Talking Heads
77

LA RECENSIONE

1977. Seventy-Seven. Millenovecentosettantasette. Call it what you want, but it's unlikely the history of rock will manage to repeat a year like this. Sex Pistols, The Clash, Television, Suicide, Wire, all gave birth to wonderful and unforgettable debuts.
One of these seminal works to remember is the one named after this year. 77 by the Talking Heads, the talking heads. David Byrne, the undisputed leader on vocals and guitar, accompanied by Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (blonde on bass), and Jerry Harrison (keyboards), bring to life a record of exceptional impact, punk-dance in attitude, but fundamentally a perfect synthesis between rock n' roll and funk.

The string instruments are used as percussion. The sound is the rhythm, and the rhythm is the sound. There’s no electronics yet in Talking Heads, but it’s the rhythmic constructions and the deviant arrangements that hand over to American new-wave one of its masterpieces. Byrne sings about adolescent stories and urban neuroses, in a jerky and nervous singing style, an additional instrument to the songs, much like Devo. Clear examples of this concept are the superb "No Compassion", which breaks off and changes rhythm in the verse to return to the starting point, the historical "Psycho Killer", a track many would like to dance to in nightclubs, based on a very simple bass line (A-E-G-A), and "Don't Worry About the Government" in which a mandolin even emerges in the riff.

The work on world music is still underground in this album, but the style is already unmistakable. A few hinted notes create the structure, and the rest is harmony. A punch in the stomach to hard-rock and even to punk. How to revolutionize rock? Listen to the Talking Heads.