Fear of Music (album)
Encyclopedia
Fear of Music is the third studio album by American New Wave
band Talking Heads
, released on 3 August 1979 on Sire Records
. It was recorded at locations in New York City between April and May 1979 and was produced
by the quartet and Brian Eno
. The album entered the Billboard 200
in the United States at number 21 and peaked at number 33 on the UK Albums Chart
. Three songs were released as singles
between 1979 and 1980: "Life During Wartime
", "I Zimbra
", and "Cities". The record was certified Gold in the U.S. in 1985.
Fear of Music received favourable reviews from critics. Praise centred on its unconventional rhythms and frontman David Byrne
's lyrical performances. The record is often considered one of the best Talking Heads releases. It has featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of all time. England's Channel 4
named the record at number 76 in its 2005 countdown of The 100 Greatest Albums. In 2006, it was remastered and reissued with four bonus tracks.
, released in 1978, expanded the band's sonic palette. The record included a hit single, a cover of Al Green
's "Take Me to the River", which gained the quartet commercial exposure. In March 1979, the band members played the song on nationwide U.S. music show American Bandstand
. In the days after the performance, they decided they did not want to be regarded simply as "a singles machine". Talking Heads entered a New York City studio without a producer in the spring of 1979 and practiced demo
tracks. Musically, the band wanted to expand on the "subtly disguised" disco rhythms present in More Songs About Buildings and Food by making them more prominent in the mixes of new songs. The recording plans were shelved after the quartet was not pleased with the results during the sessions. A decision was taken to rehearse in drummer Chris Frantz
's and bassist Tina Weymouth's loft, where the band members played before they signed to a record label in the mid-1970s. Eno, who produced their previous full-length release, was called to help.
On 22 April and 6 May 1979, a Record Plant van manned by a sound engineering crew parked outside Frantz's and Weymouth's house and ran cables through their loft window. On these two days, Talking Heads recorded the basic tracks with Eno. Instead of incorporating characters in society like in More Songs About Buildings and Food, Byrne decided to place them alone in dystopia
n situations.
Weymouth was initially sceptical of Byrne's decisions, but the frontman managed to persuade her. She has explained that Byrne's sense of rhythm is "insane but fantastic" and that he was key to the band's recording drive during the home sessions. As songs evolved, playing instrumental sections became easier for the band members. Eno was instrumental in shaping their sound and recording confidence and worked on electronic
treatments of tracks once they were all crafted.
region tour in June 1979 and played concerts in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii. The album was released worldwide on 3 August. The LP sleeve was designed by band member Jerry Harrison
. It is completely black and embossed with a pattern that resembles the appearance and texture of diamond plate
metal flooring. The rest of the artwork was crafted by Byrne and includes heat-sensitive photography
created by Jimmy Garcia with the help of Doctor Philip Strax
. Harrison suggested the "ludicrous" title to the band. According to Weymouth, it was accepted because it "fit" with the album's themes and the fact that the quartet was under a lot of stress and pressure when making it.
A U.S. tour to showcase the new material was completed during August 1979. At the time, Byrne told Rolling Stone
, "We're in a funny position. It wouldn't please us to make music that's impossible to listen to, but we don't want to compromise for the sake of popularity." The band shared the headliner
slots with Van Morrison
and The Chieftains
at the Edinburgh Festival
in September and embarked on a promotional European tour until the end of the year. Fear of Music was certified Gold by Recording Industry Association of America
on 17 September 1985 after more than 500,000 copies were sold in the U.S.
. "Cities" details a search for the perfect urban settlement to live in and was borne out of Talking Heads' preferences for urban homes, especially in Manhattan. "Paper" compares a love affair with a simple piece of paper. In "Life During Wartime", Byrne cast himself an "unheroic urban guerrilla", who renounced parties, survived on basic supplies like peanut butter
, and heard rumours about weapons shipments and impromptu graveyards. The character is only connected to the imminent collapse of his civilisation. Byrne considered the persona "believable and plausible". "Air" is a protest song against the atmosphere, an idea Byrne does not consider "a joke". Inspired by The Threepenny Opera
, the lyricist wanted to create a melancholic and touching track about a guy who feels so down that even breathing feels painful.
elements. Album opener "I Zimbra" is an African-influenced disco track and includes background chanting from assistant recording engineer Julie Last.
