar emoções fortes, nesse disco ele brinca bastante com medos e ansiedades e angustias e inseguranças e arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Heaven is a place... a place where nothing .... nothing ever happens : - ) Não sei explicar, mas esse album, e outros do Talking Heads, conseguem borrar a linha entre experimental e acessivel de uma forma magistral. Eu amo as texturas, cada detalhe, cada ritmo não-ortodoxo... Banda brilhante. Meu primeiro 5/5, e é sinistro pensar que esse não chega nem perto dos picos dos MELHORES albuns do Talking Heads. Que banda ein!!!! A definição de 5 estrelas, na minha opinião. Não vejo sequer uma falha, album consistente do começo ao fim! Lindo.

i zimbra- 8 or 9 mind- 8 paper- 7 cities- 8 life during wartime- 9 memories cant wait- 7 air- 7 heaven- 9 or 10 animals- 7 electric guitar- 7 or 8 drugs- 7 mwah

I had never listened to this album. I would pick it up and think I don’t know many of the songs, but I am so happy I do now. It can’t be overstated what a great thing that Eno and the Talking Heads had going for a while.

Classic albums. Lots of great songs. Good feel throughout

Love this album by talking heads!

Starting to wonder if this band ever put out a miss. Overlooked them for years and have really kicking myself for it. Here's another solid release, jam-packed with creativity. They're constantly experimenting, but can still write hooks that never make the weirdo shit feel off-putting; all the while still undeniably rocking. This one in particular feels like a perfect waypoint between More Songs and Remain In Light.

Their best album.

Groovy, entretenido, suena bien. SImple pero efectivo

Stellar tunes by a stellar band. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 5. The last time we got Talking Heads was 38 albums into this whole thing, and I just don’t think I was prepared back then. I thought it was especially weird & avant garde, and took a million different directions lyrically in a way that distracted from the production. I gave it a 3.5 bumped down to a 3, and that’s probably “incorrect” in light of the 410 albums we’ve since gotten, some of which took exponentially weirder turns. It feels good to remedy that with this album, which certainly feels more normal, stylized & consistent than Talking Heads: 77 did. Of course, bubbling underneath the surface of some excellent Brian Eno-infused production through a variety of styles & some really good guitar/percussion/synth melodies, is an album entirely based around fear & paranoia. Certainly a bit similar thematically to Peter Gabriel 3, but not quite in the same way – that album tended to focus more on individual stories and snapshots of melting minds, as opposed to this album, with a sort of chronic panic that exists in broader strokes, with the intent to capture a feeling as opposed to tell a specific story. For the most part, this album REALLY succeeds in doing so – there are great lyrics abound on this thing, & the instrumentals do a great job of complimenting them, but David Byrne’s vocal performance enhances the panic in those lyrics & the instrumentation to an incredible degree, and he is an absolutely highlight of the album. The eccentricities of his voice that made Talking Heads: 77 feel captivating but inconsistent lyrically are channeled really nicely here as a way to fully capture the mood of each track, with “Cities” as probably the best example here. Much like Peter Gabriel 3, I think this does need a bit more attention to really get the album, but it feels equally as rewarding to me. There are a few tracks that didn’t land as well as they could / should have (namely “Electric Guitar”), but I really enjoyed a lot of this. It might just be the 400+ days since the last one talking, & the amount of music I’ve since heard that made this one feel better, but I do think they found a really nice balance between the eccentric captivating production & storytelling on this one, in a way that fully clicked for me. It’s a pretty good 5, and I’m glad it’s on the list.

Absolutely rips, start to finish. One of the greats. Byrne rules, band rules.

Talking Heads 4/4 Before diving into this, I revisited More Songs About Buildings and Food, my lowest rated TH (though at a respectable 3/5). And honestly, it was better than I remember. What probably led to me rating it below their debut, 77, came down to two things: It wasn’t as immediately fascinating as their 80s output was (aka Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues), and also that I was still on the fence about Brian Eno’s touch. Now, thanks to this list essentially waterboarding me with Eno-produced albums, I’m a lot more inclined to his sound than I used to be. And I’m happy to report, not only is it immediate, the Byrne/Eno combo gets right up in yer face. There's enough freaky, auxiliary noise to make this live up to its name, though somehow it doesn't overwhelm everything. It can also be disarmingly beautiful at times ("Heaven", "Air") HL: “Heaven”, “Cities”, “Air”, “Life During Wartime”, “Animals”, “I Zimbra” March 18, 2025

I was debating a 4 or 5 for this one because I really liked it and feel like the Talking Heads just deliver nonstop. There’s so much fun and and creativity that you feel the passion and goofiness in every song. I was thinking a 4 but realized it was because I didn’t know any of the songs and didn’t have any attachments coming in, but I couldn’t find a single fault. It was solid all the way through and had several stand out songs and variety but felt like a coherent project at the same time. I would def relisten multiple times and even let it loop 2/3 on Friday.

