5 comments about Remain in Light.

1. Whilst the first half of this album contains the CLASSIC Once In A Lifetime and excellent The Great Curve, Crosseyed And Painless and Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), the second half of this album is rather a snooze fest, with slow, moody songs with sparse instrumentation.
   
   The first four songs are worth this purchase, though be warned about the last four. I particularly recommend the 2006 CD/DVD remaster, the two videos live from German TV show RockPop are great, but the 5.1 remix doesn't do much for me.
   
   Overall, weak compared to their superior previous album, 1979's Fear Of Music. Get that before getting this one.



2. The Talking Heads' fourth album is really really freaking good. `Nuff said.
   
   Okay, maybe not. Here's what you should know: Remain In Light sees the Heads (with longtime producer Brian Eno in tow) creating some of the most intricate, colorful, original, and downright stunning soundscapes in the history of music. The sound of the album is an absolutely ecstatic mixture of funk, punk, and new wave with elements of electronic music, African rhythms, twisted pop, post-psychedelic experimentalism, and good ol' fashioned rock `n' roll. It's the sound of a multitude of musical influences being molded together, shaped and structured in terms of one another, like some kind of musical funhouse mirror. It also rocks.
   
   I mean, just listen to "Crosseyed and Painless." Just listen to it! Listen to that ridiculously propulsive rhythm, which finds the common ground between Chuck Berry, James Brown, and King Sunny Ade. Listen to that squirming bass line, and Byrne's sweaty, paranoid vocals. It's friggin' amazing! And then there's "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)," with its tight polyrhythm and morphological keyboards. "The Great Curve" mingles heavy metal guitars with a swirling maze of drums. "Once In A Life Time" is a warped new wave classic, with vocals that bring to mind a Revival-era preacher, and densely layered melodies.
   
   The album's second half is a quieter, less explicitly rhythmic affair, but it still packs a wallop. "Listening Wind" is a supernatural tale of imperialism thwarted set to a skin-crawling whisper of melody, while "Houses In Motion" boils with tension. "Seen And Not Seen" is strange, funny, and hypnotic, while "The Overload" is pure slow-burning apocalypse.
   
   It's stunning. Buy this!



3. This is a very special album. One of the best ever by anyone. Daring, original, brilliant, and enduring. If you love music, owning this album is not optional, it's essential.



4. A friend of mine in high school bought this album, and hated it. I bought it from him for a few bucks, and it was some of the best money ever spent. While the album has a mere 8 songs on it, they are all excellent. A lot of people don't like the last 4 songs, but I think they're just as good as the first 4, though not as up tempo (obviously). Born Under Punches (The Beat Goes On) is a great way to start the album, followed by one of favorite Heads' songs, Crosseyed and Painless. The Great Curve has some of the best harmonizing on the chorus that I've ever heard. Once in a Lifetime is a hit single that great to listen to and to think about (a rare combo). The last four are very moody and eerie. I love them all, especially Houses in Motion and The Overload. Many talk about the intricate rhythms, and yes, they are very, very cool, but I love the vocals here. They're very well arranged, and really blend it to the experimenting here. This album was released in 1983, though it sounds like it could be released at anytime. This is my favorite Talking Heads album. I love the adventurous sounds that Talking Heads and Brian Eno (who is more like a co-colloborator here than just a producer) string together here. Magnificence from the 1980's....



5. Beginning with the intricate funk of "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", this is the cream of Talking Heads' crop. Brian Eno produced their amazing second album "More Songs About Buildings and Food" and the great if somewhat uneven "Fear of Music" but on this disc his presence is much more fully felt as the entire album was also co-written by him. There are a few more awesome funk numbers such as "Crosseyed and Painless" (dig that Byrne rap near the end), "The Great Curve", the radio hit "Once in a Lifetime" which has had an incredibly long life as you still hear it in films and TV shows now and then, and "Houses in Motion" which features an excellent trumpet solo by Eno collaborator Jon Hassell. "Seen and Not Seen" and "Listening Wind" both follow the polyrhythmic template of the rest of the disc but are more subtle than the previous tracks. The CD concludes with a song that is very different from the rest of the album but fits right in anyway- the minimal, atmospheric and very Enoesque "The Overload".
   
   It's a shame that aside from David Byrne, the rest of the band was not exactly thrilled to have Eno involved in the album to the extent he was but David was clearly inspired by their partnership, going on to collaborate with B.E. on the wonderful "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" which has influenced me enormously as a songwriter. If blue-eyed funk is your thing, check this old classic out now!

5 comments about Violent Femmes.

1. This is a good album, but I was expecting the two bonus tracks and it came rather late so I gave a 4 star. I really wanted Gimme The Car but IT IS NOT ON THE LP release. You should be aware if you are purchasing this on vinyl! This does not have Ugly and Gimme The Car.
   All in all, this is probably the best album of the 80s. Gano's angsty lyrics are the teenage soundtrack but he expresses his frustration so much better than the screamo bands of today. Fall Out Boy, Paramore, HIM you know I'm talking about you!



