features in: Album Chart of 1979 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
The third album from the New York based quartet arrived in August ’79, with Brian Eno on production duties for the second album in a row, adding his Perry-esque electronic trickery to the funky art-rock master tracks, the five-strong combo even touching on some Afrobeat on the intriguing opener, “I Zimbra”. Side one is entirely solid, and closes especially well with the apocalyptic funk of “Life During Wartime” complete with the immortal lines: “This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around, this ain't no Mudd Club, or C. B. G. B., I ain't got time for that now”, and the dense-trance of “Memories Can’t Wait”, which makes the former seem like the soundtrack to a jelly and ice cream party; the more earnest they are, the deeper my affection grows. The solid affair rocks on all the way to the very end of side two; every track has something to offer. On the peculiar wonky-pop opener “Air”, the protagonist seems to suffer from asphyxiation through fear alone, and the eerie swamp-funk of “Electric Guitar” has a sense of new-romantic mystery, accentuated by the high-necked bass tuning and the light-breeze swirls of electronica. There wasn’t a lot happening in the States at this time, but the Heads were one shining light.
The Jukebox Rebel
22–Mar–2016
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [03:09]  Talking Heads - I Zimbra (David Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball) New Wave |
| A2 | [04:13]  Talking Heads - Mind (David Byrne) New Wave |
| A3 | [02:39]  Talking Heads - Paper (David Byrne) New Wave |
| A4 | [04:10] Talking Heads - Cities (David Byrne) New Wave |
| A5 | [03:41] Talking Heads - Life During Wartime (David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison) Cerebral Pop |
| A6 | [03:30]  Talking Heads - Memories Can’t Wait (David Byrne, Jerry Harrison) New Wave |
| B1 | [03:34]  Talking Heads - Air (David Byrne) New Wave |
| B2 | [04:01]  Talking Heads - Heaven (David Byrne, Jerry Harrison) Cerebral Pop |
| B3 | [03:30]  Talking Heads - Animals (David Byrne) New Wave |
| B4 | [03:03]  Talking Heads - Electric Guitar (David Byrne) New Wave |
| B5 | [05:10]  Talking Heads - Drugs (David Byrne, Brian Eno) New Wave |