Better than Remain in Light!

Simply some of the best, weirdest, new waviest, funked out shit ever

My head also speaks. 5

STR8 FYRE!! I loved this!! Specifically I love the band. They sound so good together.

I really really enjoyed this. The mixing and the bass on this are insane. Great songs great album flow. This was amazing.

Another excellent album by Talking Heads. Though, if they have a bad one, I've never heard it.

Exceptional

Absolute gem of an album! Love this one front to back.

Great album--love Heaven, I Zimbra (how many times have I danced to that?), Life During Wartime, Electric Guitar, well, basically, it's all terrific. I still prefer Remain in Light as the best Talking Heads album, but this might have the best songs.... so good.

Love this album. It’s funky and groovy and way ahead of its time, as the Talking Heads were. I never delved this deep into their stuff before but I’m glad I did.

Enjoyed more on average than Songs about Buildings and Food, also includes one of my favourite songs from the group. Really not sure what to say. I feel that the band is just going to be a love it/hate it deal for most people that mostly comes down to your feelings on David Byrne's vocal style & delivery

I found it difficult to rate this album since it contains two of my top five favourite Talking Heads songs, it also contains some deep cuts that are enjoyable enough but aren't particularly memorable. Except Mind, that one is memorable but not in a particularly good way. Another issue with this album is that the songs I do like on here are better performed on Stop Making Sense. Having said all of that, the songs on here that I consider to be GREAT are lumped in with songs that I would call GOOD. It is better to interpret Talking Heads as the musical output of an art collective rather than a band. And unlike CERTAIN art collectives who make 'albums' (Throbbing Gristle), this shit actually rocks. I was umming and ahhing over whether to score this a 4 or a 5, but then Drugs came on and I remembered my favourite video of my cat Charlie (the queen of my world) has her thousand yard staring the camera to this song. So for personal reasons I am giving this a 5. Special shoutout to Animals for sounding exactly what I think it must sound like in the head of the guy who yells at me on the bus sometimes. Also the guy who played congas on I Zimbra is named Gene Wilder. Not the same person as the actor. Highlights: I Zimbra, Cities, Life During Wartime, Heaven, Drugs

Hot Dang!! I forgot how good this was- it just drills into your psyche and sits there shivering and twitching. A restless eclectic Post-Modernist masterpiece before such things existed. So many ideas, so fast, mind.....can't....cope........

it took me a while and multiple tries, but i finally get this album and love it as much as i love other talking heads projects. it proves that the best way to convey the doom of modern living is not through drudgy gloomy sounds, but through perky synths and syncopated groovy beats. it makes the case that one wouldn't want to trade the hellish present for the promise of a better afterlife, because nothing happens there.

Thoughts before listening: One of the best bands of all time...with one of their best albums. Review: I like that this era of the Talking Heads has a punk vibe but is incorporating so many different sounds. There's a lot of funkiness going on here that makes this very unique. This album probably isn't as good as Remain in Light, but man there are some killer songs on here: "I Zimbra", "Cities", "Heaven", and of course "Life During Wartime" rank amongst the band's best. 5-stars

Talking Heads never made a single bad album

Talking Heads get 5 stars cause they're amazing.

Great album

Some great songs, some that I didn't enjoy as much. Good overall. Talking Heads always sounds like something 10-20 years later than it is.

Psycho Killer was the first song I had listened to by the Talking Heads. A stone cold classic introduction. Fear of Music was the first album I had listened to and was/is the album I compare all other Talking Heads records to (and David Byrne’s solo albums). This was my favourite album of theirs for years and I listened to it all the time! It’s playful, experimental and I can hear its influence on just about every post-post-post punk album. What’s immediately striking and tantalizing is David Byrne’s lyrics and vocals and quirkiness. And the whole band is in good form - they were one of the most funky, fun, unique of all the punk/post punk/new wave bands. And to top it off, Brian Eno produces! (I’m a huge fan of 70’s era Eno and love hearing his audio prowess all over this!) Revisiting this album, I still love it - I enjoy its quirkiness and simplicity; I relish in it’s surprisingly dark and ominous sounds. It’s an album of its time but it gloriously captures that time to perfection and makes me wish I was there, at CBGB’s, watching, dancing to and singing songs by a band called Talking Heads!! Every track is a little gem. My Favourite Songs? (I pretty much love them all!): Cities Life During Wartimes Heaven Animals Drugs

This was great, as have been all of the Talking Heads music I've ever heard. David Byrne is really just an amazing songwriting and musical talent, and his voice is just so unmistakably him, but his backing band is also great and this album really shows off how versatile they really all are as musicians. I listened to this twice -- five stars.

