Talking Heads - Remain In Light

(9.5)

The first album my dad ever gave me was not Remain In Light. It was True Stories.

This is probably the coolest album I've ever heard. Post punk at it's finest. Talking Heads, the original art rock group, made some of the most original music decades before all these buzz hipster bands today rehashed it. Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Arcade Fire, Yeasayer, Broken Bells, Phoenix.. the list drags on. Talking Heads are obviously that good.

A huge transition from their previous three albums, Remain In Light is a head trip of African influenced polyrhythms, tight-as-shit funk base, and amazing sounding and highly original guitar solos that don't even sound like they're coming from a guitar.

I feel like the best is Born Under Punches but I'm sure everyone will disagree and claim Once in a Lifetime. It's great and original as hell, but Born Under Punches is all that and more. The tight guitar line, the almost random base and the electronics at the end create such a paranoid sound that I've never heard from anything that early before. The Clash later ripped off this sound in The Magnificent Seven. Seen and Unseen is another underrated track. Very original and strangely comfortable sounding. Byrne proves his genius of poetry on that one. David Byrne does not sing. He preaches. It's an art-punk band.

All of todays artsy music comes from this influential album. Way before it's time.

Sounds Like

Artsy Post Punk