Talking Heads – Record-facts…

posted by albums-update

More Songs About Buildings and Food is the second studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on July 14, 1978 by Sire Records.
It was the first of three albums produced by collaborator Brian Eno, and saw the band move toward a danceable style, crossing singer David Byrne‘s unusual delivery with new emphasis on the rhythm section composed of bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz.

The title of Talking Heads‘ second album, More Songs About Buildings and Food, 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 Brian Eno brought a musical unity that tied the album together, especially in terms of the rhythm section, the sequencing, the pacing, and the mixing.
Where Talking Heads had largely been about David Byrne‘s voice and words, Eno moved the emphasis to the bass-and-drums team of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz; all the songs were danceable, and there were only short breaks between them.
Byrne 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, More Songs 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 Al Green‘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,” Byrne’s 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 Chuck Berry patriotic travelogue theme of rock & roll on its head and employing a great hook in the process.

The front cover of the album, conceived by Byrne and executed by artist Jimmy De Sana, is a photomosaic of the band comprising 529 close-up Polaroid photographs. The rear cover of the album shows a satellite image (taken by one of the Landsat satellites) of the United States.

Concerning the album’s title, bassist Tina Weymouth was quoted in a 1979 interview with Creem magazine:

When we were making this album I remembered this stupid discussion we had about titles for the last album,” Tina smirked. “At that time I said, ‘What are we gonna call an album that’s just about buildings and food?’ And Chris said, ‘You call it more songs about buildings and food.’

XTC frontman Andy Partridge later claimed, however, that he gave the title to Byrne.

Tracklist

1. “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel” – 2:11
2. “With Our Love” – 3:30
3. “The Good Thing” – 3:03
4. “Warning Sign” (Byrne, Chris Frantz) – 3:55
5. “The Girls Want to Be with the Girls” – 2:37
6. “Found a Job[a]” – 5:00
7. “Artists Only” (Byrne, Wayne Zieve) – 3:34
8. “I’m Not in Love” – 4:33
9. “Stay Hungry” (Byrne, Frantz) – 2:39
10. “Take Me to the River” (Al Green, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges) – 5:00
11. “The Big Country” – 5:30

Talking Heads