Search - Talking Heads :: Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues

Revered by seemingly everyone but me...

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 02/21/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"An album that everyone but me seems to love, "Speaking in Tongues", the first Talking Heads album in three years when it came out, was also the first album since their debut not produced by Brian Eno, with the band taking over productions duties. The band proves remarkably diverse, clearly embracing many of the sounds and ideas the members explored between albums, but all in all, I find the album lacks something that the records with Eno had.



And in truth, it may have that its Eno I find missing-- it's been my assessment that in the twenty years or so Eno was involved in "art rock" records, the material he worked on was the pinnacle of the form-- his own albums in the early '70s, John Cale's mid-70s trio for Island records, David Bowie's Berlin period, the turn of the '70s Talking Heads albums, U2's mid '80s albums... all of them are pretty much universally superb and among the best (if not the best) by the artist Eno was engaged with.



But enough of my Eno love fest, as the case may be, this album is without him and the band explores programmed rhythms, dance beats and funk, as well as a number of other forms. The most noticable thing about the album is a number of the tracks are very dated-- they came from the '80s, it's pretty clear ("Slippery People", "Pull Up the Roots"). This isn't something that the Talking Heads is generally known for, their albums, particularly the early ones, have a unique timeless quality to them. On the other hand, the band is emmensely talented, and principle songwriter David Byrne endlessly inventive, and even in this sort of corner, they successfully manages to pull off at least one utterly superb piece in the form of single "Burning Down the House". Composed from a throwaway jam, the piece ends up being everything great Talking Heads is-- timeless, somewhat funky and jittery. It works entirely too well. And certainly when the band spreads their wings-- be it the slow groove of "Girlfriend is Better" (featuring one of the most self assured vocal Byrne delivered with the band), the blues ramble "Swamp" (with Byrne an octave lower than usual) and the light and delicate closer "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"-- the music is superb. The latter in particular is stunning, driven by delicately bouncing synthesizers with a fantastic gentle sound and superb vocal delivery from Byrne that introduces a sense of melancholy and gentle naivette that really makes it the standout of the record, even in the presence of "Burning Down the House".



This dualdisc reissue is superbly remastered-- both the stereo CD side and 5.1 DVD side sound superb (this album in particular benefits from the additional space 5.1 allows) and a few bonus tracks are included-- each side contains an alternate mix of "Burning Down the House", the CD side adds an unfinished demo and the DVD side videos for the singles.



But you know, in the end, a lot of people like this one a lot more than I do, and there may be a reason for that. It's certainly worth investigating, but I think it pales in comparison to the three albums with Eno. Newcomers to the band might do better starting with "Remain in Light"."

Hidden Grooves

tashcrash | South Shore, MA | 02/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After purchasing all the remastered albums and listening to both sides of these dualdiscs inside and out, I have come to the earth-shattering conclusion that SPEAKING IN TONGUES is in fact their finest achievement. Prior to these reissues, I was a devotee of FEAR OF MUSIC and REMAIN IN LIGHT, but the extraordinary remastering here reveals previously indistinct, nuanced layers. Indeed, all previous iterations of this album were compromised (especially the truncated versions of some of the songs on the original vinyl release), while this is the definitive version. Songs are finally allowed to play out as extended jams, and it adds to the overall free-form feel. Even more than REMAIN, this is their most experimental sounding album, and the tracks that I once wrote off as filler ("Pull Up The Roots," "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity") now sound both resistently enigmatic and eminently danceable. In comparison, LITTLE CREATURES sounds all the more diminished, while TRUE STORIES is, well...pretty terrible (although I'm partial to about half of NAKED). And O-U-T (but no hard feelings...)"

This is definitely the place

Brian Connor | Adelaide, Australia | 04/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stop whingeing the lot of you! These remasters are brilliant. The Digipacks are a much classier presentation than jewel cases. Maybe like me you'll want to put them in plastic sleeves to keep them pristine, but unless you treat all your possesions like dirt then they will last your lifetime. If the Dualdiscs aren't working in your gear then it's time to upgrade. The stereo remaster is as it should be, sounding full and rich and clear. Start with that to hear the album you know sound the best it ever has. Then move on to the 5.1 surround sound remixes. They are the best of their kind I have come across as they maintain the colour and texture (yes 'feel' if you like) of the original stereo mix while transporting you into a whole new world. Sometimes in surround mixes you can pick out individual sounds to the detriment of the overall blend and the ear feels let down by discovering the secret ingredients, but in the Talking Heads remixes some of those sounds are even more interesting in isolation but still entwine with everything else to preserve the intention of the stereo mix. Trying to describe how amazing this album sounds in surround is where the title of the record comes from! How lucky we are to live in these times when technology allows us to listen to great music that's nearly 30 years old and have it sound better than it ever has! And aren't we lucky to be fans of a band called Talking Heads."