Conspiracy theories revolving around Tupac Shakur's death, as well as allegations that he's not really dead, will undoubtedly receive a boost with the posthumous release of "Makaveli," Shakur's fifth solo release. At the very beginning of "Makaveli" Tupac attacks various East Coast rappers, including Nas, Biggie and Mobb Deep; he implicates them in joining "together in conspiracy to assassinate the character of not only Mr. Shakur, but of Death Row Records as well."
But the idea that this LP most supports is that 2PAC sensed his approaching demise. "Makaveli" strikes me as an insane final mission by Shakur to take all of his contrastingly, hypocritically human feelings and lay them out in the open. Perhaps that explains why Shakur seemed to be desperately trying to cram into each of the LP's 12 songs as many diverse views as one human mind can hold.
Take "White Man'z World," in which he begins by praising black women for their positive contributions to a world where both their race and gender works to their detriment. He then goes into the death of a homie by two bullets in his poor ghetto world, before going back to his discussion of women and apologizing to his mother and sistas for the suffering he caused them. Lastly he speaks (not raps) to the fellas: "(Blacks have) been here all this time; (whites) ain't took us out. They can never take us out. ... It ain't them that's killin' us; it's us that's killin' us."
However, no song can touch "Hail Mary," whose ominous-sounding beats are complimented by its dark refrain: "Come with me. Hail Mary, nigga run quick, see? What do we have here now? Do you wanna ride or die?" As he's done on many songs before, Tupac contrasts his desire for salvation from the darkness of his life with his calm willingness to remain immersed in the bowels of darkness from which he was born. He'll "bow down, prayin' the Lord is listening," while "seein' niggas comin' for me through my diamonds when they glistenin'." And he begs, "Catch me Father please, 'cause I'm fallin'." Yet regardless of the realization of the direction his life is going, "in the liquor store, pass the Hennessy. I hear it callin'."
Much in the tradition of "Me Against the World," "Makaveli" offers 2PAC his final chance for release, much like a musical purgatory. Running through this album lies all the possible feelings a human being can have. Love, lust, hate, sadness, fear, joy, concern, indifference - they all sit side by side on "Makaveli," contradictory, yet simultaneously fitting together well.
Many would take these continuously contrasting ideas to be a sign of 2PAC's hypocrisy. But I see it more as a realization of Shakur's humanity. A human-ness which, no different from our own, was being forever twisted by inconsistent opinions, controverted ideas and an oftentimes demented world around us.
- Eugene Bowen
The best way to define "No Talking, Just Head" is by stating what it isn't. "No Talking, Just Head" isn't a Talking Heads album, though The Heads is made up of all the members of Talking Heads - minus David Byrne. And it's not a compilation or a benefit album, though it does feature vocalists ranging from Michael Hutchence of INXS to Live's Ed Kowalczyk.
What "No Talking, Just Head" is, is an album with amazing variety that still maintains a constant thread throughout, making the songs fit together beautifully despite the assortment of vocalists.
Before combining once again to form The Heads, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth, once the most outstanding rhythm section of any '80s band, each pursued separate careers in the field of producing. Harrison had worked with Live, Crash Test Dummies and The Violent Femmes (two of whose vocalists appear on "No Talking, Just Head"), while Weymouth and Frantz worked with Ziggy Marley and Happy Mondays, as well as their own Tom Tom Club and others. When they hooked up with Blast, a talented guitarist, The Heads were formed.
Unfortunately, as they began to put together the tracks for the album, they realized that they had no vocalist to sing them, nor any lyrics for a vocalist to sing. At this point, it paid to have connections and they sent out samplers to artists that they knew and respected. These new recruits - including Debbie Harry, Andy Partridge (of XTC), Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde), Shaun Ryder (Black Grape) and Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) - soon put lyrics to the tracks, and "No Talking, Just Head" began to come together brilliantly.
The album that was produced as a result of this rather nontraditional method is truly unique. Perhaps its most attractive part is the stereotypes that are broken down by the vocalists themselves. Debbie Harry simply wails on "No Talking, Just Head," a vaguely industrial tune which completely puts a wrench in her earlier Blondie image. "No Big Bang" features Maria McKee, who contributes a positively danceable track. And Malin Anneteg, a New York spoken-word performer, manages to combine poetry and music without the rhythm even once seeming overpowering.
But the best tracks on "No Talking, Just Head" are the boys who outdo even Byrne himself. Kowalczyk contributes "Indie Hair," a ditty that positively screams Talking Heads, wry lyrics and all. Richard Hell, another CBGB veteran, offers up "Never Mind," a funk exploration that contains words of wisdom along the lines of "Don't get me wrong: I like you and your dress, but we're both better off without all that stress." And though I might be wrong, Shaun Ryder sounds just like Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs when he screams "Sleazy lady!" on "Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness."
Overall, "No Talking, Just Head" offers listeners a little bit of everything when it comes to vocalists, while consistently providing rhythms that will knock your socks off. The last hurdle for The Heads to overcome will be touring, though they have decided to make Johnette Napolitano lead vocalist with special guest appearances from the album's cast at selected dates. While this is definitely an unorthodox approach to making music, when it works as well as "No Talking, Just Head", why change it?
- Lise Harwin
They're young. They're Welsh. They consume fields and fields of hallucinogenic mushrooms, and they make some of the best and weirdest music around. They're Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and their stateside debut is this sampler of the group's finest moments from their albums and singles.
Unlike many bands who draw heavily from psychedelic and progressive rock influences, Gorky's manage not to sound like they're stuck in 1968, mainly because of their youth and exuberance, but also because of the interesting directions their songs take as they unfold.
"Merched Ynneud Gwallt Eu Gilydd (Girls Doing Each Other's Hair)," for example, swirls a Beatles-eque chorus together with a Flaming Lips-style sonic bombast in just under three minutes. "Why Are We Sleeping?" mixes bouncy Moog synthesizer lines, lilting verses and a stomping hard-rock chorus and then sweeps out with various swooshing and twittering noises. All this sonic tomfoolery sounds completely natural because the Gorkys' sense of melody and song structure, however fractured, nevertheless hangs together pleasingly.
Like many of the best British bands today, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci blends old and new to create something entirely different. It's not easy to mix influences as cool as Stereolab and the Kinks and as geeky as Electric Light Orchestra and George Harrison sitar solos, but somehow the band manages to do it and thrive. One of the most exciting things to happen to psychedelic music since "Magical Mystery Tour," Gorky's Zygotic Mynci is new, old, weird, Welsh and wonderful. Let them bend your mind.
- Heather Phares
This is the Heads, minus the Talking.
The late Tupac Shakur lives on in the record world.