A band that only gets better with each passing year with an album that I have come to appreciate all the more. The next album is full on existential crisis. This one acknowledges things are changing. Still a bounty of raw energy but much more controlled and focused than past albums. Great lyrics and rhythms abound. Classic.

The ravings of a madman

This has always been my favorite Talking Heads album.

shortest 40 minutes ever tbh.................the kind of balance of jarring chaos and sharp hyper-rigidity that can be made by many people but only perfected by The Autistics. ive not heard remain in light in a long while, and its a record im v attached to as one of my single most important gateways into music, but ive grown increasingly attached to this record's jaggedy, splattery vignettes, all of which feel so vivid and distinct and mesmerizing. the potency of this record is as such that it has at least once song i can barely listen to without crying (heaven) and at least one song i can barely listen to without cackling (animals), and theyre right next to eachother! it would take a full talking heads dive to completely confidentially solidify this as my fave record of theirs, but its certainly the one id be most excited to listen to at any random time

One of the best by one of the best. I like most of Talking Heads, but this is absolutely at the top of a phenomenal catalogue.

Love talking heads, great songs all around

This is great; Talking Heads have really hit their stride by this point. Side B not quite as strong as side A, but still an overall 5. (Also; another Eno win; I think my average score for albums he's been involved with is close to 5)

Don't need to be reminded to listen to Fear of Music.

i dont know how they do it, i dont know what their diet is, i dont know who the people in this band are, ive never met them, but talking heads is just consistently bewildering

Epic 1980's big-brain new wave music. Very quirky and nerdy in the best way possible.

This one has grown on me so much recently. For some reason it always used to be one of my least favourite Talking Heads albums, but now I would say that it's almost as good as Remain In Light.

Amazing

Great

Sigma

Um pretty good. I really like the talking heads though

It's always an interesting listen with the Talking Heads. While Life During Wartime is the most well known song from this album, I especially like Cities, Air and Heaven.

The Talking Heads have never made a less than 5 star album. If the highest rating was 3 stars then you borrow the next 2 stars from the following album. Unless that album is Pet Sounds.

My favorite Heads album! Really love the jittery, nervous energy all over this album. It's crazy to think this feels like a band firing on all cylinders, only to make another huge creative jump just the next year with Remain in Light. Maybe it's knowing they were on that precipice is what makes me enjoy this album so much.

5/5 - Have I heard of this album before? No Do I like post-punk? Heck yes Fear of music is a somewhat older album (released 1979) yet still sounds so modern. The vocals and lyrics sound so raw and powerful. The rhythm section is a sound foundation in this band upon which great songs are written. "I need something to change your mind" Well this album changed me, will definitely return to it.

Talking Heads and Brian Eno <3 Favorite tracks are Mind, Cities, and Memories Can't Wait Don't have anything bad to say about this

Unique music. Very well written very well performed. I forgot how early the Talking Heads came out. I always think of them as an 80s bands, but they came out in the 70s.

Almost perfect except Animals

Forgot how many bangers are on this one! Not the number 1 TH album for me..but not number last as well

Two talking heads albums in one week? On track for my favorite week on the generator yet. Another great one from the Talking Heads. Especially love Life During Wartime. One of the records I listened to the bonus material from the deluxe edition.

9/10

I vividly remember when this came out I initially thought it was weird, since it was so different from their first 2 more pop albums. It was ant first off-putting, but it steadily grew on me and is now perhaps my favorite album of theirs. Great guitar work throughout, and while I’m not exactly sure what Brian Eno’s “treatments” contributions are, I bet the album would sound different without them.

❤️❤️

Awesome

Eno rules

nice one

No notes. A brilliant album and work of art. Mind and Air are 2 of my favorite songs of all time.

Exceptional album! Talking Heads never disappoints.

