Mr Music Head

Adrian Belew

1989: Atlantic 81959-2

1. Oh Daddy
2. House of Cards
3. One of Those Days
4. Coconuts
5. Bad Days
6. Peaceable Kingdom
7. Hot Zoo
8. Motor Bungalow
9. Bumpity Bump
10. Bird in a Box
11. 1967
     
    
12. Cruelty to Animals

I was curious about Belew after enjoying him in Laurie Anderson’s concert film of Home of the Brave, so when “Oh Daddy” got some radio and MTV play I found my way to this album. And when he’s not being so clever that he can hardly make himself understood he’s got some great music going. The lyrics are a little too self-consciously witty for my tastes, being more for ironic suggestion than for communicating anything specific, but “House of Cards,” “Hot Zoo,” and “Motor Bungalow” are always good for taking me back to those days. He’s a very talented musician, and this album is (musically) a treat.

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Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.