Remain in Light
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Template:Album infobox Remain in Light is an album by Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980 (see 1980 in music). Featuring funky African rhythms, the album became an influential post punk, world music and New Wave recording. Remain in Light uniquely blended African-American, continental African and white American musical forms; Rolling Stone magazine's Ken Tucker noted at the time that there had rarely been "a larger gap between what black and white audiences were listening to." Living Colour's Vernon Reid describes its African polyrhythms: "Instead of alienation turning into dark angst it turns into celebration, the dance."
The music was produced on a multitrack tape machine with variable tape speed. The varispeed feature was indeed used by producer Brian Eno and the players. When David Byrne recorded the vocals to the already recorded rhythm tracks, he sped up the machine considerably. This speed-up was maintained when the mix was transferred to vinyl, and is the source of the nervous feeling. If one plays back the LP at a speed lowered by approximately 20%, the music becomes more expressive and danceable, and the lyrics become understandable, but the sound of the vocals and some instruments become slightly unnatural.
The single "Once in a Lifetime" sold poorly upon its original release but a quirky music video and its presence on the soundtrack to Down and Out in Beverly Hills helped make it a charting single and minor hit in 1986 (see 1986 in music).
The album cover and liner notes were created by the notable graphic designer, Tibor Kalman.
The album was covered in its entirety by Phish during their Halloween show on October 31, 1996.
In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Remain in Light the 88th greatest album of all time. Template:RS500 It was voted the second best album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media
In January 2006 a remastered edition was released as a two disc set made up of a CD and DVD-A version of the album. The DVD-A includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 version and videos of the band performing "Crosseyed and Painless" and "Once in a Lifetime" on German television.
Contents |
Track listing
All songs written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Talking Heads, except where noted.
- "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" (Byrne/Eno) – 5:46
- "Crosseyed and Painless" (Byrne/Eno) – 4:45
- "The Great Curve" – 6:26
- "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:19
- "Houses in Motion" – 4:30
- "Seen and Not Seen" – 3:20
- "Listening Wind" – 4:42
- "The Overload" – 6:00
Personnel
Talking Heads
- David Byrne – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion
- Jerry Harrison – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
- Chris Frantz – keyboards, drums, percussion , backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Brian Eno – bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals, mixing
- Adrian Belew – guitar
- Jose Rossy – percussion
- Robert Palmer – percussion
- Nona Hendryx – backing vocals
- Jon Hassell – trumpets & horn arrangements on "Houses in Motion"
Recording personnel
- Dave Jerden – engineer, mixing
- John Potoker – assistant engineer, mixing
- Rhett Davis, Jack Nuber, Steven Stanley – assistant engineers
- Greg Calbi – mastering
Chart positions
Chart:Pop Albums
Year - - Title - - Rank
1980 - - Remain in Light - - No. 19
Billboard Music Charts - Singles:
Chart:Club Play Singles
Year - - Title - - Rank
1980 - - "Crosseyed and Painless"/"Born Under Punches"/"Once in a Lifetime" - - No. 20
Chart:The Billboard Hot 100
Year - - Title - - Rank
1986 - - "Once in a Lifetime" - - No. 91
Trivia
The upside down 'A's on the cover of the album inspired Nine Inch Nails reversed 'N' logo.