Ranking in Tongues

Vardibidian asked me to rank the Talking Heads albums, along with David Byrne's solo efforts, so as to provide some context for my excitement about Byrne's latest, Grown Backwards. It's a little tricky to linearize them, since DB has sprawled inelegantly over a huge tract of the musical map. How do I rank an 80s rhythm-heavy synth-art-rock album like Remain in Light beside an orchestral collection—inspired by factories—like The Forest? And then there is the tension between nostalgia (I danced to Swamp at my first 8th-grade dance) and novelty (Grown Backwards is so shiny!).

Well, if I were to tease out a common thread from his work, something that appeals to me, it's his benign outsider's perspective, his ability to be as equally moved by aluminum siding as by love, and as amused as much by the idea of courtship as by a funny hat. Throughout his career, he's been an ethnographer from another planet, observing humanity without judging us, and sending his own folk compositions home to his people—who happen to be us.

I'll try to keep that in mind when I make this list, as well as more concrete concerns like how often I listen to each one, and how gripped I am by the rhythms.

1. Stop Making Sense (TH live)
   
2. David Byrne (DB)
   
3. Speaking in Tongues (TH)
   
4. Remain in Light (TH)
   
5. Little Creatures (TH)
   
6. Feelings (DB)
   
7. Grown Backwards (DB)
   
8. True Stories (TH)
   
9. Uh-Oh (DB)
   
10. More Songs about Buildings and Food (TH)
    
11. '77 (TH)
    
    
12. The Forest (DB orchestral)
    
13. Rei Momo (DB)
    
14. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (TH live)
    
15. Look into the Eyeball (DB)
    
16. Fear of Music (TH)
    
17. Naked (TH)
    
18. Lead Us Not into Temptation (DB soundtrack)
    
19. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (DB with Brian Eno)
    
20. Music from The Knee Plays (DB)
    
21. Music from The Catherine Wheel (DB soundtrack)

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