Talking Heads studio albums poll

maybe this thread will convince me that any/all of the last 3 albums are worth owning but i'm not counting on it

I find LC as good as SIT -- I'll add a challops and say I prefer "Creatures of Love" to "This Must Be the Place" -- but, yeah, there's a drop in quality.

These days I listen to FOM most, but it could be any of the first four.

my ranking right now is More > Fear > Remain > Speaking > '77, but the #1 is the only one that never changes

Took the controversial option of voting speaking in tongues.

Really can't stand little creatures but I like most other albums

naked is worth owning. I loved it when it came out, then hated it, now I'm back to loving it. Little Creatures is pretty blah though aside from the singles.
voted FOM, could have been RIL or More Songs though.

i really like the first two tracks on naked and the sledgehammer political one. true stories would have been great if it had actually been the soundtrack.

and had included the two spalding grey monologues.

My ranking: Remain In Light > Fear of Music > Naked > 77 > More Songs > Speaking In Tongues > Little Creatures > True Stories

I could vote for any of the first three, but I'll go with the debut because it deserves a vote.

More > Remain > 77 > Fear > Speaking > Creatures > True

never heard naked.

Love the first 4 nearly equally though, tbh

i would have liked to vote for something other than remain in light. between this and the 70s dylan poll i am the most boring person.

the first live album would have given me pause. the reissue of stop making sense would have given me more.

remain > fear > more > 77 > creatures > tongues > true stories > naked though.

Best Talking Heads Studio Album

damn my bad -- i tried to search if it'd been done but was not very thorough. mods feel free to lock/delete etc.

Only know the first four but Remain > 77 > Fear > More imo

then you sir are my enemy

Remain In Light is the best by a mile or two even tho I'd rather just listen to TNOTBITH these days. LC always gets kicked around whenever these guys come up, but it's my favorite post-RIL. One of the better pop albums of the 80's. True Stories is the only one I never had much use for.

speaking in tongues > more songs > fear > remain > 77 > 'and she was' is p catchy > not heard

Went with Speaking in Tongues, but didn't arrive at it easily.

Damn, this reminded me that the DVD for "Stop Making Sense" has 3 tracks NOT on the CD! I hate when they do that, grrrr... Anyone have a nice MP3 rip of those tracks? ILXmail me, please!

True Stories, big childhood album for me.

Gosh. I got all of these on vinyl - every single one of them - on eBay about 3 years ago for £20. All in better than VG+ condition. Never really listened to them enough buts that the way with artists like this when you have a whole glut of their work thrown at you at once. I've learnt a lot in coming to older artists from fresh from this Talking Heads experience - i.e. enjoy it and slow right the fuck down.

So it'll have to be the only one I knew as a teenager - Fear of Music. That's the lame indie kid pick, isn't it? I know. Sorry.

Speaking In Tongues is my second favorite behind Remain In Light

SIT - school days favourite.

I bought Little Creatures when it came out, and only being familiar with Stop Making Sense, really dug it. Is it generally considered a failure in their catalog?

It is yeah, but I think it's pretty good. Like someone said upthread the three singles are great pop songs and the track 'Stay Up All Night' is pretty cool as well.

Yeah, I love the singles, but had trouble remembering what else was on it, so I just looked it up. "Television Man"? I couldn't hum any of it if my life depended on it, and I know I listened to that record about 400 times.

"Television Man" is the Lost Talking Heads Classic. I love the instrumental breakdown.

The world crashes in
To my living room

I forgive Tina's slap bass.

SP EAK IN GI N TO NGU ES

About four of these are some of my favorite albums of all time, but I gotta go with Buildings and Food.

Naked is underrated, no doubt.

Naked will always be underrated and unnecessary.

the slap-bass is crucial on Television Man, and I forgive you.

Is (Little Creatures) generally considered a failure in their catalog?

(Tarfumes The Escape Goat)

It is yeah

(Doran)

This isn't true in the least. It won the 1985 Pazz. By a considerable margin too.

That's part of what confused me about how it was received/how TH fans rate it. But True Stories always sucked for me to the point where I wondered if everything else they did sucked and I just hadn't realized it. Fortunately, this wasn't the case, but the way LC is viewed by some made me wonder if that was supposed to be some cliff-drop that they never recovered from.

television man is really good. maybe that album is better than I give it credit for. it was disappointing to me when I got it though (which was after naked came out).

Little Creatures is TH firing on all cylinders through 9 breezy pop jamz that are totally disinterested in boundary-pushing or Statements, making it all the more listenable. Really hope it gets a little love here.

Is (Little Creatures) generally considered a failure in their catalog?

(Tarfumes The Escape Goat)

It is yeah

(Doran)

This isn't true in the least. It won the 1985 Pazz. By a considerable margin too.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, June 13, 2011 4:48 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

- is it considered a failure?
- why, no: over a quarter-century ago it was enjoyed by a section of music critics

Nobody considers an album enjoyed by Music Critics, a failure.

People do consider an album that sells well but gets negative reviews, a failure.

Talking Heads: Little Creatures poll

my pick is "Creatures of Love."

voting More Songs About Buildings and Food.

I bought a double-single with "Take me to the river", "Found a Job", "Psycho Killer" and "Love goes to a building on fire"

I never felt the need for any more than that.

