Mr. Music Head

Personnel: Adrian Belew (vocals, various instruments); Audie Belew (vocals); Mike Barnett (acoustic bass).
Personnel: Adrian Belew (vocals, piano); Audie Belew (vocals).
Recording information: Royal Recorders.
It's something of a shock to realize that man behind this collection of lush, summery, instantly likable pop songs is the same agent of chaos whose stratospheric guitar antics lent a wild edge to recordings by David Bowie, Talking Heads, and King Crimson in the late '70s and early '80s. But this is the same Adrian Belew. His penchant for African rhythms, his genius for sonic collage, and his elephantine six-string expressions are all here; they've just been woven seamlessly into the structures of superbly crafted, radio-friendly tunes.
The album's opener, "Oh Daddy," a question-and-answer session between Belew and his daughter on the possibilities of fame, runs on irresistible, singalong hooks and sets the standard for the popcraft to follow. Brightly psychedelic melodies, bearing the influences of XTC, The Beatles and LITTLE CREATURES-era Talking Heads, characterize cuts such as "House of Cards" and "One of These Days." Meanwhile, the world-beat surges of "Bumpity Bump" and "Peaceable Kingdom" (which appears here as verdant and dream-like as a Rousseau painting) show Belew still drawing on varied and darkly evocative sources. Impeccable musicianship (Belew plays almost everything here) and superior production crown this marriage of art and pop.