2. Growing up in the Minneapolis bar and music scene in the 1980s, I thought the only good thing that could come out of Wisconsin was Interstate 94. How wrong I was.
   
   The Violent Femmes hit the Prince-saturated live music scene here like a plate of steaming-hot cheese nachos and a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Gordon Gano came from a place and a time where if your girlfriend dumped you, you could get drunk, get high, have a neurotic fit, and not hurt anybody but yourself. Actually, their music is the soundtrack for that kind of activity.
   
   Other reviews complain that the Femmes could never top this album. Then, again, I think few bands could. Remember, the Femmes have put up four genuine rock and roll anthems like "Add it Up", "Blister in the sun", "Gone Daddy Gone", and "American Music".
   
   Let's not criticize the perfection of the first album in light of the imperfections of the following works.
   
   This is a must-buy collection of indigenous American folk-punk. I am pleased to see from all the reviews that it has found it's rightful place in American music history. Even if it did come from Wisconsin.



3. I don't know of anyone who grew up in the 80's and hasn't heard this CD - it's a classic, pure and simple.



4. Once again, another great record that I was turned on to in the mid 80's by a great college radio station. Easily the best of their records this quirky little oddity was one of the best albums of the 80's and is a classic example of what alternative used to mean - under produced and unique. The tacked on CD songs don't add much - Good Feeling is where this record really ends and rightly so. Listening to this record in the years since high school always briefly takes me back to that place but the catchy greatness of this album imprints it in the present as well. I have no other way of defining the qualities of a great recording.



5. . . .is the fact that these guys are amazing songwriters and instrumentalists. At a glance, I didn't see anyone talking about that here so I felt compelled to bring it up.
   
   To some, the tone of this album is a turn-off. But it's just not overproduced. What I love about it is that you can HEAR the instruments as if the band was in the room with you. There are no dramatic arrangements to cloud the water. It is pure music, served without garnish for your enjoyment.
   
   This collection of songs will remain in the High Canon of American music for generations to come.

5 comments about Speaking in Tongues.

1. I second the pull up the roots comment! Might be my favorite song on the whole album. This entire album is awesome though, and its really good on a long drive in the summertime.



2. The Talking Heads' 1983 album "Speaking In Tongues" is a dazzling, groove-oriented collection. The music here is so impeccably crafted and paced that you're truly left in awe, that is if you're not busy simply dancing and/or singing along.
   
   The album is remarkably cohesive, yet intriguingly varied at the same time. The massively funky "Girlfriend Is Better" has one of the most insanely catchy choruses ever, plus hilarious vocal asides from David Byrne. "Making Flippy Floppy" and the huge hit "Burning Down The House" are ultra-funky gems as well. "Slippery People" has an incredibly catchy gospel-ized call-and-response chorus, sumptuous bright keyboard textures, and a neatly 'off-the-beat' bass line. The swinging "Swamp" is fittingly titled, with a swampy New Orleans R&B groove, Byrne singing much lower than usual, and an amusingly growling singalong chorus. "I Get Wild/ Wild Gravity" has a light reggae feel and yet another irresistible chorus. The closing "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)", with its memorably looping guitar line, has a weirdly optimistic tone and is a wonderful way to end the record.
   
   In short, "Speaking In Tongues" is a marvelous must-have record, from a terrific band, that any serious music fan will want to listen to over and over and over. One of my all-time personal favorites.



3. I have a special edition of this with a DVD side and I can listen to this in 5.1 surround sound. It is an earth movign experience. I love every song on this album. In fact, I think this is my favorite album ever by my favorite band ever and it includes my favorite song ever, This Must Be the Place.



4. I picked this album up used at an old record store. Popped it in my cd player and WOW! This is by far the greatest Talking Heads Album Making Flippy Floppy is a really well composed song. What is neat about this album is it has a sort of reggae funk to it with all kinds of random lyrics. YOU WILL ENJOY THIS IF YOU ARE A TALKING HEADS FAN OR ARE NEW TO THEM!



5. ALSO AVAILABLE AS A DUAL DISC WITH SOME EXTRA TRACKS.
   HOPEFULLY IT HAS BETTER SOUND.
   
   Released in 1983, this is the Talking Heads' fifth studio album. It came after three years after Remain In Light. In those days, 3 years between albums was a long time. In the sixties some groups released a couple of albums a year. If they didn't you wondered what happened to them. Now, groups go up to a decade between album releases.
   
   The sound quality on the original CD is OK but not excellent. It is a little bit muddled and not as sharp as it should be, especially considering the musical style the band used at the time. There is new version out, on a dual disc. One side is a normal CD and the other is an audio DVD. There are some extra tracks on this.
   
   This might be the Talking Heads best album, if it didn't all sound the same and eventually get stale and boring. I think if they had left out Pull Up the Roots, the album would have been near perfect. Pull Up The Roots just drones on with a disco beat. It almost sounds like one of those extended mixes created just for discos.
   
   Otherwise, this CD is just filled full of great songs and real classics: Buring Down the House, Girlfriend Is Better and Swamp. When I first heard Swamp, I had no idea who it was.
   
