My thanks to both NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy of this biography and history of a band that merged, art, design, lyrics and diverse musical influences to create a band whose influence is still being name checked today.

I went to school with a kid who I won't name, for I am sure that he must be on the Top Ten Most Wanted lists of at least a few countries, as he was very much like his father. The father in question had everything, before anyone else. Supermax players, betamax VHS, laserdisc players from Japan, components for stereos one only saw in movies. TVs literally as in plural tvs that projected, filled walls and seemed out of Star Trek. Also, he had movies that weren't even written about in magazine yet. Not all of them, but enough. And it was here that I saw a movie that looking back had much more of an influence on me than I thought. This was a concert movie, from a band I think I might have heard of called The Talking Heads. The movie was Stop Making Sense, and it blew my mind. This was probably my first understanding that music and art could make something magical. Most of my music was AM radio, Columbia Record and Tape bought. Now in thinking about it, this could some synapses to fire in my brain, making me a different person at the end. I have met a lot of fans of the band, but most of what we know is rumor, misinformation, or down right lies. They were there, they broke up, and never really got back. After reading this all encompassing book, I understand a lot more. Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock by music historian and writer Jonathan Gould is a look at the band, the history and what was happening around them that formed and guide these four people into making magic together, and why it all went away.

The book begins with a look at New York City, a wretched hive and scum and villainy that it was in the 1970's. The city was teetering on the brink of collapse, but offered an enviroment for those who dared to create something new. Maybe it was there own lives, maybe it was art, maybe it was both. New ways of looking at music, were catching on, maybe you couldn't play an instrument, but if one looked cool doing it, one could have a following. Into this stepped a three piece at the time, a band that spent as much time working on how they looked and acted on stage, as how to play it. The band was Martina Michèle Weymouth, better known as Tina, Chris Frantz, and David Byrne, later joined by Jerry Harrison. The book than looks back at the members, discussing their births, influences, and how they came together. Art school was the cauldron that brought them together, something that would be reflected in their work and music that was yet to come. CBGB's was their start, and slowly with a few hiccups, and the addition of the last member the band began to grow. They came at a time when punk was big, but video killed the radio star, something a band that prized their visuals so much were able to overcome and thrive in the MTV medium. However as with a lot of bands, tensions, credits, and attitudes soon overwhelmed the music, and the band broke apart into solo careers for them all.

Gould looks not only at the band, but the scene, with a major character being the city of New York. Gould looks at a lot of other things also, the changes in the industry, video rise of radio, movie deals, health issues and much more. One gets a very good sense of everything that was going on with this band, one that has eluded quite a lot of other writers. This is a warts and all tale, with most of these rock heroes acting human, claiming credit were undeserved, and where there are a few contrary stories, Gould tries to get to the truth. If he can't, well he prints the legends that people have said over the years. Gould is a very good writer and covers the band, the the many other side characters, well. This is a complete book, but moves fast. I learned a lot about various subjects that seemed odd to mention, but really fit the narrative, and made the band members seem real. A rare music book that really gets to the heart of the music and the players, without being a hagiography.

Fans of the band will learn quite a bit, as well as people interested in music during the 70's and 80's. This is a very well done study, about a band that even today not many people know a lot about, though they can remember the songs. I can' wait to read what Jonathan Gould has planned next.

Burning Down the House by Jonathan Gould is my kind of book. I love reading about music and bands and scenes and recording sessions and tours and all the complexities and histories mingling therein. That, that is my zone. And Gould does not disappoint.

Being a music geek and having an immersive approach, I've devoured every musical tidbit I can, learning this or that, filing it all away in the cabinets in my brain. As much as I've learned and discovered about the Talking Heads, though? Yeah, I was only scratching the surface. I thought I knew all there was to know.

I so didn't.

This book filled in the gaps and then some.

Bursting with history and stories and accountings, supported by ample, connective information relevant to the changing/moving times and cultures, along with the band's progression, Burning Down the House is a comprehensive look at one of the best, most influential, truly original rock bands in American music.

Burning Down the House by Jonathan Gould is a must read for any Talking Heads fan, as well as anyone interested in music history at the time this band's story unfolds.