Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food

Choosing former Roxy Music member and David Bowie collaborator Brian Eno to produce them, Talking Heads expanded their sound greatly for their 1978-released second album. While most associated Eno with hi-tech, electronic fare, he surprisingly brought out the more organically rhythmic side of the Heads' material. With Jerry Harrison's keyboards playing a more pronounced role--most notably on their spirited hit cover of Al Green's "Take Me to the River"--and drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth powering the band through tracks like "Stay Hungry" and "Warning Sign," leader David Byrne sounded more relaxed and "normal," even as he wandered through such high-concept works as "Artists Only" and the sprawling "Big Country." --Billy Altman Amazon.com essential recording

(3.5 stars) The "difficult second album" in all its glory

This album is musical stew. Now, at first glance, my first sentence may make about as much sense as the album's name, which is one of my favorite album titles ever. But the stretch from tracks two through nine pretty much runs together for me. It's like a stew, and well, I enjoy parts of the stew more than others.
First, let's talk about our pre- and post-stew tracks. You've got the charged-up, catchy New Wave rocker "Thank You For Sending Me an Angel" - one of my favorite Talking Heads songs, and certainly the best on the album. The two post-stew songs are quite good as well: the funky cover of "Take Me to the River", a just Top 40 hit for the group; and "The Big Country", a country-New Wave hybrid that mocks rural American values.
Then you've got the stew. The stew is overall a bland mix, with some excellent flavors (the dual rhythm-guitar attack of "Warning Sign" - I dismissed it in a previous review, but it's grown on me slightly, though it's not a favorite; "Artists Only", a great satire of pretentious avant-garde artists; the quirky, funny "Found a Job"), but there are lumps of it I could do without ("I'm Not in Love", with poor lyrics and a forgettable melody; the inane "With Our Love"; the underwritten vamping of "Stay Hungry", which exists on a great live version on The Name of This Band is Talking Heads). But none of the high points are extremely high - rather, just tiny bits of them jump out at me and the rest bugs me (an example being the, for lack of better term, angular vocal on "Warning Sign" - really, outside of the double-rhythm guitar attack it's not fantastic; and quirkiness can't keep "Found a Job" going for five minutes), and the low points, other than "I'm Not in Love", aren't really THAT low. Again, it's like a stew. Even when some flavors stand out, it's only in a slight, but still noticeable manner. You know what I mean? There are two other songs - "The Good Thing" and "The Girls Want to be with the Girls", but they more or less exist. The only thing that really strikes me about "The Good Thing" is how dorky the lyrics are. The long "stew" stretch that I am describing is all very jumpy, rhythmic, and sometimes catchy, with slight avant-garde production by Brian Eno, who was doing his first and by far least experimental job behind the controls with these New Wave nerds. It's interesting in theory, and "Artists Only" is just a flat-out good song, but it's also muddled.
Okay, I see the influence of More Songs About Board Games and Beer - it's hard to imagine R.E.M.'s first four albums without the "stew" section - and "Thank You For...", "Take Me to the River" and "The Big Country" (plus maybe "Artists Only") are classics no matter how you slice it. But overall this is the weakest of the group's first few albums. I mean, I like it, but not as much as I like Remain in Light (one of fifty favorite records ever), Fear of Music, or The Name of This Band is Talking Heads.
Okay, now I'd like to ask where the title comes from. I've heard three different stories. The first, and most common, is that a critic dismissed '77 as "A bunch of songs about buildings and food" (let's look at the song titles... "No Compassion"; "Don't Worry About the Government"; "Psycho Killer"... - oh yeah, there was a b-side from the period titled "Love -> a Building on Fire", but that didn't even make the album even though it should've). Another story I've heard is that the comment came from a friend of the band's; a third is that it was a joke the band made; a fourth is that it's a jab at the "sophomore slump" theory. Which to believe? Ah!!! Okay, I'm done.
December 17, 2007

Which is the best Talking Heads album?

Anyone could make an argument in favor of any of the first 5 studio albums and not be wrong. Having been introduced to the band primarily through "More Songs", it has a warm place in my heart. But as the years went by, the newer albums, of course, took over my turntable for long periods of time. (Yeah, the 33-1/3 kind)

Now, years after the fact, now that all of the albums are old (as am I), if I were to add it all up, this is the one I've listened to the most. The songs and production are unsurpassed and the peak of the old school Talking Heads Style. The next album, "Fear of Music" was really kind of a hybrid and the beginning of the polyrhythmic style that would become their signature sound for years to come with "Remain in Light" and "Speaking in Tongues".

I absolutely LOVE those albums, but it is a different, funkier (for lack of a better word) experience. "More Songs.." and "77" lend themselves more to everyday listening in my humble opinion. If you put a gun to my head to make me choose, "More Songs" would have to be the one I would least want to part with...

fyi, the title of the album came from XTC front-man Andy Partridge. He was apparently friends with some of the Heads and when they told him they were working on a new album his response was something along the lines of "Oh, more songs about buildings and food I suppose..."

The Hockney-ish photo-montage cover of the album, (which used to be a lot more important when the product was a 12" lp) was created primarily by Byrne and Weymouth by hand, with hundreds of Polaroids and countless hours of work in the days long before photoshop.
August 29, 2007

Talking Heads hit their stride

The Talking Heads' debut album, Talking Heads: 77, clearly stood the test of time like few punk and proto-punk albums. But if 77 was one of the best creations of the punk genre, then with their second album, More Songs About Buildings And Food, David Byrne and co. achieved a sound of their own that transcended time and genre, and assured their place in the pantheon of rock n' roll.