   This album is the basis for much of the live CD/DVD, Stop Making Sense. I think that many of the songs are even better on this live album.
   
   If you like this album, than you should check out the early Tom Tom Club albums, especially Dark, Sneak, Love Action. Tom Tom Club is spin off band featuring Franz and Weymouth.

5 comments about The B-52's.

1. I enjoyed THE B-52'S self-titled album/cd. The songs have a catchy infectious beat that reminds me of the 60s and hippie/beach music.
   
   For some reason I didn't own this album till now even though my friends had it and I loved the song "Rock Lobster." I guess I couldn't afford it back then in my teen years but I've got it now and it sounds great. It reminds me of the 80s and the fun I used to have as a care free teen. Oh how times have changed.
   
   Anyway, some standouts from THE B-52'S for me are: "Rock Lobster" "Dance This Mess Around" "Lava" and "Planet Claire."
   
   I swear "Planet Claire" sounds like they used a sample from the theme song from the 60s campy tv-show "Batman."
   
   The cd comes along with a booklet with the lyrics and a little background info on the group. The only song I didn't care for was the B-52's remake of Petula Clark's "Downtown." But they did do a unique version of it, but it was too far out for me, LOL.
   
   I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the B-52's. If you're unfamiliar with them check out Time Capsule which is a greatest hits set with all those groovy songs and a great intro to the group.



2. I remember buying this album in high school when it came out and loved it, it was so good being reunited with it some 30 years later. It still sounds as fresh as it did then, with it's main message "If you're in outer space, don't feel out of place, 'cause there are thousands of others like you." A true new wave classic.



3. The B-52's *****
   
   
   The fact that an album by The B-52's was the most shocking album of 1979, at a time when Punk bands like The Damned and The Sex Pistols were king is shocking in it's self. But you have to realize it was either the lour angst of punk, the mellow sounds of soft rock, or the dance-able grooves of disco, and then The B-52's....a band unlike any other.
   
   The still to this day infectiousness of 'Rock Lobster' with it's killer guitar riff to the club friendly '52 Girls' and could have been a Cramps song 'lava' alone make this album worth while.
   
   From Schinders' signature nasally voice and the jangly guitar, to the patent bee-hive hairdo's The B-52's were the greatest rock gimmick that never meant to happen and this, their debut album is a testament to that.



4. I has taken me many years to get the cd version of the original masterpiece, but I finally have it.
   
   When I look back to when this first came out and how it caught everyone's attention in the school smoking area, it truly was an amazing time. This stuff was certainly something new and refreshing sounding and totally off the wall. Hell even the Zeppelin snobs like myself were diggin' it.
   
   Clearly these guys and girls had found a new sound that was just so bizarre it rocked! Over the years the B52's have put out some pretty good stuff, but this release is something special and was the one that got everyone's attention from the get go. It pretty amazing it still sound new today some 40 years later.
   
   Rock Lobster and Planet Claire along are just amazing tunes and well worth the price of the cd.
   
   Great stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



5. My favorite party album! I found out about the B-52's after a friend suggested them, knowing that I'm a huge fan of The Cosmopolitans Wild Moose Party: Pom Pom Girls Gone New Wave NYC 1980-1981 another awesome new wave band. These two bands make you want to get up and dance!

5 comments about Fear of Music.

1. A brief survey of the musical landscape from about 1963 until the present yields the following results:
   
   1. There are a lot of people who write and perform songs that are about nothing;
   2. There are some people who write and perform songs that are about something;
   3. There are precious few people who can write songs that are essentially about nothing and in constructing and performing them, turn them into songs that are about something.
   
   David Byrne's unique genius, as far as I can tell, is his ability to slot himself (with band in tow) into the third category. Now perhaps this isn't quite a fair, accurate assessment of his body of work, because in a sense the songs he wrote during this period are indeed about something, in fact they are about a lot of things. But the jumble of ideas is essentially nonlinear, and the stories these songs tell are more in the performance and arrangement of ideas than via a standard narrative. This was something almost unprecedented for the "pop" music world, and I think this album was where it reached its apex for Byrne and co.
   
   On songs like "Air," "Animals," and "Drugs," for example, it's hard to determine what the message is. But the way these songs are performed is gripping and provides them a weight you'd never suspect from a cursory read through the lyrics. Take for example the absurdist lyrics to "Air":
   
   Air...Air
   Hit me in the face
   I run faster
   Faster into the air
   (I say to myself)
   What is happening to my skin?
   Where is that protection that I needed?
   Air can hurt you too
   Air can hurt you too
   Some people say not to worry about the air
   Some people never had experience with...
   
   Air...Air
   It can break your heart
   So remember when the weather gets rough
   (You'll say to yourself)
   What is happening to my skin?
   Where is that protection that I needed?
   Air can hurt you too
   Air can hurt you too
   Some people say not to worry about the air
   Some people don't know s*** about the...
   Air...
   
