Better Band - "Queen" or "The Talking Heads" ?

I give a slight edge to Queen, just because I think Freddy Mercury is the most underrated lead singer of all time.

But damn, I love the Talking Heads.

You?

Talking Heads were a little too quirky for my taste.

Saw them live and they were excellent.

But I do love the heads. The bass player jammed and Freddie Mercury, what a voice


DDQM

:toast:

apples and oranges, yin/yang.

.

they were masters of their own domain. Although the Baseball Stadium power-rock has affected more people.

Big time favorites of mine for many years. Too many favorite songs to list.

better band in every way

Enough said.

I might put both of them in my top 100. In the REM Pretenders E-Street Band range. somewhere between 51-100.

It's not even a close comparison.
The Talking Heads had soooo much more talent...

Standard hair-band vs. thinking man's punk. I threw out my Queen albums years ago to make room for Bad Religion. They were only interesting until my testosterone buzz wore off.

I've seen the Talking Heads many times in small venues in and around Berkeley in the late 70s. They were an astonishingly tight and creative band.

I can't imagine Queen playing in anything smaller than a coliseum. They were great, but the Heads have my heart.

Tina Weymouth looked like this:

their stage show was fantastic, and the energy never stopped.

without a doubt. Inventive, creative, fun. Love 'em.

Remain in Light one of the best albums ever.

Innovative. Intelligent.

no doubt!

Talking Heads wins this, hands down. This band started as a sort of quirky, thinking man's variation of punk melded with new wave, from what is referred to as "The Class of '77". Their peers at that time included the Ramones, and Blondie. Their early work relied on stark minimilism, and the lyrics were non-sequiters which rather than evoking a particular meaning through narrative, worked as a sort of mood poem.

In 1980, this band released the album "Remain in Light", which I think remains one of the most amazing albums produced by any band to this day. They shed their stark 4 piece sound, and came up with this amazing, layered, complexity of sound and lyric that was exhilerating to hear. They did World Music years before it was "the thing to do," incorporating African tribal beats, vocal stylings and percussion into the music. Such musicians as Sting and Peter Gabriel would later latch onto the ideas Talking Heads originated. They were extremely influential.

Johnathan Demme directed Talking Heads in a movie of their 1983 tour, entitled "Stop Making Sense", a film which broke all the rules of concert films. Rather than cutting to shots of audience reaction, the band was the star. The progression of the concert very much followed the thematic structure of a movie, and indeed the evolution of the band. The movie started off minimally with David Byrne on a blank stage with an acoustic guitar and a boom box. With each song, another member of the band joined the stage, the music became a bit more layered, and the stage was assembled even more. Five songs into the show, we have an ensemble of some 10 people, and the music is this woven complexity of world beats that made you want to move. It is only until the very end of the film that the camera finally shows audience reaction, a sweating, almost prayer-revival feeling of energy on the people's faces. Just a terrific film, even if you aren't a fan.

My friends and I drove to Ontario to see the "Heatwave at Mosport" concert with Talking Heads, Devo, Pretenders, Elvis, The Rumour (Graham Parker), the B-52s and more.

Belew arrived with the band at the Holiday Inn, so my buddies and I went down to the lobby to talk to him. He was touring in Youngstown a few months before, so we recognized him. He gave us the scoop about "Remain In Light".

The Heads were hanging out at the other end of the lobby, but we were way too intimidated to go over and pester them.

So we shook hands and told him how good Adrian's show was. Adrian Belew had Big Hands.

Talking Heads were my favorite band of all time, but I think Elvis Costello's music from that era aged better.
Queen? Sorry, they come in second. Just another guitar rock band. Been there, done that. :boring:

I used to LOVE King Crimson.

Man was that a great album. I saw them on that tour. Goodness gracious were they great live!
The Professor

it was the red suit that gave him away.

The 'Heads. They were pioneers in their day, producing music that was different than anything else that was being made at the time. "Remain in Light" is still one of my favorite albums. (...Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...). This band, along with Peter Gabriel, changed my entire outlook on music.

Queen, although talented, stuck for the most part to a predictable, formulaic type of rock 'n roll. I did, and still do, enjoy their music to this day. But not as much as the T-Heads. Not even close.

Freddy was a good lead man.

But David Byrne is a freakin' genius.

I'm not even sure I'd dignify TH by calling them musicians.

Saw Queen once at the old Boston Garden. They were excellent, although I was a bit dissapointed
because the sound wasn't even close to their albums. IIRC, at the time, Quen was known as the band
that spent the most amount of time producing an album.

Saw Talking Heads once in a club and didn't care for them at all. David Byrnes on stage eplileptic
seizures style of dancing along with his singing gave the impression of someone suffering from
Touretts. Later on I was talked into seeing the concert movie they did. It was on of the few movies
I had to leave before it was over.




Ohhhh, did I forget to mention I can't stand the Talking Heads? :)

Based on who I like more, Queen by many miles.

In terms of talent, I'd give it to Queen as well.

In terms of influence, that one's tougher and I'm still not sure how to accurately gauge it, but I have no doubt both bands were very influential for many other bands.

not even close for me

But Talking Heads was by far the better band.

But who cares, as long as we listen to what we like?

From the heart of the CBGB era right like a sword thrust into the complacency of 80's rock. Good stuff.

Pop Quiz -

Can you tell us what CBGB stands for?

Just a quick test of the depth of your useless music trivia knowledge...:D

Now the really useless one.

What does OMFUG stand for?

Gabba Gabba.

Where does this come from? Can ya give me a little hint?

:think:

What?

Come on, tell me.

(My pool of useless knowledge is wide, but not very deep, so to speak.)

:shrug:

"And what is a gormandizer? It's a voracious eater of,
in this case, MUSIC." - from the CBGB's website

My pool of useless knowledge is absurdy huge. I can't remember my Sister's brithday but I know Felix Milian had the highest Batting Average on the 1973 Mets - .293.

Gabba Gabba Hey.

:toast:

too different to really compare. Both brilliant in their own way. Both original.

though I am little more likely to put on some old Heads with a bit more frequency than Queen. Think it has more to do with the memories I associate with the Talking HEads - college and just outa college - great times and great memories.

and you can't get much more different in popular music

These are 2 completely different styles of music. Anyone who would even think they're listening to the same type of music is obviously not a fan of either band. I love Queen but I really can't say much for Talking Heads because it was completely different from the types of music I listen to.

Sure, Freddie Mercury was showing, but that was pure rock music that up until "The Game" album was also done completely without synthesizers. Anything after "The Game" isn't even worth owning because Queen went totally downhill from there.

even though I find David Byrne's personality really annoying.

...gawd he was so sexy....!

.But muscially.it has to be the Talking Heads for me.

I really liked Killer Queen...sort of the last gasp of glam type of tune....but the Talking Heads was more my style musically....Talking Heads 77 was one of the albums that introduced me to 'New Wave' (altho it wasnt called that then).

I like Queen, but no comparison here. The Talking Heads are one of the greats.

no doubt. Queen.

I :loveya: them!!

Although, i was a big fan of Queen, too! This is a hard choice though, because these two bands are so drastically different.
The Professor

and I saw them in concert at Boston Garden in the late '70's. I think Freddy Mercury is highly overrated.