Speaking in Tongues

by Talking Heads

Speaking in Tongues cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: June 1, 1983
  • Label: Sire
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 47:06
  • Community rating: 4.31/5 from 31 ratings

Artists on this release: Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, David Byrne, Chris Frantz

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Stepping away from Brian Eno's dense production, 'Speaking in Tongues' features a more spacious and rhythmically direct sound, layering deep funk and post-punk with prominent synthesizers and gospel-inflected backing vocals. Frontman David Byrne crafted lyrics to fit his melodic nonsense-syllable improvisations, resulting in impressionistic phrases that complement the album's buoyant, groove-focused structures. This accessible approach produced the band's sole US top-ten hit, 'Burning Down the House,' securing the album as their commercial breakthrough.

Genres

Descriptors: funky, polyrhythmic, synthesizers, gang-vocals, call-and-response, dance, rhythmic, melodic

Tracklist

  1. Burning Down the House (04:03)
  2. Making Flippy Floppy (05:54)
  3. Girlfriend Is Better (05:45)
  4. Slippery People (05:06)
  5. I Get Wild / Wild Gravity (05:16)
  6. Swamp (05:13)
  7. Moon Rocks (05:45)
  8. Pull up the Roots (05:09)
  9. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (04:55)

Credits

  • David Byrne - vocals, guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, bass guitar, percussion, original cover design
  • Jerry Harrison - keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, backing vocals
  • Tina Weymouth - bass guitar, synth bass, backing vocals, guitar
  • Chris Frantz - drums, backing vocals, synthesizer
  • Wally Badarou - synthesizers (1, 6, 9)
  • Bernie Worrell - synthesizers (3)
  • Alex Weir - guitar (2, 6, 7, 8)
  • Steve Scales - percussion (1, 7)
  • Raphael Dejesus - percussion (4, 5, 8)
  • David Van Tieghem - percussion (5, 9)
  • L. Shankar - double violin (2)
  • Richard Landry - saxophone (4)
  • Nona Hendryx - backing vocals (4)
  • Dolette McDonald - backing vocals (4)
  • Talking Heads - producers
  • Butch Jones - recording
  • John Convertino - recording assistant
  • Alex Sadkin - overdubbing, mixing
  • Frank Gibson - overdubbing assistant, mix assistant
  • Jay Mark - overdubbing assistant, mix assistant
  • Ted Jensen - mastering at sterling sound (new york city, new york)
  • Brian Kehew - 2006 dual disc bonus mixes
  • Robert Rauschenberg - limited edition cover art

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