   Ok what the - ? But give this a listen, Byrne's lyrics channeled through his one-of-a-kind high-pitched vocal performance and set against a tight, edgy guitar-driven white-boy funk workout. The paranoia and claustrophobia are virtually palpable. It's as if the air is pursuing, attacking the narrator. Or perhaps the narrator is only perceiving this to be the case? Is the danger all in the paranoid's head? Or is it real? The song offers no resolution.
   
   This album is varied as well, some lyrics almost telling something of a semi-linear story ("Life During Wartime") or making a point about everyday existence ("Heaven"). The common theme is the examination of small things, details in our lives that we might miss if we weren't careful to pay attention to them. "I got some groceries, some peanut butter, to last a couple of days," intones Byrne about halfway into "Life During Wartime," and it's easy to believe that this mundanity would be of significant concern to a man hiding out in a building during a war. On "Animals," Byrne scolds non-human creatures for "living on nuts and berries," setting a "bad example" for the rest of us. I like to think of this as a statement of supreme irony (after all, the animals are surviving quite well but look at humanity!), however the lyric leaves a lot to the listener's imagination. It takes a mind like Byrne's to think of concepts like that, and enjoy it or not it does provoke a reaction from most people. That's art. The very definition.
   
   The album is also a relentlessly edgy, herky-jerky tight funk workout which remains one-of-a-kind no matter how many other bands try to emulate it. If it weren't so overtly weird, it might even play well as a party record. I was born two years after its release so I have no idea how it was received by the public at the time. Honestly, compared to a lot of new wave stuff from that era, it's really not that extreme in some ways. A matter of context I suppose.
   
   In sum, this is a brilliant work and holds up just as well now as it ever did. I love all of the music that this band created, through their final few (poppier) albums, but this one remains the most striking to me. A rare moment in history where depth of performance and attention to compositional detail transformed abstraction into something concrete and tanglible.



2. This album will never replace Remain in Light for me as the ultimate Talking Heads experience. But then, nothing will. Nonetheless Fear of Music is very audiophile, not unlike Remain in Light. There is a lot going on through each track, and much of it goes undetectable without the use of high frequency headphones. "Memories Can't Wait" is no doubt a great example of this. But unfortunately, despite all the cool arrangements, sounds, samples, and grooves on Fear of Music, there just isn't enough in the songwriting department. I feel like this album is very well produced, and I think the musicianship is prevalent. At times, Byrne is very witty. But there is no "Once in a Lifetime" on this album, even if "Air" comes fairly close. "What is happening to my skin?....Some people say not to worry about the air....but Air can hurt you too!" lol. It got a laugh out of me anyway.
   
   This is a very worthwhile album. It really is worth listening to, just for all the ear candy injected into the stomach of this album. Especially on the stronger tracks, you can tell in the direction (Remain in Light) they are headed. Lyrically, we see Talking Heads near their best on "Air," and "Heaven." When listening to "Drugs," for the first minute and a half I have to remind myself that this is not a Brian Eno record. Because until David Byrne starts in, "Drugs" could easily fit in as an instrumental in Before and After Science. Unfortunately, the vocals ruin the ambiance of this track. Good thing Eno did solo work.
   
   Best tracks: Air, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait, Heaven.



3. Summer of 1979. I just graduated from high school. I was into The Who and Led Zep during those years and then I listened to this album. Fear of Music instantly changed my listening preferences much like in the scene from Taxi when Jim, as a college student, eats a pot brownie and changes immediately into the stoned Reverend Jim. Fear of Music introduced me to Eno, Bowie, early Roxy Music, and alot of the new wave music that was coming out at that time. David Johansen's first album stayed on my turntable for a long while. Today Luna and Wilco take up alot of space on my iPod, and I thank Fear of Music for this.



4. David Byrne always passes off the "Fear" angle/theme here as a joke -- but I don't buy it. These songs are anxious, clautrophobic, and twisted -- and legitimately so to my ears. They're also poppy as a laundry basket full of poppyseed muffins, and this aural culture clash has been known to lead to vertigo -- don't look down....



5. Buy it, definitely. Every song is great (except Animals - I never could get into that one). It's dark, it's funny, it's artsy (in a good way), it's 100% unique, like the Talking Heads in general. Best cuts: I Zimbra; Cities; Life During Wartime; Air; Heaven (my favorite of the bunch) and Drugs. Buy it, and pick up More Songs About Buildings and Food, Remain in Light and Speaking in Tongues while you're at it.

5 comments about Dead Man's Party.

1. This is by far Oingo Boingo's best album-no questions asked. Dead Man's Party (the song that introduced me to them), Just Another Day, Same Man I Was Before, and Wierd Science are the best songs the band ever recorded, as far as I'm concerned. There are only a couple of songs here that really don't do anything for me.



2. Great dance CD, the song Dead Man's party is a great dance song for your Halloween Party!



3. The CD has two of my favorite songs, 'Dead Man's Party,' and 'Weird Science.' The rest of the CD quickly grew on me and now I can't think of not having it in my CD collection. When it shipped it didn't take very long for it to come in, I'd say about a week. It was in great condition when I got it and the disc itself looked brand new. Thanks a lot, and keep up the great work.



