Speaking In Tongues (studio album)
by Talking Heads

Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads
Year: 1983
Overall rank: 337th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 801 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1983 (6th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1980s (46th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (337th)

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Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads (Cassette, Dec-1983, Sire)
Condition: Very Good


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Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues - SEALED / NEW 1983 US 1st Press Album
Condition: New


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Special Limited Edition SEALED Vinyl - Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues 1983
Condition: New

$155.00


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Talking Heads bestography

Speaking In Tongues is ranked 3rd best out of 17 albums by Talking Heads on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Talking Heads is Remain In Light which is ranked number 26 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 27,943.

Talking Heads album bestography « Higher ranked (233rd)
Fear Of Music
This album (337th)
Speaking In Tongues
Lower ranked (390th) »
Stop Making Sense

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Nov
14
Fri
19:00
Magic Bag Presents: Start Making Sense: A Talking Heads Tribute with Falooshh
The Magic Bag, Ferndale, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
28
Sun
23:59
A Phish After-Party Pink Talking Fish A Fusion of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish
Cutting Room, New York, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jan
02
Fri
20:00
Sean Canan's Voodoo Players: Voodoo Talking Heads
The Pageant, Saint Louis, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to Speaking In Tongues on YouTube

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Speaking In Tongues track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
4.
Rating: 84 (174 votes)Comments: View 1
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6.
Rating: 81 (158 votes)Comments: View 1
  • Amazon Music
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7.
Rating: 80 (149 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Speaking In Tongues rankings

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Latest 20 charts that this album appears in:

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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2025SiromynianTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s31/10014
2025pjr428Top 25 Music Albums of 19832/255
2025 LadyGodivaTop 50 Music Albums of 198317/503
2025HyggevinylTop 40 Music Albums of 19831/405
2025sacreyoubertTop 60 Music Albums of the 1980s17/6015
2025 sssvnnnTop 81 Music Albums of 19833/815
2025JohnnyoGreatest albums of the '80's (301 - 400) by U R C72/100 -
2025 RomanelliTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s84/1003
2025 spigelwiiTop 50 Music Albums of the 1980s9/5017
2025Drbassexpert24Top 45 Music Albums of the 1980s34/455
2025matterhornriderTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s7/10019
2025 nextorgdTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s53/10010
202524kgoldieTop 100 Greatest Music Albums58/10041
2025 LeonardTop 100 Music Albums of 198357/1002
2025zsoltiTop 100 Greatest Music Albums93/1007
2025BurndenAceTop 50 Music Albums of the 1980s24/5011
2025 flamingyesdeptTop 90 Greatest Music Albums70/9023
2025araidernomoreTop 23 Music Albums of the 1980s3/2318
2025lanadeleswiftTop 32 Music Albums of 198311/323
2025 sszwalbenestTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s99/1000
Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 628
Total Rank Score: The total rank score. 5,116

You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Speaking In Tongues collection

Speaking In Tongues ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 801 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 801 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 Report rating
1 hour ago NYAndreas  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 91055/100
 
80/100
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3 days ago Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 23567/100
 
80/100
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10/16/2025 20:56 melisandre  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 14989/100
 
90/100
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10/14/2025 21:14 JR  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,07781/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
10/13/2025 16:25 Jameth  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,44868/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.8/100, a mean average of 80.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.4.

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Speaking In Tongues comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 32 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
90/100
From 03/13/2024 02:49
Remain In Light gets all the love, and it has some great songs for sure, but this is the best Talking Heads album for me - every track is 8/10 or better.
#302446 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/16/2022 21:52
Funky and groovy as hell, full of great songs. I love Burning Down The House, Girlfriend Is Better and This Must Be A Place, just incredible songs. There is a problem with some ok songs lasting too long which makes them a little annoying (Moon Rocks, Swamp). The most underrated track is probably I Get Wild/Wild Gravity, I really like it. Overall definitely in their top 3.
#290541 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/07/2022 01:08
Alright record
#289448 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/07/2022 04:30
Full of Talking Heads most famous songs. Another must listen for those who love Talking Heads!
#288215 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 01/11/2022 21:21
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
#279183 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/08/2022 10:34
This album does have some good moments but is let down by the production amongst other things. Most tracks on here are very easy to groove to and are also very easy listening so make a smooth album. The lyrics are also amazing pretty much the whole way through and are the crowning achievement for this record. The vocal is consistent as well and when you add all this together it creates a pretty decent listen. What holds it back is the production which doesn't let some of the instruments properly shine in moments when they are incredible. Also, it make the music feel less cohesive. Some tracks as well are a bit weaker than their usual standard and there is no song on here which truly stuns me away with the quality. Overall, the album is pretty good and I can see why this rougher style may appeal to other people but for me I prefer their more polished and complete work.
#278824 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 08/24/2021 06:05
This album, front to back, is full of absolutely incredible songwriting. Every song on here SHOULD be an absolute banger. However, the production just sucks dookie. The opener and closer sound awesome, but everything else sounds so muffled and pathetic. It's a shame too, because "Making Flippy Floppy" has an incredible bass line, but you can barely hear it. If you want to hear better versions of most songs on this thing, listen to any of the Talking Head's live albums. Everything sounds much more powerful and fun on those albums.
#272762 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/11/2020 20:55
Another great, funky record by Talking Heads. You can't help to AT LEAST bob your head along to most of the tracks here. I keep coming back to this one ever once in a while and always love it.

Favorite Tracks: This Must Be the Place, Girlfriend is Better, Burning Down the House
#247697 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 05/01/2019 19:08
Favourite track: "This Must Be The Place"
Least-liked track: "Swamp"
#235719 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/11/2019 01:31
The odd ball production and quietly paranoid lyrics really give this album a charm. The second half does have some hollow lyrics but is still catchy. And of course "This must be the place" may be the best love song ever written with a beautiful ending note.
#233366 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1983
1. Murmur by R.E.M.
2. Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes
3. Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order
4. Synchronicity by The Police
5. War by U2
6. Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads
7. Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits
8. Kill 'Em All by Metallica
9. Let's Dance by David Bowie
10. Script Of The Bridge by The Chameleons
11. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
12. Clics Modernos by Charly García
13. Soul Mining by The The
14. Piece Of Mind by Iron Maiden
15. The Hurting by Tears For Fears
16. Pyromania by Def Leppard
17. Holy Diver by Dio
18. Eliminator by ZZ Top
19. Script For A Jester's Tear by Marillion
20. Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
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