Remain in Light: Difference between revisions

no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 55: Line 55:
==Background==
==Background==


=== Brian Eno's Involvement as Producer ===
=== Choosing a Producer ===
[[Brian Eno]] had previously worked with Talking Heads to producer their previous two album, ''[[More Songs About Buildings And Food]]'' and ''[[Fear of Music]].'' However, Eno was initially uninterested in continuing to work with the band. In an interview from 2024, Harrison has stated that "''[Eno] was not going to do the record. In fact, Rhett Davies was going to be the producer. Rhett Davies was the engineer that Brian brought in on More Songs About Buildings and Food, and he had gone on to produce Dire Straits and various other acts. So he was a producer/engineer."''<ref>Pehling, Dave. “CBS SF Talks to Talking Heads Member Jerry Harrison about Remain in Light.” Cbsnews.com, CBS San Francisco, 14 Aug. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/interview-talking-heads-jerry-harrison-adrian-belew-remain-in-light/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.</ref>
[[Brian Eno]] had previously worked with Talking Heads to producer their previous two album, ''[[More Songs About Buildings And Food]]'' and ''[[Fear of Music]].'' However, Eno was initially uninterested in continuing to work with the band. In an interview from 2024, Harrison has stated that "''[Eno] was not going to do the record. In fact, [[Rhett Davies]] was going to be the producer. Rhett Davies was the engineer that Brian brought in on More Songs About Buildings and Food, and he had gone on to produce Dire Straits and various other acts. So he was a producer/engineer."''<ref name=":2">Pehling, Dave. “CBS SF Talks to Talking Heads Member Jerry Harrison about Remain in Light.” Cbsnews.com, CBS San Francisco, 14 Aug. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/interview-talking-heads-jerry-harrison-adrian-belew-remain-in-light/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.</ref>


=== African Influence ===
=== African Influence ===
''Remain in Light'' was heavily influenced by African dance music, most notably the [[High Life]] and [[Afrobeat]] music of [[Fela Kuti]]. Some articles following the release of the album, and continuing to today, often credit [[Brian Eno]] with alerting the group of this genre of music. In multiple interviews since then, all four core band members have discussed being interested in African music long before the recording of the album. In a 2024 interview, Harrison stated "''We were all in love with Fela Kuti. But I don’t know if Brian is the one who introduced us to it. Everyone in the band loved African music, like [[Manu Dibango]] and [[King Sunny Adé]]. I’d say if there was one single African artist I fell in love with it would be Fela.''"<ref name=":0">Malkin, John. “Love of Music | Good Times.” ''Good Times'', 14 Aug. 2024, www.goodtimes.sc/interview-harrison-belew-remain-in-light-tour/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.</ref>
''Remain in Light'' was heavily influenced by African dance music, most notably the [[High Life]] and [[Afrobeat]] music of [[Fela Kuti]]. Some articles following the release of the album, and continuing to today, often credit [[Brian Eno]] with alerting the group of this genre of music. In multiple interviews since then, all four core band members have discussed being interested in African music long before the recording of the album. In a 2024 interview, Harrison stated "''We were all in love with Fela Kuti. But I don’t know if Brian is the one who introduced us to it. Everyone in the band loved African music, like [[Manu Dibango]] and [[King Sunny Adé]]. I’d say if there was one single African artist I fell in love with it would be Fela.''"<ref name=":0">Malkin, John. “Love of Music | Good Times.” ''Good Times'', 14 Aug. 2024, www.goodtimes.sc/interview-harrison-belew-remain-in-light-tour/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.</ref>


This African influence had begun on the band's previous album ''[[Fear of Music]],'' most notably on the track "[[I Zimbra]]." Harrison has stated that "we all realized we were really excited about that track and that we wanted to do more of that."<ref name=":0" />
This African influence had begun on the band's previous album ''[[Fear of Music]],'' most notably on the track "[[I Zimbra]]." Harrison has stated that "''we all realized we were really excited about that track and that we wanted to do more of that.''"<ref name=":0" />
 
=== Disco Influence ===
While at times, Talking Heads was caught up in the friction between rock and disco in the 70's. the band was always influenced by disco music, and this can be seen on ''Remain in Light''. Harrison has state that "''In disco music, the kick drum is at least as loud as the snare drum for the whole song. So we worked with engineers that sort of embraced that."''<ref name=":2" />


==Recording==
==Recording==
Similar to ''Fear of Music,'' Talking Heads entered studio recording sessions with incomplete song ideas that originated from jam sessions. These would evolve into the full fledge songs for the record, involving complex and heavy layering of many different studio recorded tracks.<ref name=":1" />
Similar to ''Fear of Music,'' Talking Heads entered studio recording sessions with incomplete song ideas that originated from jam sessions. These would evolve into the full fledge songs for the record, involving complex and heavy layering of many different studio recorded tracks.<ref name=":1" />
=== Eno Becomes Involved ===
At some point during the recording sessions, Eno went to [[Compass Point Studios]]. According to Harrison, this led to [[Rhett Davies]] leaving the project and as Eno began to work as both the studio engineer and producer, "''everything kind of basically ground to a halt.''" Eventually [[Dave Jerdan]] would be chosen as engineer, and "''we started to really move.''"<ref name=":2" />
Eno had a "previous commitment" that lead to a break following the recording sessions in the Bahamas. Byrne, Eno and Harrison, would reconvene in New York to finish production work on the album. While Frantz and Weymouth were involved in this step, they were less involved in New York than they were at Compass Point.<ref name=":2" />


==Release and Promotion==
==Release and Promotion==
347

edits