4. I first heard this album when I was on the road to and from the beach with a couple of good friends. While the rest of the album rocked my socks, it was "Stay" that got stuck in my head. I was singing it all the time, and the melody was so haunting, that I had to run out and get it. I got it on LP, and as a testiment of how much I loved it, I pulled out my record player out everyday for 3 months because I needed to hear it. Thankfully, I eventually got the cd too.
   
   I hope that everyone who experiences this album will enjoy it as much as I did.



5. Can't get enough of this CD -- energized music to play at halloween or anytime!!

5 comments about Little Creatures.

1. I grew up with these timeless performers. It takes me back to happy times as a teen.



2. The Talking Heads have put out some great music in the 1980's up to the mid 90's but I think this album was when they reached a creative pinnacle in their melodic style. David Byrne has the kind of creative mind which produces lyrics and music in a unique way. Because their music was always considered obscure, even within their category, they tended to attract a sub mainstream audience. "Speaking in Tounges" was their first record to get noticed but even so, it was considered eclectic. Then "Stop Making Sense" (the movie) came out and mainstream was going to see it and buying Talking Heads recordings, followed by the soundtrack for "True Stories."
   
   What I like about it is that it's uplifting, fun, and energetic. The music makes you want to get up and dance. The words are sometimes weird, funny, and strong statements about our society. I've also put in some great driving time in our old Saab, listening to this CD. When it ends, you find the last hour seemed to go by quickly and you're almost there!



3. Little Creatures was an album a friend of mine who ran a record store in the 80's in Newport, Rhode Island, gave to me when I was first discovering the magic of Mike Stipe. I was into very different styles of music, but knew about Talking Heads during its heydey days at CBGB's and their connection at RISD. David Byrne was a voice of his generation. I was very young when I first heard 'Little Creatures'. My friends laughed at me, as at that time Beastie Boys were the towering inferno of adolescence. 'And She Was' and 'Road To Nowhere' I would belt out in my room to screams from my mother to turn that blasted, awful, talentless music off. :)
   
   There is just something whimsically magical, and almost ambient about Little Creatures and the voice of Byrne. It's music that seems to fit into every situation, which is why so many directors, including Stone, has used their music in scenes which called for something that indeed isn't smashing rock and roll, and too soft to be called Byrne.
   
   Really a fantastic album, by one of the greatest bands ever.



4. You know, when I first heard about this album I was ready and willing to rip it to pieces. I mean, a pop album? From Talking Heads? Yeah, that's right. It's their equivalent of Loaded by the Velvet Underground: proof they could've made good pop if they had chose to, they just never chose to. And besides, there's plenty of the group's personality here - as on the jumpy "Perfect World", and on "The Lady Don't Mind", which goes from a Pink Floyd-influenced intro to a full-on dance track. Anyway, there were several minor hits here: "And She Was" is pure catchy hummable fun; "Stay Up Late", about a perverted babysitter (At least that's my take) is fun bouncy piano-pop with wonderful guitar parts; "Walk it Down", despite having annoying keyboards, is still pretty funky and besides it has great lyrics; "Road to Nowhere" is enjoyably jerky and has a nice militant rhythm, even if the organ tone once again hurts it. But it's nowhere near perfect. For one, a bit of ambition wouldn't have hurt. For another, there are a couple songs I don't like here: the country-new wave hybrid "Creatures of Love" is awkward; the world music-flavored "Television Man" is endless; and there's nothing either here or there about "Give Me Back My Name". Plus there are some moronic keyboards. Oh well, it's a good fun time, exactly what it was intended to be. So hey. Can't complain too much. It's just that it's nowhere near Remain in Light.



5. This album is beautiful because of the vocal harmonies provided by Tina Weymouth. She was a perfect counterpart to David Byrne's odd voice. When he went solo, he lost all of this.
   
   Hands down, my favorite song on the album is Road To Nowhere. The vocal harmonies are delicious and the song reminds me of the awesome video that they created for the song.

5 comments about Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!.

1. While the Devo phenomenon as a whole may be somewhat time encapsulated, this debut album has absolutely remained as cutting-edge and vibrant as the day it came out some 30 years ago. Though the band already had a great satiric concept going (de-evolution), when they teamed up with Brian Eno for this project, the stuff of demented genius was created. The sound straddles punk, new wave, and the simplistic pop ditties of the sixties. The jumpy, jagged, hypercaffeinated tunes perfectly convey Devo's warped take on pop culture, and also serve to further pop as an art form. This is not a disc that I play in heavy rotation, but it sounds fresh every time I hear it, and only gets better with time.



2. Devo emerged fully formed on this, their first album. And it's still their best album. The stand out songs are "Mongoloid", "Jocko Homo", and "Uncontrollable Urge". They introduce the concept of De-evolotion on this LP. They would futher explore and develope it on future releases.
   
   Devo was a band that would not sit still. Each LP brought with it a new look and sound for the band. Here they popularised the yellow suits, the future would bring the energy domes and the smart patrol.
   
   Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! Was the start of Devo's comentary/parody of modern life. As vital now as the day it was originaly released.



3. Devo came from Akron, Ohio... where I lived until recently. Their appeal and early success was a complete enigma to most locals. But Akron was scraping the bottom of the cultural and economic barrel at that time, so if local talent was attracting national attention it was counted as a blessing regardless. Certain influential artists (David Bowie, in particular) and critics suspected that the band was at the forefront of something revolutionary.
   
   I've seen them linked with Kraftwerk back in their embryonic stages, and there's some logic to that. But the thing that I think is sometimes missed by people from other parts of the country is the absolute contempt that this band inspired in local people when they started. Kraftwerk may have been amusing or ridiculous to the Steve Miller Band fans of the world in 1978, but when you put on a Devo record, folks actually got mad. They'd listen for a few minutes in disbelief, and shake their heads, and then they'd get that impatient look that says, "Okay, this isn't funny anymore"... then their faces would get red and they'd demand that you turn that garbage off *right now*. Devo had an unbelievable polarizing effect, and they were extremely controversial. When they played live, they were threatened with physical violence.
   
   I can still remember listening to Q. Are We Not Men? for the first time... and not exactly liking it, but being stretched by it. So I listened to it again. When you hear these songs now they sound pretty conventional, but at that time the whole album just sounded demented and disturbing. I may have been too young to catch all of the humor (I had probably just figured out that the sixties Batman television series was a comedy). Eventually, I liked it. And by the time the next album came out, I was a fan.
   
   As the band "devolved" they became more of a synthpop unit, which was okay with me since I liked the music they were making. But this Brian Eno-produced debut is more of a straightforward rock and roll record ("Gut Feeling" and "Come Back Jonee", especially), with lots of guitars and Chuck Berry era influences. It holds up better today than most of their successive albums, and certainly better than much of the popular music of the time.
   
   Lyrically, Devo is a smart aleck science. There's a loudly subversive philosophy involved that informs everything the band produces. Back when it was still vague, it passed for profound... but eventually the band couldn't poke fun at the system and participate in it at the same time, so they gave up and caved in to everything they claimed to despise. Now they work in L.A. and write toothpaste jingles.
   
   Incidentally, Devo's greatest hits packages are totally worthless. If you want to get into this band, you have to survey the albums. This is probably a good place to start.



4. I am surprised that I not only like this album, but that I still play it quite often. I love the songs Mongoloid, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, and the Devo classic, Jocko Homo. It's actually a very good album, strange, unique, and not really as classifiable as most people think. Devo gets thrown in with the New Wave/Punk bands, but their music was more unique and interesting than the slew of New Wave bands. I was never really a fan of Whip It (especially the video, which is one of the cheesiest things I've ever seen), but Devo released many albums in their lifetime, and their debut here is one of their best.



5. Wow. I was 14 when this came out, and it really got to me: I remember staying up all hours to get a chance to film (not record, film) DEVO's early films and videos on Don Kirshner's. Just the perfect antidote to Foreigner.
   Yes, it is a real grounbreaker of an album and, strangely, has an original flavor that DEVO shed as quickly as they recorded their second album. The Akron anarchy still shines through on this one, though: the sense that these guys were having such a great time playing their joke on the spudboys at Warner Bros, and disbelieving they were getting the chance. 'Course, having Eno -- while he could still take a joke -- and Connie Planck involved in the production was a big help, too. For this album, it all REALLY worked. And the album got (for 1978, when, remember, Foreigner still reigned) kind of big, at least among the colllege and art school kids. Too bad that after this, the Smart Patrol really did have nowhere to go except into Noo Wave parody.

5 comments about Look Sharp!.

1. If ever there was such a thing as a rock n roll chameleon, Joe Jackson would be it. Over the years he has done albums that encompassed punk, new wave, pop, jazz, swing, album oriented rock, and even progressive rock. On this his first album Jackson burst on to the scene mainly appealing to the punk and new wave crowd, but unlike most artists of this ilk, Jackson could actually play the hell out a piano and wrote lyrics that were both biting and incredibly intelligent. Joe's debut would rocket him to stardom with the smash hit single "Is She Really Going Out With Him" and three other lesser hits "One More Time", "Sunday Papers" and "Got The Time". Joe's lyrics are cerebral, cynical and at time hilarious as he portrays the angst of a 20 something trying to fit in with the new wave 80's culture. The music is all solid with Jackson's original band featuring Gary Sanford, Graham Mabey, and Dave Houghton. "Look Sharp" is not Jackson's best album, but was a great debut for one of the more innovative artists to come out of the punk / new wave era.



2. I wish Joe Jackson was going to be in Rock Band at some point. I recently discovered his album Look Sharp! which I alluded to earlier. It's really one of the most overlooked, underappreciated rock albums that history isn't doing any favors for. You may know Joe Jackson for his smash "Is She Really Going Out With Him?", which, in the days of Kazaa, was commonly attributed to The Cars not unlike how "Dancing in the Moonlight" was pegged to Van Morrison instead of it's true performers, King Harvest. "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" topped out at number 21 in 1979 in the US and 13 in the UK and propelled the album to reach #20 in the US and #40 in the UK (credit: Wikipedia).
   