, writing in Rolling Stone, was impressed with its "unswerving rhythms" and Byrne's lyrical evocations; he concluded, "Fear of Music is often deliberately, brilliantly disorienting. Like its black, corrugated packaging (which resembles a manhole cover
), the album is foreboding, inescapably urban and obsessed with texture." John Rockwell
of The New York Times
suggested that the record was not a conventional rock release, while Stephanie Pleet of The Daily Collegian commented that it showed a positive progression in Talking Heads' musical style. Robert Christgau
, writing in The Village Voice
, praised the album's "gritty weirdness", but noted that "a little sweetening might help". Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times
was impressed with Byrne's "awesome vocal performance" and its nuances and called Fear of Music "a quantum leap" for the band. Tom Bentkowski of New York
concluded, "But what makes the record so successful, perhaps, is a genuinely felt anti-elitism. Talking Heads was clever enough to make the intellectual infectious and even danceable."
Allmusic's William Ruhlmann claimed that Fear of Music is "an uneven, transitional album", but gave it a rating of four-and-a-half stars out of five by pointing out that it includes songs that match the quality of the band's best works. In the 1995 Spin
Alternative Record Guide, Eric Weisbard gave the record a rating of nine out of ten and called it Talking Heads' most musically varied offering. In a 2003 review, Chris Smith of Stylus
praised Byrne's personas and Eno's stylised production techniques. In The Rough Guide
to Rock published the same year, Andy Smith concluded that the album is a strong candidate for the best LP of the 1970s because it is "bristling with hooks, riffs and killer lines".
ahead of Public Image Ltd.
's Metal Box
, by Melody Maker
ahead of Ry Cooder
's Bop till You Drop
, and by the Los Angeles Times ahead of Pere Ubu
's Dub Housing
. The New York Times included it in its unnumbered shortlist of the 10 best records issued that year. Sounds
placed the album at number two in its staff list behind The Specials
' eponymous release. It featured at number four in the 1979 Pazz & Jop
critics' poll run by The Village Voice
, which aggregates the votes of hundreds of prominent reviewers.
In 1985, NME named Fear of Music at number 68 in its writers' list of the All Time 100 Albums. In 1987, Rolling Stone placed it at number 94 in its list of the best albums of the previous 20 years. In 1999, it was included at number 33 in The Guardian
s list of the Top 100 Albums That Don't Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time. In 2004, Pitchfork Media
featured the record at number 31 in its Top 100 Albums Of The 1970s list, while, in 2005, Channel 4
ranked it at number 76 during The 100 Greatest Albums countdown.
Side one
Side two
Expanded CD reissue bonus tracks
Talking Heads
Additional musicians
Production
Design
Singles
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, released on 3 August 1979 on Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
. It was recorded at locations in New York City between April and May 1979 and was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by the quartet and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. The album entered the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in the United States at number 21 and peaked at number 33 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. Three songs were released as singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
between 1979 and 1980: "Life During Wartime
Life During Wartime (song)
"Life During Wartime" is a song by New Wave band Talking Heads, released as the first single from their 1979 album Fear of Music in 1979. It peaked at #80 on the US Billboard Pop Singles Chart....
", "I Zimbra
I Zimbra
"I Zimbra" is a song by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.The song's lyrics are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem "Gadji beri bimba."-Lyrics:The lyrics contain these lines:...
", and "Cities". The record was certified Gold in the U.S. in 1985.
Fear of Music received favourable reviews from critics. Praise centred on its unconventional rhythms and frontman David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
's lyrical performances. The record is often considered one of the best Talking Heads releases. It has featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of all time. England's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
named the record at number 76 in its 2005 countdown of The 100 Greatest Albums. In 2006, it was remastered and reissued with four bonus tracks.
