Track Listing

1. Independence Day
2. Make Believe Mambo
3. Call Of The Wild
4. Dirty Old Town
5. Rose Tattoo
6. Dream Police
7. Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World
8. Marching Through The Wilderness
9. Lie To Me
10. Women Vs Men
11. Carnival Eyes
12. I Know Sometimes A Man Is A Wrong
13. Loco De Amor
14. Good And Evil
15. Office Cowboy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34270 in Music
• Released on: 1989-10-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Three years after Paul Simon's Graceland, the most identifiable member (by far) of the Talking Heads ventured way beyond his band's terrain with his solo debut. With Rei Momo, David Byrne inaugurated his plunge into Latin American music, doing so with a variety of styles, from son to salsa to meringue to samba, each lit with horn charts and piles of rhythm. The album, like Graceland, inspired some critiques (many of them vehement) of Byrne's cherry-picking of styles, which smacked a bit of postmodern exotica. The album certainly genre hops, mixing national styles with lyrics that gnash about Latin American political and human rights concerns. But it also helps contextualise the late-1990s fascination with native Cuban popular music, as well as the rise of Latin pop, which shares Byrne's border-agnostic mesh of all available styles. More than anything though, Rei Momo stands as one of Byrne's most inspired outings, perhaps even as an early pinnacle of his now-lengthy solo career. --Andrew Bartlett

CD Description
David Byrne's first release after the breakup of the Talking Heads is not only a logical progression from their final album, NAKED, it's his first truly pop-oriented solo work. (THE CATHERINE WHEEL was a dance score, and MUSIC FROM THE KNEE PLAYS a collaboration with avant-garde composer Robert Wilson based on New Orleans second-line music.)
Built on his recent fondness for Latin and Afro-Cuban musical styles (Byrne founded the Brazilophilic Luaka Bop label around this time as well), REI MOMO is half music lesson--the liner notesexplain which songs are sambas, cumbias, etc.--and half late-period Talking Heads album. The combination works surprisingly well, with the highlight being the witty "Make Believe Mambo", co-starring Kirsty MacColl, who would later make herown album of Latinate pop, 2000's TROPICAL BRAINSTORM. Thistrack and others sound so much like tunes from NAKED that clearly Byrne simply didn't need the Heads anymore.

Customer Reviews

Rei Momo by David Byrne
Former Talking Heads Frontman David Byrne takes the experimentation of music from around the world started in his album 'Uh-Oh' into the realm of Latin and South American/Mexican Music. Byrne's unique songwriting is put to a large number of Latin styles including Salsa, Merengue, Samba, and Cha Cha Cha among others, to create a smooth sounding mixing of Western and South American Music. Byrne's unique story telling lyrics are in evidence throughout, 'Dont Want to be Part of Your World' tells the story of children rebelling against their parents, and 'Carnival Girl' tells of an attraction to a beautiful girl by a man with little chance of getting her, but with hope as emphaasised by the lyrics 'I've seen grasses grow through rocks and stones'. The experimentation extends to the lyrics with many songs combining English with Spanish and/or Portugese and switching between them. Fans of more traditional latin music will appreciate this alot more than the fans of the latin/pop sound of Lou Bega and Ricky Martin (among others), although some may enjoy this. This album is also a good starting point for people to get into latin music, or as an alternative for people who want a latin side to their music but dont like messrs Martin, Bega and company. A very good album Indeed

ELEGANT AND ENJOYABLE
From the quirky and experimental music of Talking Heads to the joyful rhythms of Latin America, in a graceful leap. This is quite an accessible and versatile album (unlike some of Talking Heads' stuff) with elegant melodies and witty lyrics, easy to digest and enjoy. My favourites include Make Believe Mambo, Independence Day and The Rose Tattoo. If an album is judged by the quality of the songs, this one is way up there. I'm not sure, though, whether it will appeal to all Talking Heads fans. Better listen first, before you buy. But I love it.

Inspired slice of musical craft
I love David Byrne. Never before has there been a musician with as much innovation or vision. Rei Momo is a truly wonderful album-possibly the most polished example of Byrne's solo work. On the surface an upbeat samba-inspired work but, as usual, there's a lot more to the former Talking Heads frontman's songs than meet the eye. Political messages and sociological acumen are cleverly woven into a fresh, alternative sound that borrows from other styles but has a flavour all of its own. Never one for the conventional, David Byrne is clearly different yet manages to avoid the pretentiousness that so many artists are resplendent of. Outstanding tracks are Make Believe Mambo, The Call of the Wild, Lie To Me and Marching Through the Wilderness- enough to suggest there's plenty of fuel in the Byrne tank yet.