Fear of Music (album)

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Fear of Music
Studio album by Talking Heads
Released	August 3, 1979
Recorded	Long Island City, NY, April 22, 1979 and May 6, 1979. The Hit Factory, Atlantic Studios, RPM Sound Studios, The Record Plant, New York
Genre	New Wave, Post-punk
Length	40:25
Label	Sire
Producer	Brian Eno & Talking Heads Reissue Producer Andy Zax with Talking Heads
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link
Talking Heads chronology
More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) Fear of Music (1979) Remain in Light (1980)

Fear of Music was the third album by Talking Heads, released in 1979. It peaked at #21 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart, and singles "Life During Wartime " made #80 on the Pop Singles chart, and "I Zimbra" made #28 on the Club Play Singles chart.

The song "I Zimbra" was adapted from the poem "Gadji beri bimba" by Dadaist poet Hugo Ball. Its polyrhythms presaged the direction the band would take on its next album, Remain in Light.

The original LP sleeve was all-black and embossed with a pattern that resembled the appearance and texture of metal flooring.

In 2005, the album was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with four bonus tracks on the CD side ("Dancing for Money" and alternate versions of "Life During Wartime", "Cities" and "Mind"). The DVD-A side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 version of the album and the videos for "Cities" and "I Zimbra". In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc.

The alternate "Life During Wartime" is a full-length version with a guitar part by Robert Fripp. The "Cities" alternate contains verses and musical elements not used in the album version.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side one 1.2 Side two 2 Personnel 2.1 Additional personnel 2.2 Recording personnel 3 Charts 4 Certifications

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by David Byrne, except where noted.

[edit] Side one

1. "I Zimbra" (Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball) – 3:06
2. "Mind" – 4:12
3. "Paper" – 2:36
4. "Cities" – 4:05
5. "Life During Wartime" (Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth) – 3:41
6. "Memories Can't Wait" – 3:30

[edit] Side two

1. "Air" – 3:33
2. "Heaven" (Byrne, Harrison) – 4:01
3. "Animals" – 3:29
4. "Electric Guitar" – 2:59
5. "Drugs" – 5:13

[edit] Personnel

• David Byrne – vocals, guitars
• Chris Frantz – drums
• Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
• Tina Weymouth – bass, backing vocals

[edit] Additional personnel

• Brian Eno – backing vocals, treatments
• Gene Wilder and Ari Up – congas on 1 and 5
• Robert Fripp – guitar on 1
• The Sweetbreathes – backing vocals on 7
• Julie Last – backing vocals on 1

[edit] Recording personnel

• Brian Eno – producer
• Rod O'Brian – engineer
• Joe Barbaria – engineer
• Neil Teeman – engineer
• Greg Calbi – mastering

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Billboard Pop Albums	21
1979	UK Albums	33

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	"Life During Wartime"	Billboard Pop Singles	80
1979	"I Zimbra"	Billboard Club Play Singles	28

[edit] Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	September 17, 1985

v • d • e Talking Heads David Byrne | Jerry Harrison | Tina Weymouth | Chris Frantz Studio Albums Talking Heads: 77 (1977) | More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) | Fear of Music (1979) | Remain in Light (1980) | Speaking in Tongues (1983) | Little Creatures (1985) | True Stories (1986) | Naked (1988) The Heads Albums No Talking, Just Head (1996) Live Albums The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) | Stop Making Sense (1984) Compilations Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites (1992) | Once in a Lifetime (2003) | The Best of Talking Heads (2004) | Brick (2005) | Bonus Rarities and Outtakes (2006) Filmography Stop Making Sense (1984) | True Stories (1986) | Storytelling Giant (1988)