Fear of Music by Talking Heads

Fear of Music, Talking Heads' third studio album, came out on Sire on August 3, 1979, and it's the sound of the art-punk nerds getting twitchier, darker and a lot more danceable. They co-produced it with Brian Eno and cut it around New York City in April and May of 1979, and the result is jittery, paranoid and weirdly funky.

David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison build these songs on rhythm first, and the grooves lock tight and strange, while Byrne sings like a man who has seen too much and can't stop talking about it. "I Zimbra" is a door onto something wild, a chanting, clattering polyrhythmic workout that sounds like nothing else on the album. "Life During Wartime" is a tense, propulsive, jumpy dance number with the feeling of a city on edge. "Cities" is restless and skittering, "Air" floats in a queasy fog, and "Memories Can't Wait" drifts through a haunted, echoing space.

Critics liked it, singling out the offbeat rhythms and Byrne's performance as lead vocalist. It reached No. 21 in the US and No. 33 in the UK, with "Life During Wartime", "I Zimbra" and "Cities" released as singles. It's often ranked among the band's best work, and it keeps turning up on lists of the greatest albums ever made.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.