Remain in Light

Tracks:

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Crosseyed And Painless
The Great Curve
Once In A Lifetime
House In Motion
Seen And Not Seen
Listening Wind
The Overload

Amazon.com essential recording

Way back in 1980, the original wave of Talking Heads fans were pleasantly stunned to hear Remain in Light, produced and co-written by Brian Eno, on which Byrne and company are joined by guitar god Adrian Belew, and funk legends Bernie Worrell (keyboards) and Steven Scales (percussion), among others, for a fuller, funkier sound nobody imagined they had in them. The first three songs are long, layered, full-body dance parties, with incessantly repeated phrases (musical and lyrical), and increasingly catchy melodic hooks that won't let go for days. "Once in a Lifetime" was the big hit, but the rockingest track is the third, "The Great Curve," after which the songs get more linear and subdued. It's still great stuff, right through to the especially Eno-like droner, "The Overload," but the second half is maybe better to sleep to than dance to. Which is fine: after the exuberance of the first three songs, you'll need a little nap. --Dan Leone

Customer Reviews:

still good but earlier albums better.......2007-05-13

i am a huge talking heads fan,but this album ranks no 4 on my list. their previous 3 albums are a bit more funkier and catchy. though i have to admit the great curve (off remain in light) is one of my favourites. buy all 4 you wont be disappointed!

Afro/ Techno/ Magnifico!.......2007-01-28

'Remain in Light' is arguably the Talking Heads' best album ever. Steeped in primitive, African rhthyms, but sent with the trajectory of advanced technology, the album harnesses a mesmerizing and formidable set of sounds and images. It is easily Talking Heads' most avant garde work of their whole career. Think of tribal music generated from a computer, and you get 'Remain in Light'.

What used to be known as side one has mainly more progressive songs, and the second half is more subdued, but all of it is brilliant. There's "Born Under Punches," where David Byrne warbles, "I'm a tumbler...I'm a government man." Like many songs before it, he takes the everyman through the cross-hairs of everyday, struggling existence. "Cross-eyed and Painless" is pedestrian, but contains some riveting funk, and "The Great Curve" is hypnotic with the most dancey song from the album. "Houses in Motion" takes the funk where "Cross-eyed.." left off, but, understandably, given the title, takes a slower groove. (I've often wondered if the song is about the homeless.) Anyway, nuances give way to thoughtful songs like "Seen and Not Seen" and "Listening Wind". The finale is truly magnificent. Perhaps a song about calamity as big as Armageddon, "The Overload" is a chilling song that envelops the listener with its ominous development.

Still, a classic after all these years, 'Remain in Light' sounds just as innovative and modern as it did upon its release. Having a troubadour song, "Once in a Lifetime," complete with synthesizers that simulate flowing water, has kept them on the radio for a number of years with the most moving, and yet, "normal" song from the whole album.

Holy Byrne, Batman!.......2007-01-27

Every band has an album so good, it overshadows everything else they did, even making their better albums seem like mere trifles by comparison. For the Talking Heads, it was Remain in Light. Eight tracks of sheer brilliance: funky, paranoid, and avant-garde thanks to Brian Eno's genius production job. Loaded with unforgettable classics, namely the first four songs: Once in a Lifetime is not only the group's signature song, but arguably the greatest tune of the entire New Wave movement, maybe even the late-'70's in general; Crosseyed and Painless fuses dance with rock and avant-garde music in a way that NOBODY had EVER attempted before; The Great Curve is seductive and sensual, a rare thing for the group, with a cool distorted guitar solo; Born Under Punches has some of the best paranoid lyrics one's likely to hear, period, with an unforgettable feel to boot. This could've been a science-fiction short story, as could've the droning closer Overload, which is also first-rate. Seen and Unseen, Listening Wind, and Houses in Motion are all slightly weaker than those five, but they're all pretty good: there's not a bad song here. I'd say this is even better than Fear of Music, which is quite an achievement. If the Heads do anything for you, you owe it to yourself to buy this.

