LOOK INTO THE EYEBALL finds Byrne (when did the guy get so gray?!) at his usual best. The watchword here is percussion; those of us with Western pop sensibilities often forget how versatile percussion instruments can be. Take the cut "Broken Things," which starts off with a complex arrangement of a simple beat, consisting of nothing but Byrne's vocals supported by various percussive instrumentalities. By the time the guitars are brought in, well a third into the song, they almost are redundant. They are not, however; this is a David Byrne project, where everything matters and nothing is redundant or wasted. What is all the more remarkable, however, is that "The Accident," the track following "Broken Things," is a chamber piece, with no percussion at all. Yet it follows "Broken Things" nicely, the contrast flowing, rather than jarring the listener to attention. Byrne picks the tempo up again smartly with "Desconocido Soy;" he continues the pattern of marching the tempo up and down throughout LOOK INTO THE EYEBALL, varying the types of music as well as the tempos. Everything fits, however; nothing is out of place, all of it unified by Byrne's unique, wavering vocals that no one else does quite so well, his quintessimal perfection, and his quirky perspective which permeates everything he touches. Byrne somehow makes the offbeat, the off-kilter, accessible to a mainstream audience while he refuses to sell out, thus maintaining his avant-garde fellowship. Everyone accordingly races to keep up with him. The exercise, as always, is worth it. Highly recommended.