Origins and recording
Talking Heads' second album More Songs About Buildings and FoodMore Songs about Buildings and Food
More Songs About Buildings and Food is Talking Heads' second album, the first of a string of three co-produced by Brian Eno. The album was significantly more popular than their first, Talking Heads: 77...
, released in 1978, expanded the band's sonic palette. The record included a hit single, a cover of Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
's "Take Me to the River", which gained the quartet commercial exposure. In March 1979, the band members played the song on nationwide U.S. music show American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
. In the days after the performance, they decided they did not want to be regarded simply as "a singles machine". Talking Heads entered a New York City studio without a producer in the spring of 1979 and practiced demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
tracks. Musically, the band wanted to expand on the "subtly disguised" disco rhythms present in More Songs About Buildings and Food by making them more prominent in the mixes of new songs. The recording plans were shelved after the quartet was not pleased with the results during the sessions. A decision was taken to rehearse in drummer Chris Frantz
Chris Frantz
Chris Frantz is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.-Career:...
's and bassist Tina Weymouth's loft, where the band members played before they signed to a record label in the mid-1970s. Eno, who produced their previous full-length release, was called to help.
On 22 April and 6 May 1979, a Record Plant van manned by a sound engineering crew parked outside Frantz's and Weymouth's house and ran cables through their loft window. On these two days, Talking Heads recorded the basic tracks with Eno. Instead of incorporating characters in society like in More Songs About Buildings and Food, Byrne decided to place them alone in dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n situations.
Weymouth was initially sceptical of Byrne's decisions, but the frontman managed to persuade her. She has explained that Byrne's sense of rhythm is "insane but fantastic" and that he was key to the band's recording drive during the home sessions. As songs evolved, playing instrumental sections became easier for the band members. Eno was instrumental in shaping their sound and recording confidence and worked on electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
treatments of tracks once they were all crafted.
Promotion and release
After completing Fear of Music, Talking Heads embarked on their first PacificPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
region tour in June 1979 and played concerts in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Hawaii. The album was released worldwide on 3 August. The LP sleeve was designed by band member Jerry Harrison
Jerry Harrison
Jerry Harrison is an American songwriter, musician and producer...
. It is completely black and embossed with a pattern that resembles the appearance and texture of diamond plate
Diamond plate
Diamond plate, also known as checker plate, tread plate and Durbar floor plate, is a type of lightweight metal stock with a regular pattern of raised diamonds or lines on one side, with the reverse side being featureless. Diamond plate is usually steel, stainless steel or aluminum...
metal flooring. The rest of the artwork was crafted by Byrne and includes heat-sensitive photography
Thermal paper
Thermal paper is a special fine paper that is coated with a chemical that changes color when exposed to heat. It is used in thermal printers and particularly in inexpensive or lightweight devices such as adding machines, cash registers, and credit card terminals.The surface of the paper is coated...
created by Jimmy Garcia with the help of Doctor Philip Strax
Philip Strax
Philip Strax was a radiologist who pioneered the use of mammography to screen for early breast cancer. With co-investigators statistician Sam Shapiro and surgeon Louis Venet he conducted a randomized evaluation comparing outcomes of 30,000 women who received clinical breast exam alone or clinical...
. Harrison suggested the "ludicrous" title to the band. According to Weymouth, it was accepted because it "fit" with the album's themes and the fact that the quartet was under a lot of stress and pressure when making it.
A U.S. tour to showcase the new material was completed during August 1979. At the time, Byrne told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, "We're in a funny position. It wouldn't please us to make music that's impossible to listen to, but we don't want to compromise for the sake of popularity." The band shared the headliner
Headliner
A headliner is a composite material that is adhered to the inside roof of automobiles or yachts. It typically consists of a face fabric with nonwoven or foam backing. Headliners consist of multilayered composite materials that bring together multiple functionalities, including the requested look,...
slots with Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in September and embarked on a promotional European tour until the end of the year. Fear of Music was certified Gold by Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
on 17 September 1985 after more than 500,000 copies were sold in the U.S.