Amazing.......2006-09-22

I first heard this record either my sophomore or junior year in college. It was late one night and I'm sitting at my computer reading music reviews and I always heard these great things about the album "Remain In Light" as well as the Talking Heads. Rolling Stone (a magazine I cannot stand primarily for the rankings they always do) ranked this record the third greatest album of the 80's. (After #1 "London Calling" and #2 "Purple Rain"). I'm a lover of old-school music so I had to hear this record....I had to hear the Talking Heads. Luckily, my roomate had this CD and I listened to it at about 2 in the morning.

The record opens with "Born Under Punches" (The Heat Goes On). I did not get it at first. I'll go so far as to say I did not even like this record. All I liked was "Crosseyed and Painless". The music was too weird for my liking.

The next day I decided to give it another chance. And man, am I glad I did. This record is flat out ridiculous!! You want funky music?? The entire first side is filled with killer grooves. Tracks 1-4 are danceable and will either make you move or do something. You cannot stand still while listening to this record. This is possibly the first record by a prominent band exploring African polyrhythms....all that really means is that each member of the band is doing their own thing within the song. The additons of Adrian Belew (guitar), Steve Scales (percussion) and Funk Legend Bernie Worrel (Parliment/Funkadelic) on keyboard give the band a complete sound not heard before. The second side starting with "Houses in Motion" slows the record down but the funk does not go away. Concluding with "The Overload" which has producer Brian Eno's influence all over it. (Eno was also on "Buildings and Food" and "Fear of Music" (The track is a very "Low", "Heroes" era David Bowie track, albums which Eno also produced).

The funk that started on "Fear of Music" is magnified ten-fold on this record. My two favorite songs are "Crosseyed and Painless" and "Once In A Lifetime". Starting with "Lifetime", this was the single from this record and it had a video as well. This is considered by many to be the band's greatest song. Watery keyboards along with the Weymouth/Frantz tandem and David being David with the lyrics makes this songs special. But to me, "Crosseyed and Painless" is the jewel of this record.

When I first heard this song back in college I immediately thought it was amazing. This is pure funk. I listened to it about 20 times that night. (No exaggeration) Tina Weymouth'a bass destroys this track and with everything going on at once it is almost impossible to name all the instruments on this one track. (Or any track for that matter) Weymouth has to be one of the best bassists. She never plays anything too complicated but she never messes up, never drops the rhythm. The bass fits in perfectly on these tracks. Frantz does not drop his 4/4 pattern and the track just has so much life. More than any other record, Byrne's lyrics really do not matter nor what the songs are about. This record is all about the music....the polyrhythms. The Talking Heads were so inventive and their music crossed all racial boundries. Songs from the record were played on Black and White radio stations. The influence of this record was felt throughout the entire decade in Rock, Funk and R&B music by groups wanting to branch out in their music.

As great as the music is it is kind of strange to me that it has not been sampled more often. This album has "SAMPLE ME" written all over it!! Those who think this music is monotonous are not seeing the big picutre. I think it is harder to play the same part over and over because one slip and the whole track is wasted. The Talking Heads were all about precision and given time this records seeps in the your mind and body and it cannot be escaped. This is a must listen. If you are interested in the band this is the place to start. No one else was doing music like this back then and that is why it is considered a landmark. Talking Heads- One of my all-time favorite bands.

The best Heads CD ever........2006-07-08

Adrian Belew makes this an incredible Cd. Great sounds come from his fingers and leaves you wondering how in the world did he make his guitar make that sound? Listening Winds is a great tune with terrorist's point of view. I am not all hot on terrorists but it's a good song. And of course the song about the water going under is the bomb from way back. This CD still holds the same place in my heart as it did 20 years ago.