I Zimbra is such a fantastic groove, veering into a joyous Crimsonesque jam that always ALWAYS makes me happier than when I put it on. Mind - clever, astute, amusing, paradoxically minimal and complex. Building on the annoyance of confusion, the guitar breakdown at the end solves nothing but is somehow incredibly helpful. Paper is the epitome of Talking Heads funkiness. The verse part, with the little spoken stream of consciousness double meaning anxiety invoking lyrics - "hold on to that paper, there just might be a chance that it MIGHT work out!" Cities is embedded in my skull (almost typed 'school' just now). What does it say that I often wake up in the middle of the night with this running in my head. Look aver there, dry ice factory, good place to get some thinking done. A guitar solo like no other. This song speaks to me so hard for reasons I just can't explain. "Forgot to mention Memphis, home of Elvis and the Ancient Greeks. Do I smell, do I smell home cooking? It's only the river, it's only the river." We start seeing the source of the anxiety, which the scratchy funk is an expression of. Find myself a city to live in. I got three passports, a couple of visas, don't even know my real name. Being in the Talking Heads is alienating. Life During Wartime is a metaphor for touring, which Cities is a kind of preface. You can almost take it literally. Also SO DANCEABLE I'M LOSING MY MIND. Flip it over to side two. Don't get too far into your own head. Ahh, too late, Memories Can't Wait. Listen to the Living Colour version of this, it will change your life. Whatever this party is, I just want to go home. "Other people can go home. Other people can split. I can never quit." So heavy, dude. But it's a solid idea that I'm not hearing from anyone else, I wish I could love this end part more but that wouldn't be possible. The chorus of Air haunts me daily as well. "Some people never had experience with (Air)" sung with the airiest of vocals... so perfect. It's perfect. I don't know how but it is. And another ripping solo at the end, heavy Talking Heads is just so satisfying. A little anger, feels good to get it off your chest possibly. Heaven is not my favorite thing, but still so clever and the band hits it so perfectly. Nothing ever happens, this feels like a little joke, and it's pretty funny. In heaven, everyone leaves your party at exactly the same time. This is something David Byrne fantasizes about, a place where something isn't happening, where he is in the moment, kissing someone again. Contrast! Nothing is exciting. It's hard to imagine that nothing at all could be so exciting, could be this much fun. Animals. My favorite song. Animals think They understand Trusting them a big mistake Animals want to change my life I will ignore Animals advice... absolute genius, the best of the earlier Talking Heads. Don't even know what a JOKE is.

Top album, zou ik vaker opzetten.

I was first introduced to Talking Heads with Remain in Light when I got it on the site. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved that record, and when I got Fear of Music, I was excited to hear it. I need to relisten to Remain in Light, but I think I prefer Fear of Music. The vocal performance and lyrics from Byrne are so unique and fun. I have Remain in Light a 5, and as I said, I think I prefer this one, but it doesn’t feel like a 5. More like a 4.5, but as we all know, the site does not believe in .5s.

Arty, experimental, funky, punky, neurotic and amazing.

I was always scared of listening to Talking Heads albums cause I thought they'd be too weird but I keep being proven wrong. This is another great, fun album and the core of Cities - Life During Wartime is incredible

One of the greatest albums of all time, for a long time!

