I was subsequently blown away by 1984's Stop Making Sense - both the album and the film. Around then I picked up their debut album 77 at a record fair and I got 1985's Little Creatures and 1986's True Stories on vinyl when they came out.
I then picked up Speaking in Tongues on CD . It was only recently that I got round to picking up More Songs about Buildings and Food and Remain in Light. I've only Fear of Music to get as I am in no rush to acquire Naked. Having said that if I saw it cheap in a charity shop ...
I'm not sure how or when I acquired the CD copy of Little Creatures but I know it was long after I got the LP. Whereas their first four albums are probably the most critically acclaimed there is no doubt that Little Creatures was their most commercially successful album. This is probably on the back of the success of Stop Making Sense and also the single the ubiquitous Road to Nowhere. Don't worry,I shall spare you that today.
I've yet to buy True Stories and I put off getting Little Creatures for a long, long time. Perversely, I bought Naked on vinyl a year or so after release as it very swiftly moved to the bargain bin at WH Smith. I don't mind admitting that there's a lot I like about their last album.
ReplyDeleteI often find it difficult to get past Eric 'ET' Thorngren's production, the huuge drum sound pulled so far forward that it drowns out every other aspect of the music at times. Television Man being a prime example and the 12" version is even more OTT.
For all that, some great songs buried in there and I still have a soft spot for (and the 12" picture disc of) And She Was.
Opening track And She Was is the best track on the album. As for True Stories I can never see past City Of Dreams which I still play to death today
ReplyDeleteRight......I'll be hanging around your place for a wee while now that I've finally got some time, post-holiday, to read through my favourite blogs.
ReplyDeleteTalking Heads are a band I've enjoyed for a long while, but I didn't get them until 'Once In A Lifetime' which was from their fourth studio album, 'Remain In Light.' I didn't, however, properly explore the back catalogue until after 'Stop Making Sense'. I've long had a feeling that what you have from 'Little Creatures' onwards is not really Talking Heads as such, with the sound expanded beyond the vision of the original four-piece set-up, and it feels and sounds as if they are almost the earliest David Byrne solo albums to an extent. It's also the case that the collections of songs on 'True Stories' and 'Naked' are far from their strongest.