   Look Sharp! features a ton of fun rock, early pop/punk, and dancible tracks. It's very comparable to My Aim Is True in terms of style, and I would wager that Jackson was heavily influenced by Elvis Costello's breakthrough debut album. I haven't done a review in a while, so why not take a look at this forgotten gem?
   
   
   Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
   
   1. One More Time - Five stars. A great song with a driving guitar and bass. One of the things that Jackson does really well on this album is his ability to play with minutia and tweak verses and choruses so that they are not identical. He does this extremely well on "One More Time", especially midway through the verses. Jackson always has a really nice song writing ability to make the verses and chorus sound unique from eachother enough so so that it is a pleasant surprise when the chorus makes an appearance but it doesn't disrupt any of the flow he has built. Bonus points to the bassist on this track.
   
   2. Sunday Papers - Four stars. This track allows the listener to catch their breath. It's a nice, simple rocker with really clever, biting lyrics, a dub-styled guitar, and some more nice bass work. "If you want to know about the new sex position, you can read it in the Sunday Papers." The song would work a little better if they didn't add a little extra post chorus in. Kind of disrupts the flow.
   
   3. Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Five stars. A really great rock and roll song that captures the feeling of twenty-something heart ache. Bonus points for the piano in the bridge. This is THE song you've unquestionably heard from this album before you've read this review. It holds up flawlessly almost thirty years later.
   
   4. Happy Loving Couples - Five stars. One of, if not the most dancible songs on the record. Jackson displays another great story telling skill in relating a simple, pure feeling that most potential listeners have felt. I almost took off a star for him rhyming girl and world twice. Fun drumming and catchy chorus.
   
   5. Throw It Away - Four styles. A quick style change in this one. We revert back to more of the early pop/punk sound that One More Time had with almost Jerry Lee Lewis piano and vocal stylings, with a harder edge. Bass work is phenomenal in this one. A little too hard for me, meshes ok with the album, just feels slightly out of place.
   
   6. Baby Stick Around - Five stars. Super fun song with an extraordinarily creative chorus. The transition from the verse to the chorus makes me jealous that I did not write it. Very cool variation on rockabilly styles in the verses. If there is one more thing that Joe Jackson does very well in this album is that he mashes together styles that should never normally go together and he does it ingeniusesly.
   
   7. Look Sharp! - Five stars. The track bands like Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse wish they could have written. This is how you write smart, sharp dance music that still has an artistic edge.
   
   8. Fools in Love - Four stars. I'd be remiss to point out right from the start that I listened to this album with my father, who knows a great deal about music, on a road trip once, and the first thing he asked was "Is this Elvis Costello?". I'd also be remiss to point out that this song sounds very similar to "Watching the Detectives". It has got a nice rock/reggae flair to it, but for me, it sounds way to similar to "Watching the Detectives" to give it five stars, even though this song's chorus blows it out of the water.
   
   9. (Do the) Instant Mash - Four stars. A fun dance track that is really pushed by the continuingly excellent bassist, that is about dancing. I guess the old rule of selling records is if all else fails, try to create a new dance song. This song is more of a tongue in cheek look at that. Fun song to tap your toes to.
   
   10. Pretty Girls - Five stars. A fun play on late 50's, early 60's rock and roll stylistically with some fun lyrics about scoping out the honeys. A nice bridge.
   
   11. Got the Time - Four stars. A very hard song to end this album. Punk elements all over the place here.
   
   Joe Jackson's debut album is definitely something all fans of rock and roll should give a spin to, especially if you are a fan of Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True, early J. Giles Band, or even more modern "dance" bands.



3. I was in my junior year of college, and like many others, tired of the mid-seventies popular music that had come to dominate: Boston, Heart, ELP, ELO, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Led Zep, Jethro Tull. Not that it hadn't been great in its day, but it was getting slow and tired. Then, starting in 1977 with Elvis Costello and Tom Petty, a new sound started to seep onto the airwaves. The subversion continued in 1978 with The Cars and Warren Zevon, and then, in the spring of 1979, New Wave hit the US with a vengeance. Combining hard rock and disillusionment with a pop sensibility, it was a fresh sound. The Police "Roxanne", Talking Heads "Take Me to the River", Blondie "One Way or Another" and "Heart of Glass" (despite its disco beat), Costello "Accidents Will Happen", and, of course, Joe Jackson, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?". Joe Jackson in particular reminded me of the fast, exciting, slightly dangerous, "urban" sound that had permeated pop music in the mid sixties, when I first started listening to the radio: it was both fresh and a little nostalgic at the same time. Short, catchy, unsentimental and unpretentious tunes. It was an urban sound for white kids, basically. Not that there was anything wrong with the other urban sound, R & B, but it wasn't rock. Then, the American public, including myself, were led to discover the harder-edged punk which had been around for years: Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop. Pretty soon, the new wave/punk movement diverged completely: punk became hard-core, with groups like X, Bad Brains, Black Flag etc., and new wave started devolving into self-conscious retro pop acts like The Knack, The Romantics, The Go Go's, etc. Joe Jackson's first two cds, this one and "I'm the Man", along with The Pretenders' first album, stand at the pinnacle of Punk/New Wave.



