Talking Heads 77

Spin (p.104) - "With his distressed falsetto, David Byrne is new wave's first definitive voice." Uncut (p.82) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[The] remarkable cohabitation of painterly, arty ambitions and fascination with the lissom qualities of the groove can be seen from their very first single." Mojo (Publisher) (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Their claustrophobic tunes of social unease, mathematical arrangements and front man David Byrne's self-conscious take on mundane events elevated them far beyond what would become new wave."

Though they were the most highly touted new wave band to emerge from the CBGBs scene in New York, it was not clear at first whether Talking Heads Lower East Side art rock approach could make the subway ride to the midtown pop mainstream successfully. The leadoff track of the debut album, Talking Heads: 77, "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town," was a pop song that emphasized the groups unlikely roots in late-60s bubblegum, Motown, and Caribbean music. But the "Uh-Oh" gave away the groups game early, with its nervous, disconnected lyrics and David Byrnes strained voice. All pretenses of normality were abandoned by the second track, as Talking Heads finally started to sound on record the way they did downtown: the staggered rhythms and sudden tempo changes, the odd guitar tunings and rhythmic, single-note patterns, the non-rhyming, non-linear lyrics that came across like odd remarks overheard from a psychiatrists couch, and that voice, singing above its normal range, its falsetto leaps and strangled cries resembling a madman trying desperately to sound normal. Talking Heads threw you off balance, but grabbed your attention with a sound that seemed alternately threatening and goofy. The music was undeniably catchy, even at its most ominous, especially on "Psycho Killer," Byrnes supreme statement of demented purpose. Amazingly, that song made the singles chart for a few weeks, evidence of the groups quirky appeal, but the album was not a big hit, and it remained unclear whether Talking Heads spoke only the secret language of the urban arts types or whether that could be translated into the more common tongue of hip pop culture. In any case, they had succeeded as artists, using existing elements in an unusual combination to create something new that still managed to be oddly familiar. And that made Talking Heads: 77 a landmark album. ~ William Ruhlmann

'70年代 NEW YORKの NEW WAVEシーンのなかでも際立った個性と知性により突出した存在であったTALKING HEADS。 赤とタイトルのみのシンプルなデザイン（タイトルもTALKING HEADS '77とシンプル（ボアダムスも"ソウルディスチャージ'99"のネーミング時に影響されたらしいです）。 のジャケットも鮮やかなの1stアルバム。全体的にNEW WAVE色が強いですが、1stにありがちな気負いは不思議と感じられず、スティール・パンを導入するなど一筋縄では行かないサウンドです。 デビット・バーンのパラノイアチックなヴォーカルと、ティナ・ウィエマスのシンプルだが力強いベースラインが耳に残ります。 代表曲となった「Psycho Killer」や、ホノボノしたメロディの「Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town 」など名曲満載。 ワールドミュージックの導入をおこっていく2nd以降にはないシンプルさが堪らない魅力の隠れた名アルバム。 (C)YKYM