Talking Heads - Little Creatures
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Free Music Notes for Little Creatures
Free Music Review: talking heads deliver their first average album
Hit: 3 Stars
Talking Heads' Little Creatures is the biggest disappointment in their entire catalog. While the album certainly appeals to newcomers due to the many hits ("And she was", "Road to Nowhere", "Stay up late"), a better first pick would be Remain in Light, or even Speaking in Tongues. Little Creatures doesn't hold a candle to these earlier masterpieces. The Heads' writing on this album sounds formulated, and lacks the appeal of most of their other albums. The artsy, intense punk of the first three albums is gone, and the organic funk of the following albums is missing as well. What replaces the appeal, however, is good musicianship. The Heads' ability has improved greatly on this album, especially on tracks like "Give me back my name" and "Perfect World". But the album is not a success because of mundane songs such as "Creatures of Love" and "Walk it down", on which precision is important, but the feeling is gone. Early Heads tunes such as "No Compassion" and "I'm not in love" succeed because of the feeling and general intensity. The songs on Little Creatures sound lackadaisical and forced. Except for "Road to Nowhere", which is available on the Talking Heads Popular Favorites compilation, this album has little to recommend it.Free Music Review: Some Creativity But Limited In Substance
Hit: 3 Stars
Probably teh best qualities about this recording are thespecial arrangements and some oddball David Byrne lyrics. The lead tracks And She Was, Road To Nowhere, and Stay Up Late are the strengths of the disc most notably the middle tracks ocapella opening. Walk It Down as an interesting bass line and Creatures Of Love is kind of spunky and doesn't take up too much listening time. The rest of the songs do not offend me but in the same respect do not have much memorable about them either. The instrumental backing and vocals are creative, a bit unusual but not all that good with a few exceptions as noted above. Truthfully Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, Joe Jackson, and a few other new wave artists seem to have more talent going for them than this act. But these guys(and girl) are not bad. They have their niche and big fans of them will like this record. However, outsiders to this style could pass on this batch very easily.Free Music Review: The begining of the END...pop goes the weasel
Hit: 3 Stars
As a true fans of the Heads since their inception, I bought every album up until this...LITTLE CREATURES...sure, I bought it like the rest, but this is one I don't play much anymore - why? It's clear from Byrne and Co's taste of success with BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE and others on early MTV, they all-but abandoned the brilliant exploration of REMAIN IN LIGHT to crossover onto MTV/Pop/Adult Contemporary playlists - sure, these songs may be "cute" and even a bit "clever," but most now sound utterly too cloying for their own good - this is the sounds of the Heads losing their "funk" and gathering moss. After this, all the albums just...plain...SUCKED.Free Music Review: Only half the songs are great
Hit: 3 Stars
This is an important piece but not 100% good. I only liked 4 songs.Free Music Review: A wrong turn for the Talking Heads.
Hit: 2 Stars
What happened here? Having heard the masterpiece Remain in Light and the nearly as wonderful Speaking in Tongues, I was utterly shocked by their near-complete abandonment of the distinct and innovative sound they were building for themselves.Granted, many of their lyrics actually look very good on paper (by the way, Radiohead fans, compare the liner notes to those for Hail to the Thief...I wonder if "Tchocky" was thinking of this album?). Nearly every one of them has clever turns of phrase, interesting points to ponder, such as "Creatures of Love", "Television Man"...although about "Stay Up Late", all I'll say about that one is, I do NOT want to know. However, the way they're put into music is singularly unimpressive. What happened to the basslines and melodies that defy all common sense, yet still manage to sound good? What happened to the Middle Eastern/African influences? And that synth imitation of a Rhodes should have been banned from the studio (although I must give credit to the Hammond player). Furthermore...although I initially had problems getting used to them, where are David Byrne's quirky vocals and strange noises (other than somewhat on "Television Man", perhaps the only remarkable song on the album)? This bland style simply doesn't suit him.
All in all, this is an album made up of songs that could have sounded good--if the music had approached the level of the lyrics (which save the album from a 1-star, no-merit review). I will not even be giving this CD my customary three listens for it to prove itself...this one is going immediately for trade-in.