Title: Remain in Light
Artist: Talking Heads
Year: 1980
Chronological position: Fourth
Previous experience of this artist?: Mostly the singles; not really a huge TH fan (duh)
Why is this considered a classic? Look, any album that the Library of Congress say, we’ll have that for our collection, has to be a classic by any metric you care to use.
My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Good
One track in --- Good
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Meh
Comments: Despite the fact that everyone seems to like and rate this album, I wonder if it will be for me? Afrobeats and world music don’t often appeal to me, and this seems to be full of them. In addition to that, the lyrics are described as a “stream of consciousness”, so that might give me little to hang on to. It definitely has an African/funk feel as it starts, the vocal harmonies kind of like a tribal chant mixed with gospel music. It’s certainly catchy but to be fair that’s all it is, to me. I can’t pick out much or indeed anything here that I really like and would set aside, other than the obvious. Of course I know “Once in a Lifetime”, and it’s a great song, but for me it seems almost out of place here. The lyric is clear and concise, the music is different to what has gone before, and it’s more cohesive than anything else on the album so far.
“Houses in Motion” kind of keeps this idea going, if a little more slipshod, as it were, and it almost feels as if the album is metamorphosing into something different to what it was when I began playing it. Still funky, still catchy but the sort of underlying African element seems to be leaking away sort of. “Seen and Not Seen” is weirdly Kraftwerky to me, at least in the flat, almost spoken vocal; not a fan of this one. “Listening Wind” is a lot better, but then you get “The Overload”, which is just almost doom pop or something, I don’t know; very depressing, like Peter Gabriel when he realises the last rainforest has been cut down behind his back while he was composing a brilliant song about why the last rainforest should not be cut down. Meh.
Favourite track(s): “Once in a Lifetime”, “Houses in Motion”, “Listening Wind”
Least favourite track(s): “Seen and Not Seen”, “The Overload”
Final impression --- I would have to say overall disappointed. If this is the best Talking Heads album, I really don’t think I’d be too bothered checking out the rest of their stuff. I guess a greatest hits compilation will do for me. Not going to become a fan any time soon.
Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it
I) Didn’t really affect me.
Think this gets an E, and in fact narrowly avoids the dreaded B.