In no small part, thanks are due to producer Brian Eno; though he was only four years older than Byrne himself, Eno had a rich career behind him, not only as a former member of art-school heroes Roxy Music but also as a collaborator with varied artists such as David Bowie, Devo, John Cale and Robert Wyatt. Eno helped the Heads mature their style, giving Jerry Harrison's keyboard a more important role than in 77, and Harrison carries many of the songs on his wonderful playing. But Eno or no Eno, the show still belongs to Byrne, and he matured greatly in his singing and most notably in his songwriting from the first album. The angst and cynicism of Psycho Killer and Don't Worry About The Government is still there, but it's more subtle, more low-key, and much, much nastier. In fact, the beautiful The Big Country may just be the meanest piece he has ever written.

Not all the tracks on More Songs are standouts; in fact it starts out pretty mildly. The first three tracks - Thank You For Sending Me An Angel, With Our Love and The Good Thing - are relatively lukewarm, nice little tunes with good and intelligent lyrics, and aren't as powerful and straightforward as most of 77. But when Warning Signs hits, it's clear that the change that went over the Heads is not a mellowing of their first album, but on the contrary - Byrne merely sharpened his knives. Warning Signs is a phenomenal song and a strong one, and once the album hits its stride, it doesn't let go. Warning Signs is quickly followed by the brilliant Found A Job, that remains one of the Heads' greatest songs, and one of Byrne's best lyrical inventions, telling the story of a problem couple who start creating their own TV shows at home; the song is sharp and cynical, and in its subtle ways the message is more powerful than in straightforward anti-social numbers like the classic Psycho Killer. The next three tracks - Artists Only, I'm No In Love and Stay Hungry, are consistently engaging and challenging and keep the album running smoothly, even if Stay Hungry might have felt more at ease on 77.

The last two tracks show just how much the Heads have grown in the past year, and how much they have increased their versatility. The cover version of Al Green's Motown classic Take Me To The River instantly became the Heads' biggest radio hit, and even if it's not one of the best tracks on the album it's easy to see why; it's a fantastic cover version, done with every bit of respect and love for the original and for the Motown sound, but infusing it with new life and modern sounds. Byrne and co. prove on that track just how talented a group of musicians they were, setting themselves completely apart from punk rockers like the Sex Pistols or the Ramones; the Heads were capable of instrumental grooves that few punk bands could master. On the other hand, the epic The Big Country is the best showcase of Byrne's song craftsmanship, and it remains one of his greatest creations. Byrne's mild and subtle sarcasm on The Big Country is immensely stronger and nastier than anything on 77, and it's perfect in composition and in delivery both. The Big Country is the best track on More Songs, and it would be the springboard for their finest albums.

So even if More Songs About Buildings And Food is not the Heads' best album, it's the beginning of their creative prime, one that would produce the brilliant masterpieces Fear Of Music and Remain In Light, and even if it's not necessarily better on the whole than Talking Heads: 77, in many ways it's the first true Heads album. It's essential for any fan, and a standout album of its time. October 11, 2006

best TH album

Talking Heads were one of my favorite bands in the early 80's, but back then I listened mostly to Fear of Music; and Remain in Light has always been the critically more acclaimed album by the band.
Although many consider those two albums more significant, and I do not want to argue that opinion, 25 years later it's "More songs..." the CD I elect to listen to. That makes it the best Talking Heads album for me May 17, 2006

4 1/2 stars-- the "second debut" with Brian Eno.

After hitting the ground running with their stunning debut, the Talking Heads decided to enlist the assistance of Brian Eno for their second album, "MOre Songs About Buildings and Food". In all likelihood, this was a wise move-- following up a debut as fresh and superb as "Talking Heads '77" was a difficult task, and in Eno they had someone who could grow their music. The partnership would last through the next two Talking Heads albums, a collaborative effort between Eno and Byrne ("My Life in the Bush of Ghosts") and Byrne's "Catherine Wheel". The one thing that's pretty much consistent throughout is that the union of Byrne and Eno produces high results.

In many ways, all Eno did was encourage natural outgrowth from the last album-- certainly the debut record was a quirky and timeless effort and more than a superb springboard to work from and pieces such as "Stay Hungry" (in fact originally attempted for the debut left unused) and "Artists Only" recall the best of '77'. But Eno also seemed to encourage more diversity, pushing the band in a number of different directiosn-- opener "Thank You for Sending An Angel" uses march rhythms and high energy, "With Our Love" hints at Eastern European sounds and the Ramones, "Warning Sign" bubbles with a frantic power that sounds like the successor to Eno's "Third Uncle" and the cover of Al Green's "Take Me to the River" slinks into a deep organ groove with Byrne bringing a quite unexpected vocal to the table for the gospel-infused monster (and proved to be the first major exposure the band got). But perhaps closer "The Big Country" is the best of all of them-- Byrne sinks into a more calm and melancholy delivery over a laid back and yet somehow still energetic groove. Like the debut, there's some less than fantastic material, but even that is very listenable ("Found a Job").

This album has just been rereleased in dualdisc format and the sonic upgrade is well worth the extra couple bucks investment.

The collaboration between Brian Eno and the Talking Heads would continue to yield superb results-- in many ways, this is as much a debut as the previous album was, and like the debut, is equally essential. Recommended. February 21, 2006

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