Talking Heads & Eno, de meesters van de 'weird grooves'. Want anders kun je het niet omschrijven. Elke song heeft z'n eigen onorthodoxe schwung, die eerst ongemakkelijk is, maar je al snel hypnotiseert op het ritme van Byrne's heupen. En waar die groove echt gigantisch in your face is op - wellicht hun beste album - 'Remain in Light' - plant 'Fear Of Music' eerst een zaadje in je oor die pas later na meerdere luisterbeurten opbloeit tot een aanstekelijke, funky en vooral eigenzinnige bloem. Waar z'n opvolger sterk voortborduurt op Afrobeat en High Life genres, is dit veel meer geworteld in de spooky en curieuze ritmes uit de Krautrock scene. 'I Zimbra' vindt een tussenweg, en slaat dus de brug tussen de twee. Maar bijvoorbeeld 'Animals', 'Air' en het geweldige 'Mind' zijn zo vreemd, en tekent de band als artistiek buitenbeentje in een tijd waar op muziekvlak zoveel gebeurde dat het moeilijk was om echt een buitenbeentje te zijn. Maar TH lukt het toch, door die unieke positie als hoogstvreemde, grensverleggende kunstgroep met de aantrekkingskracht van een mainstream pop band. En ik denk dat dit album die tweestrijd het best laat zien. Het dualisme gaat verder dan dat. Op deze plaat is er telkens een strijd gaande tussen 'donker' en 'licht'. Veel songs hebben de gloomy energie van een doorgewinterde post-punk/goth band, maar zelfs een paranoïde meesterwerk als 'Memories Can't Wait' laat altijd even de zon achter de wolken vandaan komen. Dat lichtvoetige, tegen een achtergrond van angst, paranoïa en isolatie, is zo waanzinnig knap gedaan. 'Life During Wartime' swingt als een uiterst catchy new wave band, maar heeft een deprimerende ondertoon. Ik denk dat die 'weird groove' is waar ik het over had. Je lichaam wil bewegen maar je hoofd zegt telkens dat dat bij deze muziek niet de bedoeling is. En als je dan toch die tegenstelling van donker en licht wil maken, dan is 'Heaven' natuurlijk obvious, alsof de hemel openbreekt. Een album waar ik naarmate ik meer van hun discografie leerde kennen steeds meer van ben gaan houden, omdat het de essentie van David Byrne's werk het beste vangt, denk ik. Die spanning tussen de mentale geesten van een uiterst intelligente man, en zijn waanzinnige dance moves. Die unieke positie waar het zich in nestelde door dit in 1979 uit te brengen heeft er voor gezorgd dat ze voor eeuwig én bij subculturen én in de mainstream in het gedachtegoed zijn beland. 'Fear Of Music' is daarnaast ook een titel die de lading perfect dekt. Het schrikt eerst af, maar het omarmt je als je het de tijd gunt. 9,5/10 Highlights: Mind Cities Life During Wartime Memories Can't Wait

Wat een fantastisch album is dit. Hele plaat heeft een fantastische post-punk groove. Maar de funk/dancerock van Remain in Light piept al door de kieren. Fear of Music bouwt voort op disco ritmes en catchy melodieen van de vorige twee albums, maar deze keer een stuk dystopischer, vuiger en vunziger. Post-punk op z'n best! Talking Heads zet je deze misschien niet aan om een slinger aan je feestje te geven. Het wordt een minder gezellig plaatje door het dystopische urban karakter, maar daardoor niet minder sterk. Afhankelijk wanneer je het me vraagt vind ik Fear Of Music misschien wel hun beste werk. Ik twijfel door de laatste paar tracks op het album, die toch iets minder speciaal zijn dan de A-kant, tot aan Heaven. 9/10 Highlights I Zimbra Cities Life During Wartime Heaven

From the dada inspired I Zimbra, to the classic Talking Heads Cities, and Life During Wartime, through the mellow vibes of Heaven. This album is a classic.

The Talking Heads continue to be fantastic. David Byrne's enigmatic, almost awkward, everyman lyrics and vocals are such a breath of fresh air amongst the music of the 70's and 80's, and are a large part of the band's timelessness (although the influence of the other band members is not to be understated!) Favorite track: today, I'll say "Life During Wartime," although "Memories Can't Wait" also stuck out to me on this listen.

Fantastic album. Always delivers on this album. David Byrne can’t do any wrong in my opinion. This music is infectious.

I need to disclose that after watching Stop Making Sense at the cinema, right now I'm experiencing a "Talking Heads Renaissance". I remember listening to this album a couple of years ago, the only songs that struck out to me at that moment were "I Zimbra" and "Life During Wartime". During this last listen, I found all of the songs to be amazing, energetic, and just perfect. Quite a pleasant surprise.

my favourite talking heads album <3 mind is a masterpiece

Good old Talking Heads <3

FINALLY SOME TALKING HEADS!!! This review may be a little biased because I love the Talking Heads. They are just so groovy, funky, influential, innovative, and most importantly fun to listen to. Talking Heads and LCD Sound System are my goto party bands when I want to have a good time. This is the first Talking Heads album were they really found their sound and started making truly great music. The first 6 songs on this album are really strong, funky, and have great melodies. The rest are weaker but I've grown to really love them. Heaven is a lovely little song, I LOVE the outro to Animals, it is just so weird, and this may be a strange opinion but Drugs is one of my favorite songs off of this album. I just love how creepy and weird it is, and that guitar solo is just perfect (listening tip: the more of a stank face you make while listening to this solo the better it sounds). Somehow I wrote this whole review without mentioning how great David Byrne's lyrics and vocal delivery is. Everything he does and sings about is so weird, but he just sells it so well that it becomes infectious and endearing. I also love how the guitars are really understated on this album and really let the vocal melodies breathe. They are more of a rhythmic element rather than a melodic one. High 5!

This album is music heaven for me. Play it all night long

Fabulous album from the Talking Heads, as always.

