i bought the dual disc reissue of this a few years back but it's still unopened. time to change that.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:00 (ten years ago) link
I love the first side and of course the SMS version are better (do dislike the awful thwacking drum tracks though).
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:03 (ten years ago) link
this must be the landslide
― some dude, Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:14 (ten years ago) link
though i love "this must be the place" i've decide to offer a bold challop and give my vote to the underappreciated "burning down the house"
― da croupier, Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:22 (ten years ago) link
http://bit.ly/13STLmr
― markers, Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:24 (ten years ago) link
i remember when makers had something to say but that was a long time ago...
― Bee OK, Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:34 (ten years ago) link
who took the markerswho took the markers away
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 02:34 (ten years ago) link
if we're ignoring The Place, then for me it's Girlfriend Is Better
― Jamie_ATP, Thursday, 4 April 2013 12:42 (ten years ago) link
Voting Place, cause I had it playing during my wedding, big soft twat that I am.
― Late night with Amazing Bo (MaresNest), Thursday, 4 April 2013 12:51 (ten years ago) link
The love for "Place" in the last ten years surprises me. I love it too but it's not even my favorite Heads love song.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:07 (ten years ago) link
"Girlfriend is Better" is such a jam. "This Must Be the Place" is cool and should probably win, but hey.
― ta-nehisi goatse (fadanuf4erybody), Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:09 (ten years ago) link
live versions of Making Flippy Floppy, Slippery People and Burning Down The House are just about the best thing ever but gone for Pull Up the Roots.baffling they never did that on the SMS tour.
anyone ever own a copy of the Rauschenberg vinyl?
― piscesx, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:15 (ten years ago) link
Girlfriend Is Better I prefer in SMS form, possibly thanks to be it being the one on Sand In The Vasoline
― da croupier, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:17 (ten years ago) link
Yus.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:17 (ten years ago) link
Yes - the plastic they used was NOT made to age. It reminds me of that kind of plastic they use to seal electronics (is that called a "blister packs"?), and I've never seen a copy that wasn't totally yellowed.
But man, it looks so cool.
― Walter Galt, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:35 (ten years ago) link
I went with Girlfriend Is Better, although yes, the SMS version is better.
<rant>I'm pretty sick of This Must Be the Place at this point, especially after seeing the film of the same name. I'm getting increasingly irked by movies that try to build a plot around a flimsy connection to a random song that the director or screenwriter likes. It's the equivalent of novelists dropping song lyrics in their writing that are meant to stand in for actual insight or description. Take This Waltz is another recent example of a film that does this, plus there was some movie recently (forgetting the name) where the entire soundtrack was versions of Van Morrison song for no apparent reason.</rant>
― Moodles, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:45 (ten years ago) link
I'd watch a movie called I Get Wild/Wild Gravity
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:51 (ten years ago) link
Sequel is That's Us/Wild Combination
― Tim F, Thursday, 4 April 2013 13:55 (ten years ago) link
yeah the Rauschenberg sleeve always looks like someone's been smoking near it for 2 decades whenever i've seen it.
oh and by the way, if you fancy a This Must Be The Place T shirt, it's a bargain at £125
http://www.oki-ni.com/accessories/undercover-men-s-this-must-be-the-place-print-t-shirt-und1629blu.html
― piscesx, Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:30 (ten years ago) link
I have the Raucshenberg edition as well and can confirm the plastic is yellowed and not that user friendly. Still cool to have. Pull Up The Roots almost got my vote.
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:35 (ten years ago) link
Lots of copies on Discogs. Even the sealed copies say the case has yellowed. http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=1443184&ev=rb
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:42 (ten years ago) link
nothing is better than this- wait a minute
― all false moves (Hunt3r), Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
Generational issue! Can't get my head around the retcon that "This Must Be The Place" is THE SONG off this record -- in fact THE SONG is "Burning Down The House." They didn't even put "Place" on the Stop Making Sense soundtrack, is how highly they esteemed it! (SiT tracks there = Swamp, Slippery People, Girlfriend Is Better, House.)
There is much to be said for "This Must Be The Place," of course, but "Burning Down The House," played in a dark room, sounds like the reason Talking Heads were put on Earth.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
well, at the time bdth was like a generational pop megasingle. in my world, tmbtp was that supercool song that later showed up in wall street.
