Hot Heads is an album by the Cameroonian band Les Têtes Brulées, released in 1990.[2][3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]

Production

Recorded in France, the album was produced by Andy Lyden and Jean-Marie Ahanda.[5][6] The band sang in a Cameroonian vernacular, French, and English.[7][8] Guitar player Theodore "Zanzibar" Epeme committed suicide before the album was released.[7] Epeme was known for applying foam rubber to his guitar to imitate a balafon.[9] Some songs are about musicians leaving the countryside for city life.[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Chicago Tribune	[11]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide	[6]

The Gazette deemed the band "Africa's answer to the Red Hot Chili Peppers," writing that "modern bikutsi is a stripped-down sound of chicken-feet guitars, drums that won't quit and the kind of yelping, whooping and singing that says we mean business."[12] The Philadelphia Daily News wrote that Les Têtes Brulées "combine fast tribal rhythms, swirling guitars and abrasive, multi-lingual vocals."[13]

The Chicago Tribune stated: "The star of the show is guitarist Theodore 'Zanzibar' Epeme. His solos are light yet propulsive, building inexorably and seamlessly from skittering rhythm lines."[11] The Houston Chronicle noted that "electric guitars and Western drums have replaced the 'balafon' and percussion, but the vocals are rough, in the ancient folk tradition."[14]

AllMusic wrote: "Consistently inspired, Hot Heads underscores the band's resilient nature."[10] The New York Times listed it among the best albums of 1990.[15] MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide considered Hot Heads "perhaps the greatest African rock 'n' roll ever made."[6]

Track listing

References