Such a good album. For 79, this is absurdly ahead of it's time.

I had an awful morning yesterday, just got news that made me want to scream and cry and give up. And then I got this album. I’ve actually been listening to Talking Heads a lot in my personal time, just throwing on greatest hits playlists and what not for relaxation or when I’m walking around. Idk if other fans consider this the best TH album or whatever, but it was exactly what I needed to hear yesterday. A comfort in the dark.

A classic, especially with I Zimbra, Mind, Heaven, Life During Wartime, and Air. Honestly just this entire album is great and was a huge part of my childhood. Love the instrumentation and lyrics. Great beats.

Love it. Wouldn’t have been 1 of the 4 Talking Heads I would have chosen. But they are all brilliant

Favourites Cities Life During wartime Heaven Animals I love Talking Heads

Three five stars in four days! I think probably Talking Heads at the peak of their powers. This is where they get quite out there in terms of production, style and mannerism, without being at all inaccessible. Tremendous stuff.

BEST SONGS: -Mind -Memories Can´t Wait -Air

Life During Wartime and Heaven are great.

Hah! Quoth I, as the first album is revealed. I must have played this 100 times back in the day. I wrote a lesson plan around the lyrics to this LP when I was a student teacher. I still have the original LP with the lovely checkerplate embossed sleeve, and the lyric sheet insert, of course. It's still in a lovely playable condition, but has been superseded by CD copies and clones thereof for the car. Do you imagine that I think it's wonderful? You imagine correctly. Good start.

*disclaimer - multiple listen bias as I already knew this album* Whilst not my favourite talking heads album it has some of their best songs on (cities, memories can’t wait, heaven) and it’s really cool to hear as a transitional album between first 2 more straightforward post punk/art rock albums and the experimental and very hard to define Remain In Light. As with most talking heads albums it is really not much like anything else. My one critism is that slightly trails of in quality right at the end.

This is comparable to Bowie’s Lodger record, released the same year in its unhinged eclectic zaniness. Lodger is my favorite Bowie record. This isn’t quite as good as that but is still great.

Amazing

will listen to it more. it's great

Talking heads is an immediate five but I will say this is probably my least favorite of their first four. It’s a unique blend of their early sound with the experimental elements that they will soon amp up. So cool album when looking through the lens of the bands development and has some of their all time best songs. Still think it is weaker than the albums around it on a song by song basis. Rating: 4.6

Perfect!

You cant spell zany without "omg I wish to make a twig nest inside the Talking Heads and lay electric eggs there.

Look over there, a dry ice factory. Good place to get some thinking done.

Album 493 of 1001 Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous Rating : 4.5 / 5 Was thinking this may not hold up to some of the Talking Heads I've heard but was wrong. Good album. Some great tracks. No losers in the bunch.

I went on a deep dive of the Talking Heads a little over ten years ago (A+ decision), and I came away thinking Fear Of Music was my favorite album by them. The brilliance of Remain In Light finally clicked with me later and I think that one holds the top spot for TH, but Fear of Music is still a masterpiece in its own right. It’s so quirky, awkward, paranoid, funny at times, and existential. David Byrne is at his nervous energetic best. I Zimbra starts things off in Africa or something, Cities are traveled, and we go to Heaven and find ourselves underwhelmed. This is the album that made me love Talking Heads, and I’m very grateful for that.

Their signature sound Dances playfully along This alt pop album

Perfect album to jog to. Makes paranoia fun!

Best album of 1979, eh? That’s a mean feat given all the New Wave, Two-Tone, punk, disco, early rap, and prog rock bombs dropping at the same time. Interesting that Talking Heads could be considered to represent any of those. I liked this album. I loved Byrne’s voice and the blessed rhythm section. Again, I find myself wrestling with the “it’s not my FAVOURITE Talking Heads album” fallacy. So let’s try this: if this wasn’t Talking Heads, would I be raving about it? Yup.

Absolutely brilliant.

Heel goed album, zo veel rare funk, gave invloeden, en echt origineel.

I just love the talking heads!

Fear of Music is the Talking Head's third album, and includes some of their biggest hits, like "Life During Wartime," "Cities," and "Heaven." The band's version of art-rock funk had fully development, complete with their intricate rhythms and Byrne's quirky lyrics. Fear of Music was the second of the band's albums to be produced by Brian Eno. The collaboration was very successful, resulting in some of the band's most acclaimed work. This incredible collection of songs helped make the Talking Heads one of the most influential bands in popular music.