4. As a Gosport, Hampshire boy who went to London with the punk and new wave revolutions in the 70's and is now a long way from home in the US this is a great flashback and the best thing Joe ever did .. definite reminders of the John Peel pub



5. Classic album. Holds up extremely well over time. As "sharp" today as when it was released.

5 comments about Cosmic Thing.

1. I was first exposed to The B-52's in college, and really liked their music. I bought the vinyl albums The B-52's and Wild Planet. I checked out this CD from the local library. At first I did not like it but the more I listened to the album, the more I liked it. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys The B-52's.



2. The exciting new wave sounds of the early 80's had given way to the utter dross of 1985 to 1989 (Yazz and the Plastic Population anyone?), but just on the cusp of Grunge and the Madchester Baggie scene was this bomb from the wonderfully eccentric B52s. Like a happy version of Wall of Voodoo but less Crazy than Devo, they came in from left field with a shimmering summer gem of an album. I always remember the English summers of the period as hot and dry, great cricket and BBQ weather. Never mind global warming, I think that this album alone lead to a succession of brilliant summers leading from 89 to about 95. I`m the sort of shy diffident person who would stay on board a sinking liner if I had to dance to get on a lifeboat, but even now, Loveshack would be one of the 3 songs that could make me do some sort of (ahem) "groove thang." Some might call this a desert island album, and why not? A desert island would be THE perfect place to listen to this, hammock, cool beer, some sort of shack (love optional). Alas in Ireland, the sun never shines anymore, perhaps I will dig Cosmic Thing out again and see if it can repeat the magic?



3. Another mix of fun and greatness from the Athenian Clan! Thank you for this LP!!!!!!!!!



4. I have to tell you, I found the experience of watching the music video to "Love Shack" a little distressing. It's clear our beloved B52s are not in their 20s any more. That aside, this was SUCH a good album for them! It finally bridged their gap between the old "alternative music" fans and the weaker minds that can only deal with today's "pop music." Love Shack did it brilliantly. It was hip, catchy and it wasn't too too hard to see them still trying to shake their 40-something booties. Frankly, that was my least favorite tune on the album though. Channel Z and Topaz were WAY better! A perfect carry-over of their 80s stuff into a new generation. Edgy, moody and perhaps somewhat of a compliment to the grunge scene which, unfortunately, did crush them for the duration of the 90s. A previous reviewer got that perfectly. The question now is...what are they doing TODAY!??? Just checked the web site and a new album is due out this year...HOORAY!
   
   If you don't have this one though...get it...it's a mandatory part of any serious fan's collection.



5. The B-52s just don't get enough recognition for the excellent music they put out there. This album entitled Cosmic Thing still sells well today despite the passage of time and the lack of enough press for the band. Just one listen to this album proves that The B-52s remain an artistic force for aspiring artists to study today.
   
   The CD track set begins with "Cosmic Thing." This pop rock number has an awesome beat to it and the group works hard to make this number really rock! The B-52s never miss a beat and you will enjoy "Cosmic Thing" very, very much! "Dry County" sports a great beat with some minor chords to spice up the melody; they rock hard without blowing your ears out--a major feat! Moreover, "Deadbeat Club" has a great spoken intro and the melody gives you a rock and roll flavor mixed with something akin to a mellow country twist. "Deadbeat Club" showcases the high quality control of The B-52s--really impressive!
   
   Perhaps the highpoint of the entire album would be a major hit for The B-52s entitled "Love Shack." "Love Shack" sports a major rock beat with plenty of hot lyrics that don't leave much to the imagination! "Love Shack," a relentlessly upbeat tune that celebrates hot romantic encounters for young people, has great vocal backups by the ladies who also sing some of the verses of this song. I can just envision a bunch of college kids cramming into an old 1970s Chrysler as they head for the shore to have themselves some fun. Awesome!
   
   "Junebug," the following tune, reverts back to a somewhat mellow feel that distinctly sounds like classic 1980s rock. Great beat, too! "Roam" continues in the same vein as "Love Shack:" This song, however, takes a look at a special one true love as they roam the world together. You're gonna love "Roam!" It's as fresh today as they day they recorded it.
   
   "Topaz" gives us a beautiful beat with another romantic rock ballad; and the final track "Follow Your Blues," an instrumental track, has a mellow quality to it that strikes me as very beautiful. Terrific guitar, too!
   
   The liner notes include the lyrics to each song--great! The artwork shines, too.
   
   All in all, this album by the B-52s proves their vast talent beyond doubt. I highly recommend this album for fans of The B-52s (as if they didn't know that already); and fans of rock, pop and new wave.