Lyrics
Fear of Music begins with "I Zimbra", whose lyrics are based on a nonsensical poem by Dadaist writer Hugo BallHugo Ball
Hugo Ball was a German author, poet and one of the leading Dada artists.Hugo Ball was born in Pirmasens, Germany and was raised in a middle-class Catholic family. He studied sociology and philosophy at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg...
. "Cities" details a search for the perfect urban settlement to live in and was borne out of Talking Heads' preferences for urban homes, especially in Manhattan. "Paper" compares a love affair with a simple piece of paper. In "Life During Wartime", Byrne cast himself an "unheroic urban guerrilla", who renounced parties, survived on basic supplies like peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
, and heard rumours about weapons shipments and impromptu graveyards. The character is only connected to the imminent collapse of his civilisation. Byrne considered the persona "believable and plausible". "Air" is a protest song against the atmosphere, an idea Byrne does not consider "a joke". Inspired by The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
, the lyricist wanted to create a melancholic and touching track about a guy who feels so down that even breathing feels painful.
Composition
Fear of Music is largely built on an eclectic mix of disco rhythms, cinematic soundscapes, and conventional rock musicRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
elements. Album opener "I Zimbra" is an African-influenced disco track and includes background chanting from assistant recording engineer Julie Last.
Critical reception
The album was well received by reviewers. Jon ParelesJon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
, writing in Rolling Stone, was impressed with its "unswerving rhythms" and Byrne's lyrical evocations; he concluded, "Fear of Music is often deliberately, brilliantly disorienting. Like its black, corrugated packaging (which resembles a manhole cover
Manhole cover
A manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out....
), the album is foreboding, inescapably urban and obsessed with texture." John Rockwell
John Rockwell
John Rockwell is a music critic, editor, and dance critic. He studied at Phillips Academy, Harvard, the University of Munich, and the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in German culture....
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
suggested that the record was not a conventional rock release, while Stephanie Pleet of The Daily Collegian commented that it showed a positive progression in Talking Heads' musical style. Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
, writing in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, praised the album's "gritty weirdness", but noted that "a little sweetening might help". Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
was impressed with Byrne's "awesome vocal performance" and its nuances and called Fear of Music "a quantum leap" for the band. Tom Bentkowski of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
concluded, "But what makes the record so successful, perhaps, is a genuinely felt anti-elitism. Talking Heads was clever enough to make the intellectual infectious and even danceable."
Allmusic's William Ruhlmann claimed that Fear of Music is "an uneven, transitional album", but gave it a rating of four-and-a-half stars out of five by pointing out that it includes songs that match the quality of the band's best works. In the 1995 Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
Alternative Record Guide, Eric Weisbard gave the record a rating of nine out of ten and called it Talking Heads' most musically varied offering. In a 2003 review, Chris Smith of Stylus
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
praised Byrne's personas and Eno's stylised production techniques. In The Rough Guide
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
to Rock published the same year, Andy Smith concluded that the album is a strong candidate for the best LP of the 1970s because it is "bristling with hooks, riffs and killer lines".
Accolades
Fear of Music was named as the best album of 1979 by NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
ahead of Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
's Metal Box
Metal Box
Metal Box is the second album by Public Image Ltd, released in 1979 by Virgin Records.The title refers to the album's original packaging, which consists of a metal 16mm film canister embossed with the band's logo and containing three 12" 45rpm records...
, by Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
ahead of Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
's Bop till You Drop
Bop till You Drop
Bop till You Drop is Ry Cooder's ninth album, released in 1979 . This was the first major-label digitally recorded album of Pop music...
, and by the Los Angeles Times ahead of Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
's Dub Housing
Dub Housing
Dub Housing is the second album by American experimental rock group Pere Ubu. Released in 1978, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."...
. The New York Times included it in its unnumbered shortlist of the 10 best records issued that year. Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
placed the album at number two in its staff list behind The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
' eponymous release. It featured at number four in the 1979 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll run by The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, which aggregates the votes of hundreds of prominent reviewers.
