Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site Cascade.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!decwrl!Glacier!Cascade!asente From: asente@Cascade.ARPA Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Record review: Talking Heads' "Little Creatures" Message-ID: <9@Cascade.ARPA> Date: Fri, 5-Jul-85 17:09:08 EDT Article-I.D.: Cascade.9 Posted: Fri Jul 5 17:09:08 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jul-85 20:13:05 EDT Distribution: net Organization: Stanford University CIS Apple Orchard Lines: 44 One thing Talking Heads isn't is predictable. The newest album, "Little Creatures", is a departure from "Speaking in Tongues" in almost every way. A little history, first, to put this in perspective. The first two albums were musically very lean. Outside contributions were kept to a minimum. Along with the influence of Brian Eno came more elaborate arrangements, more musicians, and more obscure lyrics. African rhythms and unusual percussion became staples of the music. When Eno was (I understand) dumped, the result was "Speaking in Tongues", which cut back a lot on the outside contributions while keeping the African influences. "Speaking in Tongues" also ended with the song "Naive Melody", a fairly simple love song that presented love as an alternative to the usual themes of oppressive society and alienation. The musical style of "Little Creatures" is a lot closer to "Talking Heads 77" and "More Songs about Buildings and Food" than it is to anything that came after them. The arrangements are simple with almost no extra musicians and nary an African rhythm in sight (sound?). Even the lyrics make more sense while still being far from simplistic. And the promise of "Naive Melody" is realized throughout the entire album. One might even suspect that David Byrne is in love. While themes of oppression and alienation are still present, especially in "Television Man", but the feeling is much more optimistic and cheerful. "Creatures of Love" is a country-western song complete with steel guitar about conceiving babies. In "Perfect World" the singer concedes that his girlfriend's rosy view of the world may be more true than his own. The road to nowhere described in the song by the same title is viewed more as a place to get lost with someone you love than as the dead-end I originally thought the song referred to. Final rating: *** (out of ****) if you prefer early Talking Heads to recent, **1/2 if you don't. -paul asente asente@Cascade.ARPA decwrl!Glacier!Cascade!asente "From the sleep of reason A life is born. We are creatures of love, we are creatures of love."