Remain in Light
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| Remain in Light | ||
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| Studio album by Talking Heads | ||
| Released | October 8, 1980 | |
| Recorded | Compass Point Studios, Sigma Sound Studios & Eldorado Studios, July & August 1980 | |
| Genre | New Wave/Art punk | |
| Length | 39:48 | |
| Label | Sire Records | |
| Producer(s) | Brian Eno Reissue Producer Andy Zax with Talking Heads |
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| Professional reviews | ||
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| Talking Heads chronology | ||
| Fear of Music (1979) |
Remain in Light (1980) |
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) |
Remain in Light is an album by Talking Heads, released to wide critical acclaim on October 8, 1980 (see 1980 in music).
Contents |
[edit] Style
Featuring funky African rhythms, the album became an influential post punk, world music and New Wave recording. Remain in Light uniquely blended African-American, continental African and white American musical forms; Rolling Stone magazine's Ken Tucker noted at the time that there had rarely been "a larger gap between what black and white audiences were listening to."
[edit] Recording
Talking Heads added a number of musicians for the album and for the tour that year. The first appearance of the larger group was in August at the Heatwave festival where they played four of the songs before the album's release. Their set began with the basic quartet and then they added players and vocalists song by song until they filled the stage.
[edit] Singles
The single "Once in a Lifetime" sold poorly in the US upon its original release (although it reached #14 in the UK), but a quirky music video and its presence on the soundtrack to Down and Out in Beverly Hills helped make it a charting single and minor hit in 1986 (see 1986 in music).
Two follow-up singles were released—one in the U.S. ("Crosseyed and Painless") and one in the UK ("Houses in Motion")—but neither of them made the Top Forty in their respective countries.
[edit] Cover
The album cover and liner notes were created by the notable graphic designer, Tibor Kalman. Kalman based the cover artwork on the life story of Tina Weymouth, with a fleet of planes on the back cover representing her childhood as the daughter of a traveling USAF general, and digitally distorted faces of the band members representing her at-the-time current status as a member of the band and the electro-centric direction the band had taken.[1]
[edit] Critical reception
In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Remain in Light the 88th greatest album of all time. In 1989, it was rated #4 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 126 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted the second best album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media.
Living Colour's Vernon Reid describes its African polyrhythms: "Instead of alienation turning into dark angst it turns into celebration, the dance."
[edit] Reissues
In 2005/6, it was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with four unfinished outtakes as bonus tracks on the CD side ("Fela's Riff," "Unison", "Double Groove" and "Right Start"). The DVD-A includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 version and videos of the band performing "Crosseyed and Painless" and "Once in a Lifetime" on German television.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Talking Heads (Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth), except where noted.
- "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" (Byrne, Eno) – 5:46
- "Crosseyed and Painless" (Byrne, Eno) – 4:45
- "The Great Curve" – 6:26
- "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:19
- "Houses in Motion" – 4:30
- "Seen and Not Seen" – 3:20
- "Listening Wind" – 4:42
- "The Overload" – 6:00
[edit] 2006 DualDisc Previously Unreleased Re-Issue Bonus Tracks
- "Fela's Riff" [Unfinished Outtake] - 5:19
- "Unison" [Unfinished Outtake] - 4:49
- "Double Groove" [Unfinished Outtake] - 4:27
- "Right Start" [Unfinished Outtake] - 4:07
[edit] Personnel
- David Byrne – lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion
- Jerry Harrison – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
- Chris Frantz – keyboards, drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
[edit] Additional personnel
- Brian Eno – bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals, mixing
- Adrian Belew – guitar
- Jose Rossy – percussion
- Robert Palmer – percussion
- Nona Hendryx – backing vocals
- Jon Hassell – trumpets & horn arrangements on 5
[edit] Recording personnel
- Brian Eno – producer
- Dave Jerden – engineer
- Rhett Davies – engineer
- Jack Nuber – engineer
- John Potoker – engineer
- Stephen Stanley – engineer
- Greg Calbi – mastering
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Billboard Pop Albums | 19 |
Single
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Crosseyed and Painless"/"Born Under Punches"/"Once in a Lifetime" | Billboard Club Play Singles | 20 |
| 1980 | "Once in a Lifetime" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 91 |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | September 17, 1985 |
[edit] Miscellanea
- The album was covered in its entirety by Phish on October 31, 1996 as part of the band's "Halloween musical costumes." It can be seen to be a spoof of Let It Be.
- The upside down 'A's on the cover of the album—in which the band's name was spelled "Tɐlking Heɐds" ( or T∀LKING HE∀DS)—inspired Nine Inch Nails reversed 'N' logo. И (И) [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Bowman, David [2001] (2002). This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century, First ed. (pbk.), New York: HarperCollins, p. 184. ISBN 0060507314. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Talking Heads |
|---|
| David Byrne – Chris Frantz – Tina Weymouth – Jerry Harrison |
| Discography |
| Studio Albums: Talking Heads: 77 (1977) - More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) - Fear of Music (1979) - Remain in Light (1980) - Speaking in Tongues (1983) - Little Creatures (1985) - True Stories (1986) - Naked (1988) |
| Live Albums: The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) - Stop Making Sense (1984) |
| Filmography |
| Stop Making Sense (1984) - True Stories (1986) - Storytelling Giant (1988) |
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