History Music / GrownBackwards

''Grown Backwards'', released in 2004, is the sixth solo album and seventh studio album overall by Scottish-American musician Music/DavidByrne. A marked contrast from the Latin-infused AlternativeRock of his prior solo output, the album sees Byrne shift to an acoustic BaroquePop sound, taking the orchestral art pop style of ''Music/LookIntoTheEyeball'' and ramping up the "orchestral" part even further, growing more acoustic and deviating far from any trends in mainstream music at the time. [[http://davidbyrne.com/explore/grown-backwards/about As stated on his personal website]], Byrne had only a passing interest in ClassicalMusic and {{opera}}, but was curious enough to experiment with the style, eager to step out of his artistic comfort zone.

** "Empire" is a bombastic, triumphant song about Byrne's negative opinions on UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, which the song portrays as a front for American imperialism.

** "Empire" was originally recorded as a collaboration with Music/{{Devo}} in the late '90s, later being re-recorded for this album. Compared to the bombastic, mock-militaristic sound of the Devo version, this rendition is more stripped back, with the instrumentals consisting solely of an organ, brass fills, and the occasional muted fanfare. The Devo version would eventually be released in 2022 as part of the charity compilation ''Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All''.

** "Empire" was originally recorded as a collaboration with Music/{{Devo}} in the late '90s, later being re-recorded for this album. Compared to the bombastic, mock-militaristic sound of the Devo version, this rendition is more stripped back, with the instrumentals consisting solely of brass swells and the occasional muted fanfare. The Devo version would eventually be released in 2022 as part of the charity compilation ''Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All''.

* RearrangeTheSong: "Lazy" was originally a collaboration between Byrne and HouseMusic duo X-Press 2. Whereas the original was more in the latter's deep house style, this time around it's fitted to the BaroquePop approach of this album.

* ShoutOut: "Tiny Apocalypse" mentions "a Creator/JackieChan spear."

Though its commercial success was fairly minor, the album was met with open arms among the music press, being Byrne's first album to receive good marks from critics since ''Rei Momo'' 15 years prior. Reviewers praised the album's sonic consistency and complete deviation from previous material, with journalists conceding that Byrne had finally come into his own as a solo artist after spending the past decade and a half struggling to escape the shadow of his work with Music/TalkingHeads (who coincidentally were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just two years prior). The album's critical praise would quickly catapult Byrne into in-demand status among the indie circuit: he would spend the remainder of the decade and most of the next collaborating with other artists both big and small, bringing his star back up and eventually paving the way for his mainstream reemergence with his next solo album, ''Music/AmericanUtopia'', in 2018.

''Grown Backwards'', released in 2004, is the sixth solo album and seventh studio album overall by Scottish-American musician Music/DavidByrne. A marked contrast from the Latin-infused AlternativeRock of his prior solo output, the album sees Byrne shift to an acoustic BaroquePop sound, taking the orchestral art pop style of ''Music/LookIntoTheEyeball'' and ramping up the "orchestral" part even further, growing more acoustic and deviating far from any trends in mainstream music at the time.

Though its commercial success was fairly minor, the album was met with open arms among the music press, being Byrne's first album to receive good marks from critics since ''Rei Momo'' 15 years prior. Reviewers praised the album's sonic consistency and complete deviation from previous material, with journalists conceding that Byrne had finally come into his own as a solo artist after spending a decade and a half struggling to escape the shadow of his work with Music/TalkingHeads (who coincidentally were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just two years prior). The album's critical praise would quickly catapult Byrne into in-demand status among the indie circuit: he would spend the remainder of the decade and most of the next collaborating with other artists both big and small, bringing his star back up and eventually paving the way for his mainstream reemergence with his next solo album, ''Music/AmericanUtopia'', in 2018.

* NewSoundAlbum: Mostly acoustic BaroquePop with emphasis on string and horn arrangements.

''Grown Backwards'', released in 2004, is the sixth solo album and seventh studio album overall by Scottish-American musician Music/DavidByrne. A marked contrast from the Latin-infused AlternativeRock of his prior solo output, the album sees Byrne shift to an acoustic BaroquePop sound, taking the art pop styling of ''Look Into the Eyeball'' before it and bringing it in an even more leftfield, string-heavy direction that stood far from any mainstream music trends at the time.

* FaceOnTheCover: A black and white headshot of Byrne against a white background, printed on metal card stock on physical releases.

Upon release, the album didn't do much to restore Byrne's commercial fortunes; in fact, its No. 178 peak on the Billboard 200 was Byrne's lowest chart placement in his entire studio album discography. In the UK, it reached a more favorable No. 88 peak, though even this was lower than its predecessor. Despite this, it would continue to sell steadily over the years: according to Byrne's book ''How Music Works'', the album eventually racked up sales figures of 140,000 units (including 120,000 physical copies) by 2010. While not enough to meet any RIAA certification, it was still enough of a SleeperHit to lead to an expanded double-LP release-- its first issuing on vinyl-- in 2019.

* CoverVersion: Three appear on the album: "The Man Who Loved Beer" by Lambchop, "Au fond du Temple Saint" from Georges Bizet's ''Theatre/ThePearlFishers", and "Un Dì, Felice, Eterea" from Giuseppe Verdi's ''Theatre/LaTraviata''.