Talking Heads: 77 cover

Talking Heads: 77

Released

Before the psychedelic Brian Eno collaborations, the movie soundtracks, and the excursions into world-music fusion, there was the debut album: a spare, trebly, and improbably funky set of songs about romantic ambivalence, books, decision-making, federal employment — and, of course, psycho killers. Interestingly, that hit single was the musical and thematic anomaly; at this point David Byrne’s lyrics were much more likely to focus on odd particularities of regular life than on murder, and the rhythm section was much more likely to lay down a tensile funk groove than anything like the grinding beat of “Psycho Killer.” Talking Heads made several great albums after this one, but probably not a better one.

Rick Anderson

Recommended by

Suggestions
Those Deep Buds cover

Those Deep Buds

Dog Faced Hermans
The Punishment Of Luxury cover

The Punishment Of Luxury

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Ex-Futur Album cover

Ex-Futur Album

The Honeymoon Killers, Veronique Vincent, Aksak Maboul
Force Of Habit cover

Force Of Habit

The Leather Nun
Generic cover

Generic

Flipper
First Album cover

First Album

Ledernacken
Pony Express Record cover

Pony Express Record

Shudder to Think