Speaking in Tongues (Talking Heads album)

Speaking in Tongues is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 1, 1983, by Sire Records. After their split with producer Brian Eno and a short hiatus, which allowed the individual members to pursue side projects, recording began in 1982. It became the band's commercial breakthrough and produced the band's sole U.S. top-ten hit, "Burning Down the House", which reached No. 9 on the Billboard chart.

The album's tour was documented in the 1984 Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense, which generated a live album of the same name. The album also crossed over to the dance charts, where it peaked at number two for six weeks. It is the band's highest-charting studio album on the U.S. Billboard 200, peaking at No. 15. It was also their biggest-selling album in Canada, where it was certified platinum in 1983.

Artwork

Talking Heads' lead vocalist David Byrne designed the cover for the general release of the album. Artist Robert Rauschenberg won a Grammy Award for his work on the limited-edition LP version, which featured a clear vinyl disc in clear plastic packaging along with three clear plastic discs printed with similar collages in three colors. Byrne has said, as a partial explanation of the album's title, "I originally sang nonsense, and ... made words to fit that. That worked out all right."

Release

Original cassette and later CD copies of the album have "extended versions" of "Making Flippy Floppy", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Slippery People", "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" and "Moon Rocks". The album was re-released in February 2006 as a remastered DualDisc. It contains the extended versions of the songs found on the original cassette, and includes two additional tracks ("Two Note Swivel" and an alternate mix of "Burning Down the House"). 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, a new alternate version of "Burning Down the House", and the music videos for "Burning Down the House" and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" (videos are two-channel Dolby Digital only). In Europe it was released as a CD+DVDA two-disc set, rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.

In 2021, Rhino Entertainment re-released the album on sky blue vinyl.

Critical reception

Rolling Stones David Fricke lauded the album's crossover nature, calling it "the album that finally obliterates the thin line separating arty white pop music and deep black funk." He elaborated that the songs are all true art rock yet avoid the genre's common pretensions with a laid-back attitude and compelling dance rhythms, making it an ideal party album.

Legacy

In 1989, Speaking in Tongues was ranked No. 54 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed it as the 89th best album of the 1980s.

"Burning Down the House" was later covered by Welsh singer Tom Jones with the Cardigans, on his album Reload, reaching No. 7 on the UK singles chart. It has also been covered by screamo band the Used, pop-punk band Paramore, pop rock band Walk the Moon, blues singer Bonnie Raitt and R&B singer John Legend. The song has also appeared in the films Revenge of the Nerds (1984), The Banger Sisters (2002), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Nymphomaniac (2013), and the television series The Walking Dead.

"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" has been covered by artists such as folk musicians the Lumineers and Iron & Wine, and indie rock band Arcade Fire. The song was also featured in the films Wall Street (1987), and its sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), He's Just Not That into You (2009), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and the television series Little Fires Everywhere and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

"Swamp" appears in the films The King of Comedy (1982), Risky Business (1983), and The Simpsons episode "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage". "Girlfriend Is Better" appeared in an episode of the television series Entourage. "Slippery People" appeared in the film American Made (2017) and the television series The Americans.

In 2022, the song "Burning Down the House" was used as a sample in the song "Keep It Burning" from Donda 2 by Kanye West, featuring a performance by rapper Future. The song was removed from the album after a day and was released later that year on Future's ninth studio album I Never Liked You, under the same name, but without the sample.

Track listing

LP/early CD version

Cassette/later CD versions

2006 DualDisc reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

Talking Heads

David Byrne – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion
Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
Tina Weymouth – synth bass, double bass, backing vocals, guitar
Chris Frantz – drums, backing vocals, synthesizer

Additional musicians

Wally Badarou – synthesizers (tracks 1, 6, 9)
Bernie Worrell – synthesizers (track 3)
Alex Weir – guitar (tracks 2, 6, 7, 8)
Steve Scales – percussion (tracks 1, 7)
Raphael Dejesus – percussion (tracks 4, 5, 8)
David Van Tieghem – percussion (tracks 5, 9)
L. Shankar – double violin (track 2)
Richard Landry – saxophone (track 4)
Nona Hendryx – backing vocals (track 4)
Dolette McDonald – backing vocals (track 4)

Technical

Talking Heads – production
Butch Jones – recording
John Convertino – recording assistant
Alex Sadkin – co-production, overdubbing, mixing, head engineering
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 DualDisc bonus mixes
Robert Rauschenberg – limited edition cover art
David Byrne – original cover design

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Speaking in Tongues

! scope="col" | Chart (1983–1984)

! scope="col" | Peak<br>position

! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 15

! scope="row" | Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)

| 27

! scope="row" | Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

| 6

! scope="row" | US Rock Albums (Billboard)

|11

! scope="row" | US Top Black Albums (Billboard)

| 55

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1983 year-end chart performance for Speaking in Tongues

! scope="col" | Chart (1983)

! scope="col" | Position

! scope="row" | Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)

| 15

! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 14

! scope="row" | US Billboard 200

| 82

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1984 year-end chart performance for Speaking in Tongues

! scope="col" | Chart (1984)