81959-1 Mr. Music Head
Produced by Adrian Belew
Released on May 2, 1989
US CHART POSITION #114
Find it at GEMM
81959-1 cover  

M r. Music Head may contain only one great song but, oh mama, what a song it is. If it’s downhill after “Oh Daddy,” Adrian Belew’s fans will still want to grab their toboggans for this one. Returning to the idiosyncratic sonic jungles of Rhino, Belew ties his fortunes to avant garde pop music for one more sail and slips back into our hearts again. Now splitting time equally between guitar, piano and percussion (as well as vocals), our pajama-clad polyinstrumentalist could be seen as prog rock’s version of Paul McCartney. Certainly the songs on Mr. Music Head hold up against a McCartney II, and the piecemeal “1967” is pure Paul. In between the endearing “Oh Daddy” and the leftover stew of “1967” are songs that tap into a well of whimsy (“One of Those Days,” “Coconuts”) and take us on jungle safari (“Hot Zoo,” “Peaceable Kingdom”). Mr. Music Head isn’t a departure from the formula first established on Rhino and repeated on Twang, though its stories are often written in ivory (i.e., composed on the piano). If you’re going to build a collection of Belew solo albums (a good idea for fans of smart pop like XTC and ELO), Lone Rhino, Inner Revolution and Mr. Music Head are the three to own first, probably in that order. However, Mr. Music Head took the longest to appreciate, since it’s easy to view the songs as restless and unfinished the first time around. And side two does suffer from some filler. But when you sit back and listen to the melodies, ferret out all the nuances in the arrangements, and realize that it all comes from one person, you appreciate that Belew is a DIY pop artist with few peers. Note that the CD adds a bonus track, “Cruelty To Animals.”

81959-1 back cover
81959-1 back cover

TRACK LISTING

  1. OH DADDY    3:05
  2. HOUSE OF CARDS    3:44
  3. ONE OF THOSE DAYS    3:21
  4. COCONUTS    (Adrian Belew/Stan Hertzman)    3:29
  5. BAD DAYS    3:06
  6. PEACEABLE KINGDOM    3:36
  7. HOT ZOO    4:24
  8. MOTOR BUNGALOW    3:36
  9. BUMPITY BUMP    3:46
  10. BIRD IN A BOX    3:16
  11. 1967    5:23
  12. (*CD bonus track:) CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

    All songs written by Adrian Belew unless noted

CREDITS

ADRIAN BELEW -- instruments and vocals, cover design
Mike Barnett -- string bass (2,11)
Audie Belew -- female vocal (1)
Rich Denhart -- engineer
Sandy Ostroff -- front photography/paint box effects
Stan Hertzman -- back photography
Margaret Belew -- hand coloration

REGION RELEASE DATE LABEL MEDIA ID NUMBER FEATURES
US May 2, 1989 Atlantic LP/CD*/CS 81959  
GER 1989 Atlantic LP 78 19591  

 

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