Talking Heads - Naked

[Sunhillow]

No matter how I love some of the other Talking Heads-albums, the criticism that their swansong "Naked" (1988) receives is beyond me. This is a great album, with excellent worked out themes about civilization and alienation, hung up on some amazing stories with 'jungle' cross-referencing a few times. The first couple of tracks have an uneasy cheerfulness to them (Blind, Totally Naked, the amazing (Nothing But) Flowers) but the further you get the darker the album becomes. So my Youtubes are three tracks further up the album:

Check the short cor anglais solo on this amazing (former) closing track 'Cool Water':



'Big Daddy' is a favorite, mainly because it all sounds like a Carnivale-epside from HBO:



'The Facts Of Life' is hated by many because of the shark production, but it all falls apart halfway. I think it's the highlight of the album and I love Byrne's highpitched vocals on this one:



Again though I love the early Heads-albums too (especially Fear Of Music), I think as a stand-alone this album beats a lot of the similar albums that arrived at that time. Can't believe it gets a 3.16 at RYM. I can't help thinking that if this were the Heads debut it would have been hailed as a classic.

[Trane]

I only know what I heard on the radio from this one, because I didn't like their next albums (Creatures and True Stories, I believe), so I never investigated this one.

For me, TTH's better studio albums are RILight and SITongues... they're kind of poppier than their early stuff - which I found partchy and uneven, but tose two are generally among the more appreciated by progheads...

But I have only Stop Making Sense movie (DVD) from them... Can't say that it's all I need from them, but I always find more priorities to buy.

[Kavus Torabi]

While I still listen to Fear Of Music and Remain In Light a bit, I enjoyed Naked at the time, although it's not one if the ones I have really revisited. Maybe I'll spin it over the weekend.

[revporl]

I love this when it came out. It's not as experimental as some of the better known albums, but it's a solid album, I still love most of it

[nycsteve]

Great group and album. Although Im partial to earlier material. Missed them when they played live, wish I didnt.

[JKL2000]

I loved the song (Nothing But) Flowers - a sort of inverted "Big Yellow Taxi," but I found the rest of the album too dreary to get into, somehow. Also, I had passed the peak of my TTH fandom. I was onboard up through True Stories, but at this point wasn't far from selling off all my TTH CDs and vinyl because I just didn't find myself listening to it very often anymore.

My fave TTH albums are Remain in Light - still a brilliant album - and Speaking in Tongues, on which they managed to leaven that same brilliance with some happiness. A pure ear candy album for me, I listened to it once or twice a day the summer it was first out).

I think after all the happy albums and albums with female vocals too, not to mention some collaboration with Tom Tom Club, Naked was just too big a change.

[nsmith1002]

No matter how I love some of the other Talking Heads-albums, the criticism that their swansong "Naked" (1988) receives is beyond me. This is a great album, with excellent worked out themes about civilization and alienation, hung up on some amazing stories with 'jungle' cross-referencing a few times. The first couple of tracks have an uneasy cheerfulness to them (Blind, Totally Naked, the amazing (Nothing But) Flowers) but the further you get the darker the album becomes.Again though I love the early Heads-albums too (especially Fear Of Music), I think as a stand-alone this album beats a lot of the similar albums that arrived at that time. Can't believe it gets a 3.16 at RYM. I can't help thinking that if this were the Heads debut it would have been hailed as a classic.

Finally! Someone else who loves this album and is puzzled by it's lack of respect. Back when it was released I found it to be a return to form in light of the substandard previous three. I seem to remember that contemporary reviews were not too kind towards it. Later, in the Internet Age, it has continued to be dismissed.

And, yes, "Cool Water" is a beautiful swansong.

[JKL2000]

Finally! Someone else who loves this album and is puzzled by it's lack of respect. Back when it was released I found it to be a return to form in light of the substandard previous three. I seem to remember that contemporary reviews were not too kind towards it. Later, in the Internet Age, it has continued to be dismissed.

And, yes, "Cool Water" is a beautiful swansong.

You thought Speaking in Tongues was substandard? Wow.

[Trane]

You thought Speaking in Tongues was substandard? Wow.

Yup.... that hurt my eyes to read that

[Trane]

Again though I love the early Heads-albums too (especially Fear Of Music), I think as a stand-alone this album beats a lot of the similar albums that arrived at that time. Can't believe it gets a 3.16 at RYM. I can't help thinking that if this were the Heads debut it would have been hailed as a classic.

