Talking Heads – Naked

This needs a reissue with bonus tracks "Bill" and "Sax & Violins"

I Am Fully Naked Right Now..

//My Highlight Tracks:
Blind
Mr. Jones
(Nothing But) Flowers
The Facts Of Life
Cool Water

Is there not a release page for the longbox edition with the alternate artwork?

Great pressing. Good separation of instruments and vocals. My version got zero pops or clicks.

The sound quality of this record is really superb. I highly recommend getting your hands on a clean copy!

Naked offered me nothing to warm my skin as the record played on, I didn’t like the album art in the least, where it seems that even the band knew that this release signaled the demise of the band, especially as David Byrne prophetically sang, “And as things fell apart, Nobody paid much attention.”

Naked is a political album, and while politics certainly showed up on other releases, the Talking Heads were paying too much attention to the details of a world gone sideways, a world in chaos torn between animal instincts and an urgent need to both civilize and divide ourselves into tribes of madness and deranged politics, at a time when we stood on the verge of a potential apocalypse. More than any other Talking Heads recording, this one was nearly intellectually overbearing, bold and provocative, often foreboding, with momentary sections of delight and cheerfulness that appeared tentative at best, moments that quickly turn on their heels, taking listeners dizzyingly back into the thick of things. With all of that in mind, one could certainly make the argument that the central being of this record was about the dysfunction and disagreements within the band, Byrne’s desire to go solo, along with the fact that the band would break up, yet not tell the world for another three years.

As to the music, the groove oriented style that T-Heads had been fashioning is still in play, though flows with an entirely differing attitude, with songs that are entirely open-ended and include a host of collaborating musicians who continue to explore Afro pop, funk, soul, with more dives into the waters of the avant garde and even Latin influences, all while creating sound that’s ever increasingly reliant on big band power. Yet still, at the central core is a theme of emotion versus reason and whether our nature defines us, or that we have the power to reshape that nature.

Yes, the album for all its quasi conceptions is entirely explorative, still possessing a bit of dreaminess, yet those lulling dreams float though an undercurrent of menacing-ness, where in the morning, a restful night’s sleep was held just out of reach. All of that said, if one understands that the music was laid down prior to Byrne’s adding the lyrics, one comes face to face with the reality that for the most part, Naked is entirely a David Byrne project, where the Heads are hired guns, musically ing David’s visions, predictions and attitudes, suggesting that this, the final Talking Heads album was in fact a foray into the first solo David Byrnes album.

*** The Fun Facts: What did rise from this album was the band Blind Mr. Jones, who created their name by combining the titles of the first two tracks.

The Chinese proverb “If there is no tiger in the mountains, the monkey will be king” is printed on the jacket of Naked, along with a framed portrait of a monkey adorning the album’s jacket. The human race consists of some pretty cool people, Naked seems to be saying, but it’s got a very destructive monkey on its back. Human survival is not guaranteed. With humor and good hearted-ness, hope and fear, Talking Heads contemplate a world on the eve of destruction while leaving wide open the question of what the dawn will bring.

Review by Jenell Kesler

Also available with a gold promo stamp on the top front left corner.

UK television commercial for this release can be watched here