Country: U.S.A.
Label Number: WPCP-4098
© 1981-1991 Sire Records
AllMusic Review by Christian Huey
While the myth has been widely propagated that
David Byrne was the sole creative presence of any consequence among his
Talking Heads cohorts,
The Red and the Black makes perhaps the strongest case against such a claim.
Jerry Harrison, no musical novice by any stretch (check out his work with the early
Modern Lovers),
proves his formidable talent as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter
for the first time in this close-up. There's little doubt that
Harrison's debut is informed most directly by the last few
Talking Heads albums, particularly the genre-defining
Remain in Light. The polyrhythmic exercises, spoken word interludes, and Enoesque knob twiddling are standard parts of
Harrison's
palette. He's also free to indulge in some impressive keyboard
pyrotechnics, much of which hints at the arena funk of Stop Making
Sense. Denser, more abrasive, and yet more musical than
Remain in Light,
The Red and the Black mines the same musical terrain, but it does so with more urgency and focus. While
David Byrne sounded like a man suffocating under the weight of the modern world,
Harrison
takes a more sober, straightforward approach. He's able to discriminate
the desirable parts from the undesirable, and to celebrate the whole.
While Byrne's persona was strictly that of an observer,
Harrison
isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. His baritone warble may lose pitch
or escape as a helpless bark on occasion, but there's warmth and
humanity to his timbre, a yearning to connect rather than to distance.
This is reflected most immediately in
Harrison's
no-nonsense pep talks that pop up in the middle of a few songs, just
when the intensifying rhythms and synth lines become almost too
cacophonous to bear. "Have you ever been in a traffic jam?," he inquires
in "Slink." "Have you ever needed a gram? I have, but I got over it."
When
Harrison
shifts the focus from third person to second, the effect is jarring and
surprisingly effective. On "Magic Hymie" he grows more impatient with
us: "There's a way out of that corner you painted yourself into...you
gotta decide you wanna do it, and then you're just gonna do it."
Throughout much of the album,
Harrison
continues to lay heavy condemnation upon modern attitudes of
helplessness and irresponsibility. Modern, particularly urban, life has
its pitfalls, he seems to say, but we're all equipped to deal with them
if we accept some accountability. Besides the relentless attack of
fired-up synthesizers and frenzied rhythms,
Harrison incorporates a cast of soulful female background vocalists, many of whom would end up on the next
Talking Heads record and following tour. Not surprisingly given
Harrison's brainy and self-conscious approach, the singers add little soul, but serve rather as a Greek chorus, repeating
Harrison's
lyrical motifs and bringing substantial drama to his already tense and
paranoid compositions. Elsewhere, on "Worlds in Collision," he throws in
samples of barking hounds and Hitlerian rally cries to punctuate the
monotone din of the rest of the song.
The Red and the Black more than holds its own against the rest of
Talking Heads'
oeuvre, and shows where the band could have gone, had they not opted
for a more minimalistic approach later in their career. As a solo
project,
Harrison's debut is phenomenal. The album's complex and funky musical style has aged impressively, as have
Harrison's observations on the modern condition.
tags: jerry harrison, the red and black, 1981, flac,