― all false moves (Hunt3r), Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link
Voted for "Making Flippy Floppy." Love the synth riffs going flippy floppy over the chorus and that eerie-beautiful outro.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:50 (ten years ago) link
mmm, i'm stuck between girlfriend and making flippy floppy.
― all false moves (Hunt3r), Thursday, 4 April 2013 14:51 (ten years ago) link
in my world, tmbtp was that supercool song that later showed up in wall street.
saw that movie when it came out and had no memory of "this must be the place" being in it -- on the other hand, I think "Down And Out In Beverly Hills" might have been where I first heard "Once In a Lifetime."
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:01 (ten years ago) link
there were 50,000 made i recall Byrne saying in that '84 Letterman interview, so like a mass market 'limited edition'.
it was also replicated on CD for the Japanese issue of the '06 remasters apparently.
― piscesx, Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:03 (ten years ago) link
we had the whole debate about how on earth TMBTP has become so ubiquitous on this threadTalking Heads
at some length.
― piscesx, Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:08 (ten years ago) link
Burning Down THe House and TMBTP are like the two worst tracks on here. I'm torn between the others though - love it when TH go a bit reggae on Pull Up The Roots and I Get Wild Wild Gravity.
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:13 (ten years ago) link
"Burning Down The House" now playing in the coffeeshop where I sit, I stand by my judgment
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:14 (ten years ago) link
2. Making Flippy Floppy3. Girlfriend Is Better4. Slippery People5. I Get Wild/Wild Gravity6. Swamp8. Pull Up the Roots
Arrrgh - it's impossible, I love all these songs!!!
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:15 (ten years ago) link
Went for Pull Up The Roots cos it prob won't get enough appreciation. It's got that slightly spooky vibe they nailed on The Great Curve
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Thursday, 4 April 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
This album is incredible. Trusted my first instinct and went with "Slippery People".
― cwkiii, Thursday, 4 April 2013 16:07 (ten years ago) link
Burning Down THe House Moon Rocks and TMBTP are like the two worst tracks on here.
― cwkiii, Thursday, 4 April 2013 16:11 (ten years ago) link
bypassing tmbtp (which is my fave but not by as huge a margin as it might win by here or has won by elsewhere) voted for 'slippery people' purely for the stop making sense version. tbh i have no idea the last time i listened to this album, if i'm ever in the mood for this era i always go right for stop making sense.
― balls, Thursday, 4 April 2013 16:18 (ten years ago) link
i kinda hope we someday do a tracks poll of Talking Heads/associate acts, if only because "Genius of Love" has a fighting chance of being #1
― the drummer for gay Daddy Yankee (some dude), Thursday, 4 April 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link
mm no question.
― piscesx, Thursday, 4 April 2013 16:28 (ten years ago) link
I've never heard "This Must Be the Place" outside of this record. Voted "Girlfriend".
― The Reverend, Thursday, 4 April 2013 18:34 (ten years ago) link
it's one of the talking heads songs i hear on oldies radio, along w/ (in rough order of frequency) 'burning down the house', 'psycho killer', 'take me to the river', 'and she was', 'once in a lifetime', 'life during wartime', and (good lord why) 'wild wild life'. i used to hear 'nothing but flowers', 'girlfriend is better', and 'stay up late' also on this aaa station but it went talk radio last fall. slot tmbtp before 'life during wartime'.
― balls, Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:14 (ten years ago) link
During their nineties exile I heard Take Me to the River and the eighties singles (And She Was, Wild wild Life) most.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:17 (ten years ago) link
i can't imagine ever hearing "This Must" on any radio station as much as "Life During Wartime." or, for that matter, "Stay Up Late."
― the drummer for gay Daddy Yankee (some dude), Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:21 (ten years ago) link
yeah tbh i probably hear 'life during wartime' more esp since i hear both fom and sms versions.
― balls, Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:25 (ten years ago) link
in a weird way this album is worse than Remain in Light while on the whole having better songs
― four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link
can you explain?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:32 (ten years ago) link
i can sorta weirdly buy that argument, thing the more 'proper songs' aspect of speaking in tongues is part of why it's a worse album (trend only even more accelerated w/ following albums, though nostalgia and howard finster probably makes me fonder of little creatures than speaking in tongues).
