Before the psychedelic Brian Eno collaborations, the movie soundtracks, and the excursions into world-music fusion, there was the debut album: a spare, trebly, and improbably funky set of songs about romantic ambivalence, books, decision-making, federal employment — and, of course, psycho killers. Interestingly, that hit single was the musical and thematic anomaly; at this point David Byrne’s lyrics were much more likely to focus on odd particularities of regular life than on murder, and the rhythm section was much more likely to lay down a tensile funk groove than anything like the grinding beat of “Psycho Killer.” Talking Heads made several great albums after this one, but probably not a better one.

– Rick Anderson