Talking Heads – Naked – 1988
Take one part Tom Tom Club’s poppines, latter day Heads songcrafting, a little Remain in Light esoteria/polyrhythm dance grooves and swirl it around with soul and you get the last Talking Heads record: Naked.
As opposed to the last two records this was recorded much like Remain in Light, with the band laying down musical beds with guest musicians and then Byrne writing and adding lyrics and melodies later.
The result is a hodgepodge of ideas which sometimes hit (Nothing But Flowers, Blind) and sometimes don’t (“The Democratic Circus”, what can only be described as a slow jam and near ballad. Two things no one wants from Talking Heads. Some of the time they sound like rewrites of other Heads tunes (“Totally Nude”) or they are impenetrable and not very much fun (“Ruby Dear”).
“Nothing But Flowers” might be the perfect way for this band to end. The song is about a post-end days world where Byrne is longing for the consumer trappings of the world past. It could be said to be part of a theme. An obvious sequel to “Life During Wartime” and perhaps a companion to “Road to Nowhere”. As such, it’s one of the best tracks the band has come up with.
The second half of the record shows the band’s age. The plodding, dirge-like “The Facts of Life” finds the band struggling to force recharche sounds into previously trod musical territories. It’s awful. And it’s companioned by another lifeless entry, “Mommy Daddy You and I”, a song that tries to be cute in places, but, come on, David Byrne can’t pull off cute.
From there on, the album is just one tired motif after another until it finally comes to an end. It’s as though the record is just exhausted. Not from overwork but from trying to overthink itself. You’ve heard it before. Get Remain in Light instead.
Get the single, “Nothing But Flowers” and pass on the rest of it.
Grade: C
ASide: Nothing But Flowers, Blind
BlindSide: Mr. Jones
DownSide: The Facts of Life, Mommy Daddy You and I
