David Byrne — Grown Backwards

If anyone had told us that the guy that wrote, sang and nerded out onstage to tunes like "Psycho Killer" and "Once In A Lifetime" would end up recording operatic arias (with Rufus Wainwright no less!), we would have laughed heavily and then returned to our bleak world-view. That is, however, just what David Byrne has done with this latest chapter in his long-running musical journey, Grown Backwards. Other stops along the way include the anti-anthem "Empire" (with El Topo horn lines from the Carla Bley Band), the very Beatlesque "The Other Side Of This Life" and the funny summing up of a varied life, "Glad." After all these years, he finally seems comfortable in his skin.

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