Average customer rating:

grooves George Clinton would be proud of
The Way to the Future
Album 5 Stars; Format ZERO
Great music - Poor format
Essential to understand the end of disco and 70's punk

Remain in Light
Talking Heads
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Fear of Music
Speaking in Tongues
More Songs About Buildings and Food
Talking Heads: 77
Little Creatures

ASIN: B000C3H4MC
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Tracks:

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Crosseyed And Painless
The Great Curve
Once In A Lifetime
Houses In Motion
Seen And Not Seen
Listening Wind
The Overload
Fela's Riff (Unfinished Outtake)
Unison (Unfinished Outtake)
Double Groove (Unfinished Outtake)
Right Start (Unfinished Outtake)

Customer Reviews:

grooves George Clinton would be proud of.......2007-04-25

I've been familiar with the Heads for decades, but only recently became a fan, thanks mainly to my nephew, who has the same curiosity toward rock music I do. I find now that I have cut my nose off to spite my face ignoring this piece so long.
David Byrne's nerd-psychotic personna drives the band, but what a band. Tina Weymouth is one of rock's greatest bassists ever, easily in the ranks of Stanley Clarke, Bootsy Collins or other great funk style players, and that's pretty heady company.
The grooves are the greatest thing about "Remain In Light", especially "The Great Curve" that features Adrian Belew on skronk guitar. The band shows its ability at great atmospherics with the one-two offering of "Lightning Wind" and "Overlord", which is a great hypnotic drone piece that reminds one of "Us And Them" from Pink Floyd or Zeppelin's "In The Light", yet not sounding derivative of either tune.
This is the Talking Heads' masterwork and belongs in your collection now.

The Way to the Future.......2007-04-07

"Remain in Light" is one of the most progressive rock albums made in recent decades. At the time of its release it was a commercial failure for the band but critics have lauded it as a masterpiece since the time of its release and it was rated as the second best album of the 1980's by Pitchfork Media a couple of years back. I do not doubt that the praise is well-deserved. The album was so far ahead of its time that it is hard to believe it was released over a quarter of a century ago. Its synthesis of African guitar styles and rhythms with electronica, punk, New Wave and sounds coming from New York's early hip-hop scene indicated the way music would evolve over the coming twenty years more than any other record of its time. All of the songwriting credits are for David Byrne and producer Brian Eno but the band maintains the tracks came out of jams and certainly the musicianship is tight on the record. The songwriting is also remarkable. The first single "Once in a Lifetime" finds Byrne in a supposed middle-class paradise with a beautiful wife and home asking himself, "How did I get here?" Other tracks with their Brazilian and African rhythms seem to depict life the struggles of the poor in teeming cities. "Born Under Punches", the album opener, falls into this category. The second half of the album shows some highly innovative production. The gorgeous ballad "Listening Wind" is built around an infectious chorus and rather ominous sounding digital effects. The record culminates in "The Overload", a song that seems full of dread and gloom. Its slow, deadpan vocal and brooding arrangement set a truly apocylptic mood but this is not the type of music to hit you over the head with political slogans. The song's gloomy atmosphere hints at population overload, social decay and even doomsday but it is too subtle to overstate its case. What Talking Heads made with "Remain in Light" was one of the most innovative and haunting albums of their time. None of their subsequent releases were half as important as this. This is definitely one of those albums that every serious music-lover should know back to front.

Album 5 Stars; Format ZERO.......2006-12-30

This album is amazing and fantastic, and the rating has no bearing on the Talking Heads or their musicianship.

The problem is with the format itself. I own the "Brick" boxset, and the only one that doesn't work in that is Remain In Light, which is also my favorite Heads album.

Since I received Brick as a gift, I couldn't return it so I just bought another Remain In Light, since hey I can throw 20 bucks David Byrne's way. But the one I bought was also defective, as was the replacement that Amazon sent (the very next day, superfast turn around from those guys).

So, in my experience, 3 out 3 of this particular disc is defective. All of my DVD sides worked fine, but the audio sides did not.

Great music - Poor format.......2006-11-10

I have yet to be able to play this disc at full 96K audio resolution. All of the DVD-A players I have tried it on choke on the DVD-A track.

That being said, they can all access the regular DVD Dolby 5.1 track, and while that isn't as good as the unplayable DVD-A track, it still sounds great. The remastering is really top notch, and the surround format works very well with this highly percussive and multi-tracked recording. This is one of my favorite albums, and it has never sounded better. A huge improvement over the original CD release.

