No Talking, Just Head is the only studio album by the Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers. Released in October 1996, the project was commercially and critically unsuccessful. The band members went on to pursue other musical interests. The Talking Heads instrumentalists began recording the album in late 1994 after spending several years trying to get vocalist David Byrne to participate. The title track was first released on the soundtrack to Virtuosity, with recording continuing through 1995, as friends and musical acquaintances filled in as guest vocalists. The album was intended to turn into a full-time project with further studio albums and a tour, culminating with a live CD/video release of the first tour, featuring performances of songs originally recorded by Talking Heads reinterpreted by the album's guest artists. However, Byrne sued the group, asserting that their name and presentation were too evocative of Talking Heads and that this release was a trademark violation. The suit was settled out of court and only the studio album was released. The band toured the US in late 1996, with Johnette Napolitano serving as the primary lead vocalist.
This album of the remaining members of Talking Heads (after David Byrne left) is a collection of leftover songs with the other band members or guests on lead vocals. It is mediocre and never even reaches the quality of subpar Talking Heads of Tom Tom Club albums. "Don't Take My Kindness for Weakness" is a low point with awful vocals by Shaun Ryder.
I clearly need a bit of Talking to enjoy Head.
Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Damage I’ve done, No talking just head, No big bang, Indie hair, Only the lonely, Papersnow
Well golly gee, that album title is a bit fruity isn’t it? Anyway, this album is really good. It does seem odd to have the Talking Heads with guest vocalists instead of that usual fella, and I think I do prefer that usual fella given the choice, but I still enjoyed this anyway. Shaun Ryder has such a distinctive voice, that I immediately had to check when I heard him. If you like the Talking heads, you’ll probably like this. But you’ll probably still prefer the Talking Heads.
An important add just for the music history alone, I didn't realize there was an LP underscoring part of the larger, acrimonious break in Talking Heads. As for the album itself, I found myself getting into the more new-wave take on what are undoubtedly Talking Heads instrumentals. The more abstract lyricism pushed this into arthouse territory at times, and while not every one of the sonic experiments here produces worthwhile results, I found more than a few tracks to return to.
some very high points, otherwise passable 3.4
I was really excited when this came out. I bought it on CD without having heard a single song. But, after listening to it a couple of times it was just sort of meh. Not bad, but just sort of average. Too bad, because there are a lot of talented people involved with this. 3 stars.
No Talking Just Head does a decent job of being weird but listenable, it's horribly 80s despite being from the mid 90s but somehow I don't hate it? I think the collaborative nature works in its favour, it keeps things fresh and interesting, production is good, I liked it enough to give it a 3/5, it's quirky and a little bit cool.
New wave, art punk. Ni fu ni fa.
Talking Heads is one of my favorite bands of all time, but I try to avoid their personal lives when it comes to their band because it really sours the reputation of all involved. They are certainly not the worst rock stars out there personality wise, but it can be rough. Luckily, their fantastic music and eccentric personalities always shined first and foremost. Not here, though. This album puts their inner turmoil front and center, making it known to the listener that David Byrne is NOT here, and they don't need him. But frankly, after listening to the whole, nearly hour long experience, it is pretty obvious that the group still needs their talker. There are slight bits of funk, but the whole album screams 90s identity crisis, and while some features make the band their own, looking at you Andy, others sound so off here you question how the connection even came to be. The whole album is needlessly angsty, and while there are some great moments (hi again, Andy) there is enough here to definitively say this isn't Talking Heads showing they don't need Byrne, but instead exactly showing why they had him in the first place. Without the context the album is okay, but with it this album is just a spiral of emotions in one mixed bag of a record. 2.5, rounding up to a 3 star.
I mean, it's not Talking Heads, but it had its moments. As a huge Live fan, it was neat hearing Ed Kowalczyk providing vocals in a song I'd never heard before. That alone is worth a star to me.
Eh this looks dumb just going by the cover. But I do like Debbie Harry and Michael Hutchence. I'm guessing it's going to be indie rock, probably the annoying 90s kind. Is it a talking heads reference? Or just a blow job gag? Well, I wasn't wrong. Darker edge than I was expecting. But this is a listen once sort of affair. Reading the background of it, yes it's a talking heads reference, and yes it's a bunch of 80s stars trying to stay relevant in the 90s. Makes sense. I'm sure everyone involved would hate to hear this, but in vibe (and sound, tbh) this has a LOT in common with Motley Crue's Generation Swine album. 3/5.
This is fine. You can feel the absence of Byrne here though.
This hovered mostly around a 3 occasionally tempting me to rate it a 4… I’m not sure how cohesive this felt but I tended to like the moodier bits. I guess I can see why David Byrne was a little miffed at this…
I never listened to any of the post-Byrne band's stuff and came in skeptical since I'd gathered this one hadn't been well-received. But I actually liked this pretty well, although it's all over the place and doesn't quite come together as an album for me. I thought there were quite a few weak links in the collection as well. But overall solid, and the array of guest performers was an interesting novelty. I do think they would have been better off (in several respects) dropping all the unsubtle allusions to the Talking Heads brand and just launching it as something completely itself. There doesn't seem to be much disputing that David Byrne was a pretty big dick about how he unilaterally ended the band, and the other members' sense of ownership in that identity was well-earned. But I think Byrne apprehended correctly that the thing was on the cusp of turning into a kind of amiable but not innovative fixture (like REM spent the latter two decades of its career). And though he could have navigated that endpoint with much more grace, his partners would have done well to follow his lead.
The first track is grand. The rest, well. Not as good. Some decent, some atrocious.
Maybe I'm just a big dumb idiot but I expected this to sound a bit more like Talking Heads and less like generic rock
This is just fine rock and or roll
A somewhat interesting curiosity and collaborative concept. Hasn’t aged all that well in a few spots, but there is good material to be found here
Not bad
A few decent tunes in here but generally it sounds like a bunch of 40 year olds trying to sound relevant.
Are these guys taking the piss or what
The lack of David Byrne is very evident here. There’s a reason the singers are the focus point and have the biggest egos, because without them some bands fail to be as good. This is an album where that is audibly visible. Byrnes somewhat average vocals and songwriting made the talking heads huge. Without that you just have the good instrumentals but nothing to go with it. 4.3/10
First time to decline some head 🤷 1