Rei Momo is the debut solo album by David Byrne and second overall studio album (after the 1981 collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), released on 3 October 1989. The album consists of diverse Latin music styles from Cuba (rumba, mozambique, mambo, chachachá, bolero), the Dominican Republic (merengue), Puerto Rico (bomba), Colombia (cumbia, mapeyé) and Brazil (samba, pagode).[1] The album is mostly sung in English and features guest appearances by Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, among others.
| Rei Momo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 October 1989 | |||
| Genre | Latin music, worldbeat | |||
| Length | 63:37 | |||
| Label | Luaka Bop, Sire | |||
| Producer | David Byrne, Steve Lillywhite | |||
| David Byrne chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Rei Momo | ||||
| ||||
Release and promotion
editThe album was co-released by Luaka Bop and Sire on 3 October 1989. Three songs, "Loco de Amor", "Good and Evil", and "Office Cowboy" are excluded from the LP.[1] All songs are present on the cassette and compact disc editions. David Byrne performed "Dirty Old Town" and "Loco de Amor" on Saturday Night Live's Thanksgiving show in 1989.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Los Angeles Times | [2] |
| New Musical Express | 6/10[3] |
| Rolling Stone |  [4] |
The album was well-received by critics. In a retrospective review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis wrote "Byrne’s first post-Talking-Heads solo album is a cut above [the multitude of late 80s pop albums dabbling in world music] and an underrated joy".[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by David Byrne; except where indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Independence Day" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 5:45 | |
| 2. | "Make Believe Mambo" (feat. Kirsty MacColl & Willie Colón) | 5:23 | |
| 3. | "The Call of the Wild" | Byrne, Johnny Pacheco | 4:55 |
| 4. | "Dirty Old Town" | 4:12 | |
| 5. | "The Rose Tattoo" | Byrne & Willie Colón | 3:50 |
| 6. | "Loco de Amor" (feat. Celia Cruz) | Byrne, Pacheco | 3:51 |
| 7. | "The Dream Police" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 3:00 | |
| 8. | "Don't Want to Be Part of Your World" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 4:55 | |
| 9. | "Marching Through the Wilderness" (feat. Milton Cardona) | Byrne & Pacheco | 4:30 |
| 10. | "Good and Evil" | 4:35 | |
| 11. | "Lie to Me" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 3:40 | |
| 12. | "Office Cowboy" (feat. Herbert Vianna) | Byrne & Arto Lindsay | 3:40 |
| 13. | "Women vs Men" | 4:06 | |
| 14. | "Carnival Eyes" (feat. Milton Cardona) | 4:04 | |
| 15. | "I Know Sometimes a Man Is Wrong" | 3:11 |
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 1989 | Luaka Bop/Sire | CD | 25990 |
| LP | ||||
| Cassette tape | 4-25990 | |||
| 1995 | CD | 7599-25990-2 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Ruhlmann, William. "Rei Momo - David Byrne". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ Hochman, Steve (8 October 1989). "Byrne Solos for a New Family of Man : DAVID BYRNE "Rei Momo." Fly/Sire *** 1/2". Retrieved 2 September 2018 – via LA Times.
- ^ Brown, Len (28 October 1989). "Long Play: Manuel Labour". New Musical Express. p. 38.
- ^ "David Byrne: Rei Momo : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (14 June 2018). "David Byrne – (almost) all of his albums ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2019.