Speaking In Tongues (studio album) by Talking Heads

This Must Be The Place is great and is my favourite Talking Heads song, Slippery People and Burning Down The House are good too, but I was a bit disappointed with the rest of the album.

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.

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.

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

From santropez 05/01/2019 19:08

Favourite track: "This Must Be The Place"
Least-liked track: "Swamp"

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.

From wenny 02/22/2019 05:21

Fantastically catchy and crazy album. Each track excels beyond belief and the synth work is stunning. Shows the incredible potential of an amazing band, even without the production of Brian Eno.

From Medelsvensson 12/15/2018 18:42

Great album, but many songs on this are far better on Stop Making Sense

For me, this is Talking Heads' crowning achievement. Every single groove is wonderful. Super catchy hooks and some masterful synth work. Remain In Light is fantastic but falls short of this in terms of consistency. Whenever I put this on, it's a real shame when it ends.

100/100

From Crumpet 07/20/2018 15:54

While I really enjoy Remain in Light, this is by far my favourite Talking Heads album I’ve heard so far and has spurred me on to explore the parts of their discography that I have yet to delve into.

The opener is amazing, actually the first three tracks are amazing, all very listenable. The rest of the album up until the penultimate track varies from good to great, and said penultimate track ‘Pull Up the Roots’ is another amazing one and the closer ‘This Must Be the Place’ is one of my favourite songs and is one of the best album closers of the 80s.

This album is one that I loved from the first listen, and I have found myself sticking it on more often than any of the other TH/David Byrne albums that I own.