Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is an EP by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1982. It was produced by David Byrne of Talking Heads and was originally planned to be the band's third studio album. Due to conflicts with Byrne and record label pressure, recording sessions were aborted prematurely and only six of ten songs to be completed were released. The record was distributed as a 12-inch EP by Warner Bros. in the U.S. and by Island Records on vinyl and cassette in the UK and other non-U.S. markets. Mesopotamia is considered a departure in style for the B-52's, with Byrne and the band adding additional instruments, vocal overdubs, horns, synthesizers and layered percussion. A larger emphasis was placed on production after the raw sound of their 1979 eponymous debut album and the slightly more produced sound of their second album, Wild Planet (1980). Background The B-52's' first two albums were largely made up of songs they had been performing live for a number of years, but Mesopotamia required new compositions. Drummer Keith Strickland later stated that living together in a house in upstate New York did not aid the writing process at this time: "The honeymoon was over. The fascination with being in a band, being successful – we'd already done it by that time. And at a level far beyond what we expected. We'd bought a house in Mahopac and were all living there together – and that created a strain on us, all living in one house together." Additionally, guitarist Ricky Wilson stated in 1980 that the band felt constrained by outside expectations at this point in their career. Wilson observed that the band's manager, Gary Kurfirst, "was talking about our next album, and I mentioned that it might not be a dance record, and he was so shocked by that idea. It's shocking to me that people really do expect that of us now." Strickland later recalled that it was Kurfirst who was adamant that the band should change their sound, and that the decision was not arrived at "organically" by the band.