By then, The Ramones had softened into a network television version of themselves, their sound steadily becoming more pop. As they became less cutting edge, they became less relevant; name a single track off of Animal Boy or Halfway to Sanity. It's okay to have a few bad records in a career, but it isn't okay not to strive toward something. With fifteen studio albums released, they had time to experiment, but they didn't.
On the other hand, Bryne and his Heads never stopped experimenting, the culmination of which is "(Nothing But) Flowers" off their final record. In that song Byrne screams, "We caught a rattlesnake, now we got something for dinner!" Nowhere in the entire Ramones catalogue will you find that kind of avant-garde lyricism on a track that still makes you dance your ass off.
The Talking Heads are, unquestionably, lyrically better than The Ramones. But their real advantage was their ability to keep innovating long into a storied and comfortable career. Listening to Naked, you can hear you can a distinct musical and thematic progression from Talking Heads 77. The Heads had the wonderful ability to take music making seriously without making overly serious music.
And for what it's worth, The Talking Heads don't have a bad record. The Ramones most certainly do. Just try to jam Halfway to Sanity all the way through. See how far you get.
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