Title: Horror and Beauty
Product review: On David Byrne's eighth solo recording Look Into the Eyeball, he sounds like Little Creatures era Talking Heads with a string quartet and, no surprise, world music rhythms. "U.B. Jesus", "Like Humans Do", "The Moment of Conception" and, especially, "Desconocido Soy" are joyful compositions featuring Byrne's awestruck naivete and goofy choke of a voice. The quiet moments, however, leave the most impression here. When he's riding a rhythm, Byrne is in the long line of rock and roll freaks; when he's deceptively calm, he's a creepy original - a cross between his "Psycho Killer" persona and Barry White. Love songs like "Smile" and "Walk On Water" are fraught with vicious undercurrents. "The Accident", a gripping death of love metaphor that's the flipside to "Once in a Lifetime", is all roiling undertow. "When you see an accident," Byrne cautions, "do not turn your head and look away." You're sure to find horror, he's suggesting, and even an incongruous beauty.
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