More Songs About Buildings & Food

Talking Heads | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KNV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,511 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #16 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > American Punk
  • #40 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk
  • #47 in Music > Alternative Rock > New Wave & Post-Punk > New Wave

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: TALKING HEADS
Title: MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS & F
Street Release Date: 07/07/1987
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As funky as hell, June 2, 2004

By 

Wee Jimmy (Tring, Hertfordshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Songs About Buildings & Food (Audio CD)

More Songs About Buildings And Food sees the Heads moving away from their poppier first album and, under the guidance of Brian Eno, discovering that there had always been a dance element to their music. It's an inspired move - whereas before Byrne had been the focus of the band, the formidable Weymouth / Frantz rhythm section relly makes its presence felt here: from With Our Love through Found A Job up to Stay Hungry, they just keep churning out those grooves. Retrospectively, this was an element of their music that was already there just waiting to be expanded upon: several of the songs featured on the album had already been written, sometimes as long as two years before the release of the record, and were already (I think) part of the band's live repertoire. Byrne's lyrics and way with a chorus are not forgotten, however - Good Thing has an absolute monster of a chorus. Another excellent feature of the album is that many of the songs crescendo at the end with an absolutely storming vamp that you want to continue forever.
The Big Country deserves special mention because it showed that the band still had much more to explore - it's a melodic, country tinged, slightly balladic (although not actually a ballad - they didn't do one of those till their seventh album) song about an idealised American heartland; although in typical Byrne style the narrator of the song doesn't seem to find the vision particularly appealing ('I wouldn't live there if you paid me'). They wouldn't really travel in this direction again until Little Creatures, although nothing on there is as good as The Big Country.
Overall, the album is excellent. As with Fear of Music, Remain In Light and Speaking In Tongues, if you're a music fan of any sort you should consider getting it. If you scroll up you'll find some preview links - I suggest you click them.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I guess those people have fun with their neighbors and friends., January 26, 2006

By 

Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings and Food (Audio CD)

Talking Heads didn't make a classic album with "More Songs About Buildings And Food", but they were working on it. This digitally remastered dual disc greatly improves the sound quality from the old cd version.

The cd side sounds great in stereo, but it's the dvd side that will knock your socks off. When you hear "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel" in 5.1 surround sound it's like hearing it for the first time again. The other great tracks on this album are "The Good Thing", "Warning Sign", "Artists Only", "Take Me To The River" and "The Big Country". The dvd side also includes two live videos which is good if you missed seeing the Talking Heads in concert like myself.

The four bonus tracks are all marked previously unreleased, and I know I've never heard these versions of four songs from this album. I actually liked the '77 version of "Stay Hungry". The alternate version of "I'm Not In Love" does nothing to improve the song, and the alternate version of "The Big Country" is more stripped down than the original, which didn't do much for me. The alternate version of "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel" is likewise uninteresting.

The booklet comes with praises by different popular musicians and a note about the 5.1 remixing process by Jerry Harrison. The lyrics are not included like in the old cd version which I think was an oversight. The price of this remastered dual disc is steep and really ought to be more like $9.99.

All in all, worth rebuying if you're a true Heads fan like myself.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their finest studio recording, January 10, 2001

By 

Richard R. Johnson "r-squared" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: More Songs About Buildings & Food (Audio CD)

For a band that produced many fine and innovative studio recordings, I can say without hesitation that this is their absolute best. David Byrne's lyrics are scalpel-sharp, especially on "I'm Not in Love." Other songs feature his quirky observations, such as in the "Big Country" or "The Girls Just Want to Be With the Girls." The music is tight, with expertly timed stop-starts, unusual chord changes, and hypnotic riffs. I find that the songs "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" and "Found a Job" are the true stand-outs. However, those who are only vaguely familiar with the Talking Heads will zero-in on the cover version of "Take Me to the River," which though it brought the band some much needed attention, had the effect of overshadowing what was otherwise perhaps the finest album recorded in the decade of the 70s.