YMMV / Fear of Music

• Awesome Music: The album frequently appears on lists of the best albums of all time.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: While critical consensus is that Remain in Light is the band's masterpiece, a number of fans claim this as their favorite album.
• Fridge Brilliance: "Heaven" gains extra levels of meaning following David Byrne's 2009 revelation that he's autistic; a common trait of autism is preferring stability and consistency in one's daily routine, contrary to the hectic life Byrne was facing as a constantly touring and performing musician at the time. Thus, a song that was widely interpreted as ironic ("heaven is a place where nothing ever happens") actually turns out to be 100% sincere. The album in general can also be read as an expression of autistic burnout with its tense music and bleak lyrics, further boosting the significance of "Heaven" and its desire for comfort in consistency.
• Harsher in Hindsight: "Life During Wartime" sounds really uncomfortable during The War on Terror. David Byrne lampshaded this when announcing the song in his solo performances in The 2000s, saying that the song "is more inappropriate now than it was then."
• Misaimed Fandom:
  • "Life During Wartime" was taken as an anti-disco anthem for the line "This ain't no disco." The band loved disco, funk and all kinds of dance music, as would become clear on their next album, but the song came out during the height of the anti-disco backlash. To say nothing of the song itself having clear disco influences which leads to the next point:
  • In a similar vein, many listeners have taken "Life During Wartime" and interpreted it as dance music. Ironically, it's the exact opposite of what the song is advocating, in that during wartime era, there's very little time to party due to fear of impending doom.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • "Memories Can't Wait". The line "There's a party in my mind and I hope it never stops" used to be quoted as a sign of how fun-loving the band could be. In context, however, not so much.
  • Despite its satirical nature, "Animals" can be downright frightening to listen to, thanks to Byrne's increasingly unhinged lyrics and vocals that eventually descend into a militaristic Madness Mantra.
  • "Drugs", a cold, droning dirge in which we see the narrator in the middle of a rapid drug-induced mental collapse.
• Tear Jerker: "Heaven", a vision of eternal happiness in which "nothing ever happens".

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