― balls, Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:36 (ten years ago) link
think rather than thing
the loss of Eno is really felt in the generally flatter/thinner production, but Byrne compensates by demonstrating a more developed mastery of conventional song structures and well-deployed vocal melodies. A majority of the songs on SiT have more memorable choruses and sing-along-able call and response bits than those on RiL, but RiL on the whole SOUNDS better.
― four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 April 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
This is about the only record in my collection where my favourite song is aligned w/ the most popular. TMBTP is just a really fucking great song in any context. My Rauschenberg vinyl is maybe the most annoying record in my collection. Admittedly it was a little beat up when I found it but I can never get it to resemble the thing of beauty I want it to.
― Oblique Strategies, Thursday, 4 April 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
the SIT tracks sound influenced by 12"s and early eighties R&B.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 April 2013 20:23 (ten years ago) link
"I Get Wild" needs more luv
― Clarke B., Saturday, 6 April 2013 23:43 (ten years ago) link
love this album, prefer it to the SMS soundtrack (which is great, don't get me wrong). see little creatures and the true stories soundtrack as the NJ-style cracking point, though i have a lot of fondness for the former.
anyway, "burning down the house" for nostalgic reasons as much as anything else. was the first pop song i really tried to figure out, hunched over the tape deck with my finger on the rewind button, playing lines over and over again so i could transcribe them. didn't make much more sense after i was done.
― contenderizer, Sunday, 7 April 2013 19:24 (ten years ago) link
voted for "moon rocks" because it's not reproduced on SMS and it's about eating moon rocks
― the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:05 (ten years ago) link
"my tummy starts to talk"
― the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:06 (ten years ago) link
swamp a close contender for evil cab calloway and for ALL THAT BLOOD... WILL NEVER COVER THAT MESS
― the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:08 (ten years ago) link
yeah, swamp is great. great, funky-ass synth work, which i mostly attribute to worrell (perhaps unfairly).
― contenderizer, Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:17 (ten years ago) link
great/great
It's amazing
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:18 (ten years ago) link
See this album has everything - reggae, jump blues, funk, big pop numbers - songwriting-wise I'd say their most adventurous
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Sunday, 7 April 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 8 April 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
SMS is horrible, wtf is with these defenders of those awful overdubbed drums & etc. I vastly prefer the dry, meticulous Eno-less sound of the studio versions.
This is spot on -- so is Xgau on both:
Speaking in Tongues [Sire, 1983]With Eno departed, the polyrhythms no longer seem so portentous--this funk is quirkily comfortable, like the Byrne-produced B-52's or the three-piece of Byrne's earlier primitivist period. Unfortunately, the polyrhythms no longer seem so meaningful, either. Though God knows there's no rock and roll rule that says playfulness can't signify all by itself, the disjoint opacity of the lyrics fails to conceal Byrne's confusion about what it all means. Yet side two lights me up nevertheless, sandwiching the purest anticapitalist song he's ever written and the purest prolove song he's ever written around two pieces of typically ironic-optimistic futurism. A-Stop Making Sense [Sire, 1984]Always skeptical of live albums, I note that this is their second in a four-year period that has netted only one studio job while establishing them as a world-class live band. Number one was a useful overview; number two is a soundtrack, albeit for the finest concert film I've ever seen, that repeats three songs from the overview and four from the studio job. Buy the video. B+
Stop Making Sense [Sire, 1984]Always skeptical of live albums, I note that this is their second in a four-year period that has netted only one studio job while establishing them as a world-class live band. Number one was a useful overview; number two is a soundtrack, albeit for the finest concert film I've ever seen, that repeats three songs from the overview and four from the studio job. Buy the video. B+
Upon rapid reflection, "Slippery People" for me, tho "Making Flippy Floppy" made it a race.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 8 April 2013 00:31 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
good christ
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 00:03 (ten years ago) link
Weak saice
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 00:13 (ten years ago) link
Or sauce even.
go Pull Up The Roots! best TH 'deep cut' ever.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 01:17 (ten years ago) link
no that would be "Creatures of Love" or "The Good Thing."
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 01:20 (ten years ago) link
otm
― Bee OK, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 01:32 (ten years ago) link
wow, that is a lot of votes. every song got a vote, yeah!