In 1985, NME named Fear of Music at number 68 in its writers' list of the All Time 100 Albums. In 1987, Rolling Stone placed it at number 94 in its list of the best albums of the previous 20 years. In 1999, it was included at number 33 in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s list of the Top 100 Albums That Don't Appear In All The Other Top 100 Albums Of All Time. In 2004, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
featured the record at number 31 in its Top 100 Albums Of The 1970s list, while, in 2005, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
ranked it at number 76 during The 100 Greatest Albums countdown.
Track listing
All songs written by David Byrne, unless otherwise noted.Side one
Side two
- A limited edition UK LP included "Psycho KillerPsycho Killer"Psycho Killer" is a song by American New Wave band Talking Heads from their 1977 album Talking Heads: 77, written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. The band's "signature debut hit" features lyrics which seem to represent the thoughts of a serial killer. Allmusic calls it a...
" and "New Feeling" from Talking Heads' debut album, Talking Heads: 77Talking Heads: 77Talking Heads: 77 is the debut album by Talking Heads. It peaked at #97 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart and the single "Psycho Killer" made it to #92. In 2003, the album was ranked #290 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list...
, on a bonus 7" record.
Expanded CD reissue bonus tracks
- The remastered reissue was produced by Andy ZaxAndy ZaxAndy Zax is a music historian and producer of CD boxed sets and reissues by Talking Heads, Rod Stewart, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Judee Sill, John Cale, Nico, The Neon Philharmonic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, The Sisters of Mercy,...
, with the help of Talking Heads, and was mixed by Brian KehewBrian KehewBrian Kehew is a Los Angeles-based musician and music producer. He is a member the The Moog Cookbook and co-author of the Recording The Beatles book, an in-depth look at the Beatles' studio approach...
. - The DVD portion of the European reissue contains videos of the band performing "I Zimbra" and "Cities" on German music show Rockpop in 1979.
Personnel
Those involved in the making of Fear of Music are:Talking Heads
- David Byrne – vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Jerry Harrison – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Chris Frantz – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional musicians
- Brian Eno – backing vocals, electronicElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
treatments - The Sweetbreaths – backing vocals ("Air")
- Julie Last – backing vocals ("I Zimbra")
- Robert FrippRobert FrippRobert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
– guitar ("I Zimbra") - Ari – congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s ("I Zimbra", "Life During Wartime") - Gene Wilder – congas ("I Zimbra", "Life During Wartime")
Production
- Brian Eno – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Talking Heads – producers
- Joe Barbaria – engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Rod O'Brian – engineer
- Neil Teeman – engineer
- Tom Heid – assistant engineer
- Julie Last – assistant engineer
- Chris Martinez – assistant engineer
- Phil Gitomer – engineering crew
- Dave Hewitt – engineering crew
- Booster McAllister – engineering crew
- Fred Ridder – engineering crew
- Greg Calbi – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Design
- Jerry Harrison – cover artCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
, artwork assistant - David Byrne – artwork
- Jimmy Garcia – thermograph photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Philip Strax – thermograph assistant
Release history
| Region | Year | Label | Format(s) | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States and Canada | 1979 | Sire Records | LP, cassette | 6076 |
| United Kingdom | ||||
| Rest of Europe | WEA Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
56707 | ||
| United States and Canada | 1984 | Sire Records | CD | (2–)6076 |
| Europe | ||||
| United States and Canada | 2006 | Rhino Records | Expanded CD, digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
76451 |
| Europe | Warner Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
8122732992 | ||
| Japan | 2009 | WPCR-13291 | ||
Chart positions
Album| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 (U.S.) Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
21 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
27 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
33 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
11 |
Singles
| Song | Peak | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. Club Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
|
| "Life During Wartime Life During Wartime (song) "Life During Wartime" is a song by New Wave band Talking Heads, released as the first single from their 1979 album Fear of Music in 1979. It peaked at #80 on the US Billboard Pop Singles Chart.... " |
80 | — |
| "I Zimbra I Zimbra "I Zimbra" is a song by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.The song's lyrics are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem "Gadji beri bimba."-Lyrics:The lyrics contain these lines:... " |
— | 28 |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
External links
- Fear of Music lyrics at RhapsodyRhapsody (online music service)Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...