Rei Momo
1989 studio album by David Byrne
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Rei Momo is the debut solo studio album by the American musician David Byrne and his second overall studio album (after the 1981 collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), released on October 3, 1989. The album reached number 54 on the UK Albums Chart[1] and number 71 on the Billboard chart.[2]
| Rei Momo | ||||
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| Released | October 3, 1989 | |||
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| Length | 63:37 | |||
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| Singles from Rei Momo | ||||
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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).[3] The album is mostly sung in English and features guest appearances by Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, among others.
Release and promotion
The 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.[3] 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.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Los Angeles Times | [4] |
| New Musical Express | 6/10[5] |
| Rolling Stone |  [6] |
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".[7]
Track listing
All 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 |