― Bee OK, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 01:33 (ten years ago) link
"Swamp" is in Risky Business, which is also a lyric in the song, and I've always wondered about that.
― cougars and sneezers (Eazy), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 02:06 (ten years ago) link
― some dude, Wednesday, April 3, 2013 10:14 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― some dude, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 02:14 (ten years ago) link
fuck, pull up the roots is fun. it's like byrne fronting tom tom club.
― life is good (Hunt3r), Friday, 12 April 2013 19:53 (ten years ago) link
I got asked to play "This Must Be the Place" at a party the other night. I'm quite sure it wouldn't have happened if not for this thread, you know.
― sandra dayo connor (The Reverend), Friday, 12 April 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
I've always loved 'Moon Rocks.' It's elfin' great. Can't believe it fell behind 'Swamp.'
― afriendlypioneer, Thursday, 12 April 2018 01:18 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JFAA5dEup0
Early version of "The Lady Don't Mind" recorded during the SiT sessions.
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 12 April 2018 03:05 (five years ago) link
Pull up the roots is my fave
― Droni Mitchell (Ross), Thursday, 12 April 2018 04:27 (five years ago) link
^ my people
― brand new universal harvester (dog latin), Thursday, 12 April 2018 07:41 (five years ago) link
moon rocks has grown on me a bit. music-wise it sounds most like tom tom club
― brand new universal harvester (dog latin), Thursday, 12 April 2018 07:42 (five years ago) link
Goddamn this album is incredible
Also, Pull Up The Roots
― Davey D, Friday, 13 April 2018 02:21 (five years ago) link
― pssstttt, Hey you (dog latin), Sunday, April 7, 2013 1:18 PM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
^this
― that's not my post, Friday, 13 April 2018 03:13 (five years ago) link
pull up the roots deserved more love in this poll, and moon rocks especially. moon rocks fukken rules. the three song end of album sequence it kicks off is among my favorites in music
― i really like that!! (z_tbd), Thursday, 24 August 2023 23:36 (seven months ago) link
I agree. Pull Up The Roots is very high up in my favourite TH songs
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:00 (seven months ago) link
If we're just going off a song-for-song basis, this is clearly the best TH album too. RIL might be a bit more daring but it has fillery moments whereas Tongues is just bangers beginning to end
― Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:03 (seven months ago) link
This album is the soundtrack to the summer I graduated from high school. It didn't grab me immediately like the others did, but it's a grower.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:05 (seven months ago) link
Y'all are mad.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:06 (seven months ago) link
"Pull Up the Roots," "Moon Rocks," "I Get Wild" -- instant skippable.
Will still rep for I Get Wild like 5 years again during the last thread revive. Great album.
― that's not my post, Friday, 25 August 2023 00:08 (seven months ago) link
^ago
xxp Hard disagree, Alfred. Those are all solid tracks.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:08 (seven months ago) link
TMBTP the clear and deserving winner. The Stop Making Sense version is even better.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:09 (seven months ago) link
Pull Up The Roots SLAYS
― Davey D, Friday, 25 August 2023 00:10 (seven months ago) link
controp: I've never found TMBTP very exciting.
― peace, man, Friday, 25 August 2023 00:11 (seven months ago) link
I asked my guitar teacher, who has a really good grasp of music theory and whatnot, why This Must Be the Place pops out for everyone as the sentimental favorite, and he observed it's the only track on the album that isn't more or less blues-based.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 25 August 2023 00:12 (seven months ago) link
Well, and it's Weymouth on guitar strumming the same couple notes for five minutes
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:13 (seven months ago) link
― that's not my post,
Cool bass line.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:14 (seven months ago) link
It's Byrne's vocals on that song that do it for me. "When you're standing here beside me/I love the passing of time/Never for money, always for love/Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight" is pure magic.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:17 (seven months ago) link
Also "And you love me till my heart stops/Love me till I'm dead" is such a surprising couplet from David Byrne.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 00:20 (seven months ago) link
Pull Up The Roots is fantastic. Not sure if it’s a remix I like best or the original but what a song.
― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 25 August 2023 00:21 (seven months ago) link
Listening to this album rn. I keep expecting the "Whoaaa!" In "Swamp."
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 25 August 2023 03:34 (seven months ago) link