Which is why it irks me all the more that I can't get to the DVD-A track. I bought two other Talking Heads DVD-A discs, and they all exhibited exactly the same problems. The whole set should have been recalled. This disc is just good enough that I won't send it back, but if had been any lesser recording I would have demanded my money back.

Essential to understand the end of disco and 70's punk.......2006-07-29

Remain in Light by the Talking Heads is disco, punk, funk, electronica, jazz, soul, gospel and rock. I bet you have one question to ask me is that possible? Yes it is and I will tell you why. Talking Heads came out of the CBGB scene which was usually known for the punk and new wave that originated there. With the electronic edge in Remain in Light they became the way they were at the end of their career. David Byrne is considered the genius of Talking Heads but I always will think that they would have gotten nowhere if it wasn't for the band in a whole and of course the help of Brian Eno. So why should you buy remain in light because it is one of the only ways you will understand the end of disco and 70's punk.

Average customer rating:

Remain in Light

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000CSUUNC
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Remain in Light/Speaking in Tongues/Fear of Music

Average customer rating:

Great Deal - Memories Can't wait
Treasure for free?

Remain in Light/Speaking in Tongues/Fear of Music
Talking Heads
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Visi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Crosseyed And Painless
The Great Curve
Once In A Lifetime
House In Motion
Seen And Not Seen
Listening Wind
The Overload
Burning Down The House
Making Flippy Floppy
Girlfriend Is Better
Slippery People
I Get Wild/Wild Gravity
Swamp
Moon Rocks
Pull Up The Roots
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
I Zimbra
Mind
Paper
Cities
Life During Wartime
Memories Can't Wait
Air
Heaven
Animals
Electric Guitar
Drugs

Album Description

Ridiculously low priced box featuring three of the best studio albums by David Byrne & co.'s hit new wave band: 1979's top 40 'Fear Of Music', produced by Brian Eno & featuring the hit 'Life During Wartime', 1980's top 20 'Remain In Light', also produced

Album Details

Packaged in a Beautifully Presented Card Slipcase, this Box Set Features: 'get Up on It', 'keep it Coming' and 'keith Sweat'.

Customer Reviews:

Great Deal - Memories Can't wait.......2001-07-27

Look, its a great deal: (price)or so for 3 albums by a great band. You can't go wrong.

For me, it was nostalgic; I have the albums on casette, but don't seem to play them anymore. But I have two memories of what I listened to while working on my thesis nearly 20 years ago: my casette recording of my neighbor's Speaking in Tongues and Remain in Light, and NPR radio, which on Sundays used to play some guy telling stories about a lake in Minnesota, along with a show playing folk music. (One day after months of listening to this in the background, I was concentrating on my writing less than usual, and noticed that the two shows were one and the same.)

Some of the Talking Heads material seems topical all over again, both before Sept 11 ("Our president's crazy / Did you hear what he said?") and after ("the sound of gunfire off in the distance", "what is happening to my skin?") Some of it is inspiring ("I knew my heart was in the right place / I knew I'd be able to do these things") or makes you think ("By keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind or somewhere in the back of his mind / He thought that he might, by force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal ... This is why first impressions are often correct") and some of it just makes you think "what were they thinking?" ("Look over there / Dry ice factory / Good place to get some thinking done").

If you loved them then, you will again; if you missed them then (or weren't born then) try them now.

Treasure for free?.......2001-03-10

This is an unbelievable offer. Talking Heads is one of my favourite bands of alltime. Three of their best albums are in this pack (Another great album "More songs about buildins and food" is not in the pack). The price is unbelievable if you remember that the CDs are imported. Talking heads, one of the groundbreaking acts in late seventies and eighties with their best recording in this price is like getting a free gift. My favourite songs like "Once in a lifetime", "Burning down the house", "I zimra" are in this 3 CD pack. It is simply a treat for punk flavoured world music lovers. This should be the buy of your life.