Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
This disc represents the bridge between Talking Heads' first two herky-jerkier albums and the next two funky ones. Fear of Music is more than just a bridge, though. It's the water under the bridge, the air, the animals, the cities the river flows through, and the heaven on top of it all: "...a place where nothing ever happens." Plenty happens here, however. The CD starts out with its feet off the ground and both arms in the air: "I Zimbra" is all-out celebration. The rest of the songs are pretty much exercises in simplicity: one-word titles with music to match. (Witness the lightness of "Air", the trippiness of "Drugs", the "ooga"-ness of "Animals".) David Byrne's artful naiveté ("Hold the paper up to the light/Some rays pass right through"), coupled with the whole band's musical playfulness (for example, the tuba on "Electric Guitar"), makes for fun fun fun. --Dan Leone
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By jonathan
Format:Audio CD
the third talking heads album & probably their greatest begins with a Dada sound-poem & ends with what sounds like an LSD trip gone horribly wrong, in between all kinds of fear are examined with a sly grin. David Byrne appears through the album to be some kind of refugee from a Kierkgaard mindscape although his fear & trembling is punctuated with humour. life is a trap & it's the ultimate one so how best to deal with all that useless anxiety about Cities & Animals & Drugs (not to mention Heaven itself)? well, Byrne says if you can make a mockery of it - sing it all out & feel better.for my part i believe anxiety is the best source for any Art to mine so this album lays close to my heart. Eno's production is just right - a sense of manic unease bubbles throughout. the conclusion? "paranoia is a great mood propeller" (Don Van Vliet)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is one of my all-time favourites. The production still soudns brilliant more than 25 yers after its original release and the music is at once quirky and tuneful. Byrne's voice is quite unique and complements the music perfectly. From start to finish this is a proverbial tour de force of psychadelia mixed with influences of world music and tuneful guitar. The highlight for me is proabably Cities but every song is a gem.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is full of the complex rhythms and quirky tunes mixed with admittedly bizarre lyrics to make something that works unusually well. If you have listened to a little Talking Heads or own a 'best of' compilation, I would highly recommend this as a must buy album on the way to becoming a full-blown fan. Very infectious!
As a bonus, this version has a nifty DVD disc thrown in. There are live videos of 'I Zimbra' and 'Cities' as well as the whole album in a snazzy 5.1 format. 'Surround yourself in Talking Heads', is what they suggest and it isn't a bad idea, especially at such a reasonable price.
As a bonus, this version has a nifty DVD disc thrown in. There are live videos of 'I Zimbra' and 'Cities' as well as the whole album in a snazzy 5.1 format. 'Surround yourself in Talking Heads', is what they suggest and it isn't a bad idea, especially at such a reasonable price.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By J. Bloss
Format:Audio CD
This is an excellent album from an excellent band. There are a variety of styles on here that all work. From the almost anthemic Heaven, the guitar heavy Memories can't wait and the brilliant Life During Wartime. The music is a mix of guitars and electronics that compliment David Byrne's vocal style perfectly. It sounds as good now as when it was released and is a definite must have for any Talking Heads fan
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Dobester
Format:Audio CD
Astonishingly fresh almost 25 years after it was first released, this is Talking Heads masterpiece. The lyrics are as weird as they are inspired, the music is loose and muscular in its post-punk rocky confidence.
While most people buying this are probably going through the process of replacing vinyl, this album is far too good just for that audience. This is dynamite, exciting music, that makes you want to dance as much as it makes you think. Talking Heads lyrics were always far beyond the standard romance, regret or rage topics of pop, and this album includes songs about urban guerrillas, the boredom of eternal life in paradise and the sneakiness of animals.
Perhaps surprisingly, the greatest song on the album is "I Zimbra", which has meaningless "mouth-music" lyrics in an invented nonsense language. This may be one of the most influential songs after punk. As well as being a great dance track, it must be one of the first examples of world rhythms injecting rock with their hybrid vigour, a precursor to Byrne and Eno's ground-breaking album "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" two years later.
So, if you owned this before, get it again. If you've never heard it, buy it anyway. At under a tenner, you can hardly go wrong, and you'll love it. No doubt about it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By jt
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you're a true Talking Heads fan, you can't do without this title.
Unfortunately, I lent this to a friend, and well, was one of those which never came back... :) Gonna have to buy it again some day :)
Unfortunately, I lent this to a friend, and well, was one of those which never came back... :) Gonna have to buy it again some day :)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Excellent and quirky in the best TH's manner. An essential addition for all serious Head's fans. Great sound too. A minimalist masterpiece.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Made during their most creative period - this awsome record is to be treasured - not quite as brilliant as the one that followed (Remain in Light) but then very different so difficult to compare. This album is classic Talking Heads, all spikey, tension laden stuff with weird lyrics and strange moods.
If you want some classic new wave American punk in your collection - you could do worse than starting with this, then go collect the other 3 early 'Heads albums (77, More Songs about Buildings and Food and Remain in Light) I promise you, you won't be disappointed.
If you want some classic new wave American punk in your collection - you could do worse than starting with this, then go collect the other 3 early 'Heads albums (77, More Songs about Buildings and Food and Remain in Light) I promise you, you won't be disappointed.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 108 reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly the very best Talking Heads record
With little doubt this is most probably the very best Talking Heads record (although I'll always have a soft spot for Stop Making Sense). Read more
Published 4 months ago by K. K. Jakubczyk
5.0 out of 5 stars
post-punk peak
I love this album - together with Remain in Light, some kind of peak of creativity was reached in the post-punk world. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2011 by molondas
1.0 out of 5 stars
overrated
It's not that I dislike the Talking heads. I don't. Their first 2 albums were fun, I consider Little Creatures to be a minor masterpiece, and everything afterwards is interesting... Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2010 by Try4the sun
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fearsome album
I am one of those people who always liked Talking Heads but never got around to buying their albums. Read more
Published on 11 July 2009 by Angus P. Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars
Experimental
Talking Heads' third album opens with the Dada poem I Zimbra set to a jungle drum beat. The music is quite experimental, having few of the accessible tunes and hooks that are found... Read more
Published on 26 July 2007 by Pieter Uys
5.0 out of 5 stars
Part 3 of a run of 4 excellent albums
There are loads of "Greatest Ever" and "Top 100" lists in magazines, on TV and the radio. There's really no point in trying make one album the greatest ever, as people's favourite... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2007 by Arnold Golightly
5.0 out of 5 stars
The first masterpiece from Talking Heads-Eno...
Whilst debut '77' is a pleasant enough take on the Modern Lovers' debut (unsurprising since Jerry Harrison was once a Modern Lover)it was far from a classic - a bit... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2006 by Jason Parkes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fear Is The Key
In the early days of the New York New Wave, Talking Heads were scorned by many of their cooler than thou contemporaries because they were "nerds". Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2006 by Dudley Serious
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
