Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by one of the most influential bands of our time: Talking Heads. Released October 8, 1980 on Sire Records, it followed 1979′s Fear of Music, both of which were produced by the legendary Brian Eno. Evolving upon their art punk foundations, the band took a new approach for recording Remain in Light. This was hugely influenced by the sessions for Eno and frontman David Byrne’s collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which was recorded several months earlier (though released a year later).
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Inspired by Byrne’s studies of African culture and music, the album’s rich and eclectic sound is noted for its mix of African polyrhythms with elements of rock, funk, new wave and even early hip-hop. This unprecedented fusion made Remain in Light a pivotal record for the band and the era, and it’s frequently hailed as Talking Heads’ greatest album. What does it sound like? Remain in Light was primarily recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, with additional sessions at Sigma Sound Studios in New York City. Along with Brian Eno, the band (composed of Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz) was joined by the huge talents of guitarist Adrian Belew (King Crimson), Robert Palmer (who played percussion) and singer Nona Hendryx, among others. Prior to entering the studio, Eno introduced the band to the music of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, inspiring them to adapt a more improvisational approach to their writing and recording. Talking Heads’ own version of the West African afrobeat sound was, in Byrnes own words, “too black for white radio and too white for black radio,” but all the more idiosyncratic because of it.
Raising the pulse of their previous albums to a new level, the album’s groovy bass lines, unusual guitar work and explosive drums make it hard to resist tapping your foot, nodding your head or losing full control of your body. African elements not only influenced the album’s sonics, but also its lyrics.
David Byrne cites music scholar John Miller Chernoff’s book African Rhythm and African Sensibility as one of the inspirations for his songwriting at the time. To overcome writer’s block, Byrne also visited Africa during recording, leading him to the idea that improvisation could be a part of lyrical process. Chris Frantz, who had just played drums on the debut record for early American rapper Kurtis Blow, played that album for everyone in the studio. The track “The Blow,” in particular, helped Byrne change his vocal’s technique, and songs like “Crosseyed and Painless” and “Once in a Lifetime” are often referred to as prototypical versions of first generation rap. Remain in Light is a brilliant watershed moment that kicked off a momentous new era in music. It naturally blends exotic African elements with urban sounds of the United States, which artists like Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins would also notably incorporate into their music over the subsequent decade. Epitomizing their mix of accessibility and art, “Once in a Lifetime” is one of their most timeless hits, but the whole record is a danceable and ear-warming masterpiece that has gracefully withstood the test of time.
Throughout their 16-year run, Talking Heads were constantly advancing the progressive approach of their music. One such example is how they considered the live sound of their material from the very beginning.
Like few bands in the early ’80s were brave enough to do, most of the album was recorded during live jam sessions, which Brian Eno skillfully turned into loops and samples. The band was also keenly aware that truthfully performing their songs in concert required more musicians than their standard four-piece format allowed. Countless subsequent artists cite Remain in Light, and Talking Heads as a whole, as a direct influence to their work. Vincent’s Annie Clark says that “Crosseyed and Painless” helped change the way she thinks about music. The album is also credited for why Nine Inch Nails’ Hesitation Marks sounds less aggressive than their previous post-industrial albums. It’s hard not to observe Talking Heads’ heavy influence on contemporary acts like Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend and Blood Orange. Where do I hear more?
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Talking Heads started their career in 1975 and disbanded in 1991, traveling a great distance en route – from art school punks rocking New York’s CBGB to the critically-acclaimed, genre-blending innovators of the sonic frontier. During that period they released eight studio albums, beginning with Talking Heads: 77 (1977) and ending with Naked (1988). Remain in Light marks the full realization of their iconic sound, while their excellent follow-ups Speaking In Tongues (1983) and Little Creatures (1985) – with classic songs like “Burning Down The House,” “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” and “Road to Nowhere” – marked their commercial peak. One of the band’s most crowning achievements is their 1984 concert film and live album, Stop Making Sense, which Byrne describes well in his 2012 book, How Music Works (also highly recommended). Brilliant, strange and highly ambitious, it shows Talking Heads as a confident and strong artists at the peak of their creativity and conceptualism. Repeatedly hailed as one of the greatest rock movies ever made, the band stopped playing live shortly after the film’s premier. If Talking Heads are not enough for you, try exploring David Byrne’s brilliant and vast catalog of solo projects and collaborations. Besides his solo works, he’s recorded two albums with Brian Eno – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981) and Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008) – and one with St.
Alongside Fatboy Slim he made Here Lies Love (2010), which can be described as rock musical and concept album about the life of former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, which featured the likes of Tori Amos, Sia, Santigold, Florence Welch and Cyndi Lauper, to name a few. He’s also written soundtracks to various theater productions and films (The Last Emperor), also writing and starring in the wonderfully bizarre art film, True Stories, which inspired the music of the Talking Heads album that shares its name. In 1990 Byrne founded the beloved indie imprint Luaka Bop, which specializes in world music and vintage obscurities, including albums by Os Mutantes and Shuggie Otis, and the acclaimed recent compilations for Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor and influential Bay Area cult icon Doug Hream Blunt. Byrne is also a prolific writer and visual artist. Along with the aforementioned How Music Works and his 2009 travelogue Bicycle Diaries, he frequently contributes think pieces and op-eds for various newspapers and periodicals. His various art projects have been exhibited and installed all over the world, and are well archived on his. His latest project, titled Contemporary Color, is a multi-medium marriage of color, light, music and movement based on the rural American tradition of the color guard. For a brief series of events earlier this year, Byrne brought out Nelly Furtado, How to Dress Well, DevHynes, Zola Jesus, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St.
Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, Lucius, and Ad-Rock and Money Mark of Beastie Boys to play live music while flag-waving color guard troupes perform colorful choreographies.
The title of ' second album, slyly addressed the sophomore record syndrome, in which songs not used on a first LP are mixed with hastily written new material. If the band's sound seems more conventional, the reason simply may be that one had encountered the odd song structures, staccato rhythms, strained vocals, and impressionistic lyrics once before. Another was that new co-producer brought a musical unity that tied the album together, especially in terms of the rhythm section, the sequencing, the pacing, and the mixing. Where had largely been about 's voice and words, moved the emphasis to the bass-and-drums team of and; all the songs were danceable, and there were only short breaks between them. Held his own, however, and he continued to explore the eccentric, if not demented persona first heard on 77, whether he was adding to his observations on boys and girls or turning his 'Psycho Killer' into an artist in 'Artists Only.'
Through the first nine tracks, was the successor to 77, which would not have earned it landmark status or made it the commercial breakthrough it became. It was the last two songs that pushed the album over those hurdles. First there was an inspired cover of 's 'Take Me to the River'; released as a single, it made the Top 40 and pushed the album to gold-record status. Second was the album closer, 'The Big Country,' country-tinged reflection on flying over middle America; it crystallized his artist-vs.-ordinary people perspective in unusually direct and dismissive terms, turning the old patriotic travelogue theme of rock & roll on its head and employing a great hook in the process.