I'd tend to agree that any TTH album would be a top 5 in any post-85 year (at least until 91), but having listened to the three tracks you posted, the first two sound kind of samey - something that was unthinkable in RIL and SIT..... Though I like that CW track, the second is a yawner, and while the third starts interestingly, it overstays its welcome halfway through.

The whole seems to lack dynamics


But it was nice to hear some things from this album.

[Reid]

Mr. Jones

[Sunhillow]

Finally! Someone else who loves this album and is puzzled by it's lack of respect. Back when it was released I found it to be a return to form in light of the substandard previous three. I seem to remember that contemporary reviews were not too kind towards it. Later, in the Internet Age, it has continued to be dismissed.

Glad you like this thread. That's the fun thing about this forum, the responses are almost always heart-warming.

On topic: I've noticed that happens a lot with excellent albums that stand in the shadow of some other - better - albums. I even think a rating (e.g. Gnosis, Rate Your Music) is influenced by the albums surrounding it. But it's only human and it happens to myself too. Often when a band releases another album, I tend to revisit the former albums to see if I unappreciated it, or that is has been overrated, depending on the quality of the current, new album. It's pretty hard to evaluate an album on it's own merits, loose from a discography or oeuvre (or popularity, etc.). That's why e.g. I started this thread and e.g. The Glass Hammer's "Shadowlands"-thread.

I'd tend to agree that any TTH album would be a top 5 in any post-85 year (at least until 91), but having listened to the three tracks you posted, the first two sound kind of samey - something that was unthinkable in RIL and SIT..... Though I like that CW track, the second is a yawner, and while the third starts interestingly, it overstays its welcome halfway through.

The whole seems to lack dynamics


But it was nice to hear some things from this album.

Here's a good example how someone (sorry to misuse you, Trane) actually likes the album, but regards it nonetheless because of the towering presence of RIL and SIT (and how about FOM or even MSABAF). To prove this, try imagine this album wasn't The Talking Heads' last album, but in fact David Byrne's first (real) solo-album. I bet the rating and the overal appreciation would be much higher. I can almost imagine the reviews praising Byrne's first promising attempt at a solo-carreer. He would've been called Paul Simon's succesor in more than one review.

[nsmith1002]

You thought Speaking in Tongues was substandard? Wow.

A big letdown following the awesomeness of Remain In Light.

Here's how the studio Talking Heads albums rate for me from most favorite to least:

1) Remain In Light
2) Fear Of Music
3) More Songs About Buildings and Food
4) Naked
5) Speaking In Tongues
6) Little Creatures
7) Talking Heads: 77
8) True Stories

So for me Speaking In Tongues is only "substandard" in light of the three albums that came before it and my preference of Naked over it is only by the slightest of margins.

[mx20]

I was a young TH fan back then, and this was among the first CDs I ever purchased. I remember it now not for the music, but as an early lesson in how to handle musical disappointment. I despised most of this album & haven't bothered to listen again since! Over time, the only TH albums that I still care anything about are RiL & FoM. I do love that Tom Tom Club record, though! Sorry to say I've never enjoyed any of Byrne's solo material (even Bush of Ghosts). I'm more in tune with Jim White, a songwriter who was in Byrne's record label for a time.

[JKL2000]

I have a feeling Speaking in Tongues was ill-served by the constant MTV repetition of Burning Down the House. To my ears the album is filled with the hypnotic rhythms heard on RiL, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and The Catherine Wheel.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

much better than True Stories and slightly better than Little Creatures. I always liked this one.

[3LockBox]

I liked this one too but not as much as Little Creatures. True Stories seemed like a hurried excuse of an album to accompany the strange, made-up-as-they-went-along movie of the same name.

With all the ballyhoo that preceded the previous three albums, I remember being caught by surprise when I saw Naked in the music section of the Navy Exchange (kinda like when I saw Alan Parsons Project: Vulture Culture without knowing it was out). I think that with all the publicity that came the Heads way after Stop Making Sense, as well as the flop that was Byrne's attempt at being John Waters, the media machine just got tired of all things Talking Heads, so they turned a deaf ear to Naked.

[Trane]

I have a feeling Speaking in Tongues was ill-served by the constant MTV repetition of Burning Down the House. To my ears the album is filled with the hypnotic rhythms heard on RiL, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and The Catherine Wheel.

Yeah, I guess BDTH was overplayed on MTV (and maybe attracted irritation from some), but it's a frigging great tune too... and the rest of the album is really asgood as RiL

the only weaker tune is Girlfriend, IMHO.