Remain in Light by Talking Heads (CD, Oct-1990, Sire Records USA)

I'd always loved this album and I didn't own it on CD so when I saw it for sale at such a reasonable price I had to have it. I'm glad I got it!

This is one of the earliest collaborations between the Mastermind of the Talking Heads, David Byrne, and the artist known as Brian Eno. Together they produced one of the best albums of our time, Remain in Light. Backed by the wonderful percussive sounds of Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz (Tom Tom Club), David Byrne goes far beyond himself in kicking out a thoughtful yet totally danceable album. Let's not forget the syntho- keybords of jerry Harrison (who by the way has a couple of really hot albums of his own "the Red and the Black" and "Casual Gods"). I recommend this album very highly. Go and Buy It Now!

I have a best of heads CD, This CD seems to have been way ahead of its time.
I never thought that I would have enjoyed this early talking heads. Now I am looking at more of thir older CDS.

Remain In Light by the Talking Heads has received much critical praise since its release in 1980, and deservedly so. This would be the third and final album with Brian Eno acting as producer. The interesting thing about this is the background leading up to this album and the style of it. In 1977, Eno released his final pop album entitled Before and After Science. On it, he incoporates some polyrythm, African influenced tracks and some Talking Heads-esque tracks. One of the tracks is King's Lead Hat which is an anagram for Talking Heads. This track, as well as some of the others, mimic the Talking Heads style. Eno did this in order to coax the Talking Heads into letting him produce their albums. Well, his wish was granted, but it took three albums to really get them into the African-influenced mold that Eno had invisioned for them. How and why Eno had this idea is beyond me, but it worked.

All of the songs on Remain in Light are very rythm-oriented with not much happening in the way of chord changes or melodies. Almost all of the melodies are carried by the voices laid over almost religious adherence to the driving beats. The "solos" in these songs are very abstract and avante garde, making them very interesting. The songs range from the scary fast The Great Curve, to the slow and haunting Listening Wind. Of course, most people have heard the song Once in a Lifetime, which is not exactly the most representative song from the album, but never the less a great song. For me, the stand out tracks are Crosseyed and Painless, Houses in Motion, and Seen And Not Seen. Really all of the album is great, and if you like the Talking Heads, New Wave, African polyrythms, Brian Eno, or just adventurous music, then you will definitely not go wrong with purchasing this album.