Not to denigrate Talking Heads' well-deserved popularity, but as Remain in Light goes zooming up the record charts one is forced to ask: Just what are its purchasers going to do with it? Will it be taken as dance music with a college education, the spearhead (probably no pun intended) of an Africa-chic movement? Or will the consumer, stumbling over the enclosed lyric sheet, be caught up in David Byrne's metaphysical challenges?…

Rhythmic complexity, both vocal and instrumental, suffuses the songs…. Byrne doesn't write throwaway lyrics, though, and the tension between a funky groove and agonizing words is part of the Heads' unique formula….

Not all of Remain in Light adheres to the new musical rulebook. "Seen and Not Seen" is less a song than a Borges-like tale read matter-of-factly by Byrne over a syncopated beat….

While Remain in Light can be appreciated as sheer sound …, its most...