Not really.

I like all the reggae bits on Speaking In Tongues.

Little Creatures is TH firing on all cylinders through 9 breezy pop jamz that are totally disinterested in boundary-pushing or Statements, making it all the more listenable.

this.

- is it considered a failure?
- why, no: over a quarter-century ago it was enjoyed by a section of music critics
(history mayne)

You're the evidence queen. Back it up, miss history. Or does the (now-squandered) potential for a zing deflate your boner for the tyranny of evidence?

No arguments here -- it's Byrne's best "solo" album, and the band thought so much of it that he could impose "Big Business," "Big Blue Plymouth," and "What a Day It Was" on them.

The Enoid instruments in the first third introduced me to Eno.

the "What A Day It Was" from Stop Making Sense is so awesome, hearing the Catherine Wheel version was kind of a letdown by comparison so i never got around to listening to the whole album

I can't even imagine what "Big Blue Plymouth" would have sounded like on SMS.

I voted for Remain in Light, as that record was a mix of things that is pretty much timeless. That said I had a couple of really nice listens of the Talking Heads straight off the old FM radio today driving around for work hearing Born Under Punches and a tune called Sugar on My Tongue. I really got to get those reissues, that outtake was pretty killer.

i only know Sugar on my Tongue as the first track off of Sand in the Vaseline (my intro to Talking Heads, actually)...was it an outtake or the first single?

I looked it up, I guess they did it on their first demos as a trio. It's a bonus track on the new prints of the albums. I hadn't heard it before tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vei8LFj40jw

^ love that, have the 12" somewhere.

I love pull up the roots and wild wild gravity. Both are peak th tracks for me.

― Bus to Yoker (dog latin), Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:05 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

Anyone wanna talk about these? Being a reggae-disco man, these are absolutely my favourite Talking Heads deep cuts. Really don't see why SIT was seen as a drop in quality. Sure, a lot of the tracks have more oomph in a live setting but they're still great songs. I discovered the band via SMS and the majority of my faves happened to be on SIT - Swamp, Making Flippy Floppy, Girlfriend is Better... Don't think there are any bad tracks on there apart from maybe Moon Rocks which is just okay.

The first disc of "Sand in the Vaseline" is what I usually play these days when I feel like listening to the Talking Heads.

SITV is still a great comp.

i love "Animals" - the part where he goes "they think they know whats best/theyre making a fool of us" always makes me imagine a Simpsons-style close up of a squirrel nibbling on a nut when suddenly it turns to the camera and narrows its eyes knowingly

and thats why i voted FOM

I voted FOM solely for "I Zimbra", which is one of my favorite songs of all time.

yeah i zimbra is a top 3 TH jam of all time for me. i remember the first time i put that CD on and i was like whoa what the hell is THIS

I really love a lot of TH songs (esp the ones that appears on Stop Making Sense) but nothing really compares to the full-on rush I get every time I play "I Zimbra"

77

Mainly for Tentative Decisions. I love the heck out of that song.

Also for Book I read and Pyscho Killer and a couple others.

Tough choice though.

Play "I Zimbra" back to back with Echo's "Zimbo" (the version with the log drummers, preferably).

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Damn that poll! What a bad picture!

Really, now, who voted for "Naked" or "True Stories"? I can understand any other choice...

was not able to sway ILX massive to speaking in tongues ;_;

If it was "Vote for your 2nd favourite" I bet it'd place 1st.

exact same results as the previous poll, basically. glad everyone enjoyed this redundant thread!

Don't get upset! It's not a major disaster!

Animals is so good on TNOTBITH

lololol

some dude hates polls, so no one else is supposed to like them either.

um i started this thread and then felt foolish when i realized it'd been done before

Johnny Fever's in the bedroom, inventing situations.

:)

Remain In Light can't sit around eating fucking truffles all day. You're the only responsible citizen that made it fight for re-election so be proud, some dude.

only 4 for 77 = insanity

Only insane because the band's output was so insanely good. Someone always has to graduate last from West Point, you know.

I'm stilllll waiting...

only 4 for 77 = insanity

More fool them. I didn't vote 'cos I couldn't make my mind up in time.

Forgot to mention Memphis - home of Elvis and the Ancient Greeks

Byrne might be my second favourite lyricist after Stephen Malkmus.

i fucking hate this place

take a break, Lamp - seriously.

i fucking hate this place

We'll lock the door
We'll kill the beast KILL IT!

I approve of these results

We should repoll these next week just to be sure, though.

only 4 for 77 = insanity

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, June 16, 2011 10:08 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Even though I said I was voting for 77 I don't think I actually voted so it should have been five but still :/

I think I do that a lot - decide my choice but don't actually vote.

Decide my choice?

I seem to have forgotten how to speak English today. Sorry.

nothing wrong with it.

I know. Just sounded awkward.

Remain In Light can't sit around eating fucking truffles all day. You're the only responsible citizen that made it fight for re-election so be proud, some dude.

― Cosmo Vitelli, Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

lol

maybe i'll keep doing this poll every few years until More Songs takes its rightful place at the top in 2048

Sand in the vaseline is a stellar comp--the rarities on there I would never want to do without. Sugar on my tongue was mentioned before, but this is one of my alltime faves by them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2JAAwTWvf8