Little Creatures
Little Creatures | ||||
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Studio album by Talking Heads | ||||
Released | June 10, 1985 | |||
Recorded |
October 1984 – March 1985, recorded and mixed at Sigma Sound Studios in Manhattan | |||
Genre | Pop[1] | |||
Length | 38:38 | |||
Label |
Warner Bros./Sire (US/Canada) EMI (UK/Europe) | |||
Producer | Talking Heads | |||
Talking Heads chronology | ||||
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Singles from Little Creatures | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Chicago Tribune | [3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
Hot Press | 11/12[5] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
The Village Voice | A[7] |
Little Creatures is the sixth studio album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released in June 1985. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many of the songs featuring steel guitar. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll and is the band's biggest-selling studio album, with over two million copies sold in the US.
The cover art was created by outsider artist Howard Finster, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone magazine.
In 2005, it was remastered and re-released by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (early versions of "Road To Nowhere" and "And She Was" and an extended mix of "Television Man"). The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere." 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.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by David Byrne, except where noted.
- "And She Was" – 3:36
- "Give Me Back My Name" (music: Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth) – 3:20
- "Creatures of Love" – 4:12
- "The Lady Don't Mind" (music: Byrne, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 4:03
- "Perfect World" (lyrics: Byrne, Frantz) – 4:26
- "Stay Up Late" – 3:51
- "Walk It Down" – 4:42
- "Television Man" – 6:10
- "Road to Nowhere" – 4:19
- Bonus tracks
- "Road to Nowhere" (Early version) [Re-release bonus track] – 4:37
- "And She Was" (Early version) [Re-release bonus track] – 3:36
- "Television Man" (Extended mix) [Re-release bonus track] – 7:52
Personnel
Talking Heads
- David Byrne – guitar, vocals
- Chris Frantz – drums
- Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Ellen Bernfeld – backing vocals on "Perfect World" and "Walk It Down"
- Andrew Cader – washboard on "Road to Nowhere"
- Erin Dickens – backing vocals on "Television Man" and "Road to Nowhere"
- Diva Gray – backing vocals on "Road to Nowhere"
- Gordon Grody – backing vocals
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Jimmy Macdonell – accordion on "Road to Nowhere"
- Lenny Pickett – saxophones
- Steve Scales – percussion
- Naná Vasconcelos – percussion on "Perfect World"
- Eric Weissberg – steel guitar on "Creatures of Love" and "Walk It Down"
- Kurt Yahijian – backing vocals
Recording personnel
- Jack Skinner – mastering
- Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing
- Melanie West – second engineer
Chart performance
- Album
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1985 | Billboard 200 | 20 |
UK Albums | 10 | |
German Albums | 9 | |
Australian Albums | 2 |
- Singles
Year | Song | Peak | |
---|---|---|---|
US | UK | ||
1985 | "The Lady Don't Mind" | — | 81 |
"Road To Nowhere" | 105 | 6 | |
"And She Was" | 54 | 17 |
References
- ↑ AllMusic
- ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Little Creatures – Talking Heads". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
- ↑ Kot, Greg (May 6, 1990). "Talking Heads On The Record". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
- ↑ Stokes, Dermot (July 5, 1985). "Little Creatures". Hot Press. Retrieved February 4, 2016. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert (July 30, 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 4, 2016.