16 October 2020
If all you know of Talking Heads is "Burning Down the House" and "And She Was", you haven't heard them at their best.
There are a lot of bands that I enjoy listening to, but from time to time I need a break from them - Pink Floyd and Metallica faltered because of oversaturation, Led Zeppelin or Chvrches I think from "sameyness", if I had to check a box. Some bands haven't hit that point yet though, I think because their music stayed fresh and diverse enough to always be comfortable falling back on: Talking Heads, Beck, and Peter Gabriel all come to mind.
Remain In Light (1980) was released 40 years ago on the 8th. It was my favorite album Talking Heads album for a long time, and in addition to one of their classic songs (Once In A Lifetime), they had a lot of other ethereal songs (Crosseyed and Painless; Listening Wind; Born Under Punches) that even today seem unfamiliar and detached, yet rhythmic and engaging.
Nowadays I think their best album is Fear of Music (1979) - partly because at that point they were still a functional band (there was a lot of tension that started after that album and was ultimately really unhealthy for the band long term), and partly because they still had that rambunctious sound that defined their earlier work. 5/5