Little Creatures

Talking Heads | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002L80
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,275 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Having spent the early '80s in a giddy expansion of the sound and scale of their studio recordings and concerts, Talking Heads come full circle with this 1985 album, retracting to the core quartet and restoring a focus on David Byrne's knotty songs. Arriving in the wake of the fevered rhythms of Speaking in Tongues and Stop Making Sense, Little Creatures's new material sounds freshly lyrical, remarkably concise, even subdued, but there's the usual whimsy--the levitating heroine of the jangling, punchy opener, "And She Was," the cracked child-rearing advice of "Stay Up Late," and the galloping, anthemic reminder that we're on the "Road to Nowhere." --Sam Sutherland

Product Description

David Byrne & Co.'s follow up to the platinum selling "Speaking In Tongues" and the live "Stop Making Sense" albums offered their most pop oriented album ever. This edition includes the bonus track of a 12" version of "The Lady Don't Mind". --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Come along and take this road to nowhere, August 28, 2002

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Creatures (Audio CD)

Little Creatures is one of my all-time favorite CDs. I know a lot of Talking Heads fans consider this album a little too pop-oriented, but I love every song on here. This is particularly good music to sing along with, yet it still has plenty of quintessential David Byrne vocal sounds to distinguish it from non-Talking Heads music. I still hear And She Was on the radio from time to time, proving its longevity as a quirky, fun track, but for some unexplainable reason, nobody ever seems to play Road to Nowhere anymore. That was really the song that made me a TH fan, and I'll never forget the video with David Byrne running nonstop in the corner the whole time. Stay Up Late is another cool song that got some air play in its day; it's not a song you would want your babysitter to listen to while she is at your house, but it's just a typically fun, unique Talking Heads song.

All of the remaining songs are almost as good as the single releases. Give Me Back My Name, The Lady Don't Mind, Perfect World, and Walk It Down aren't spectacular, but they are quite enjoyable. I especially love the chorus of The Lady Don't Mind, and the last verse of Perfect World features vintage David Byrne vocals. Television Man comes closest to the earlier, more traditionally untraditional Talking Heads sound, and it features a great stretch of David Byrne vocal gymnastics. As enjoyable as all of these songs are, though, none compare to the song Little Creatures. It has a great flow to it, with interesting lyrics, and it shows how talented a singer David Byrne really is. The entire album has a fullness and flow that most albums just do not have; I never skip any of the tracks when I play this CD. This group's forehead-slapping music is great, but sometimes it is nice just to relax to calmer music such as this disc offers. Clocking in at just under forty minutes in length, Little Creatures is not terribly long, especially by today's standards, but it is enjoyable from start to finish. Some TH fans might consider this album a musical road to nowhere by this eclectic band, but in my opinion Little Creatures proves that the journey is often times the best part of the trip.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talking Heads go pop -- good!, May 11, 2005

By 

Allan Tong (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Creatures (Audio CD)

I adore Remain In Light, enjoy Speaking In Tongues, love Psycho Killer. But LITTLE CREATURES is my favourite Heads album. I know many Heads' fans don't, because LC doesn't sound like anything else they ever did. It's melodic, bouncy, bright and optimistic. Little Creatures is like the Velvets' LOADED, a pop record made by an avant-rock band.

Reportedly, David Byrne was in love (with Adelle Lutz) when he composed these tunes. That's evident from the get-go. And She Was kicks off the album on a note of joy and energy, not dark brooding like Burning Down The House. From there, the record detours into kids & family (Creatures of Love, Stay Up Late) and more love (the wonderful The Lady Don't Mind).

The hooks are catchy and the harmonies are delicious. Further, every song moves. You can dance to this. There's no filler. The sequencing is smart -- the record is assembled like one unified piece.

LITTLE CREATURES isn't everyone's cup of tea, but who says a band has to sound the same on every album?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Suppose They Had Run Their Course, But..., August 4, 2005

By 

J. Reynolds (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Creatures (Audio CD)

I still miss them every day, and this album (along with Speaking In Tongues) is one of the reasons why. Great pop songs, quirky lyrics, funky melodies -- full-bodied music. The four of them came together to do great stuff and, afterward, on their own, none of them have ever been as good again.