** 1/2 THE HEADS, “No Talking Just Head,” Radioactive/MCA

Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison are understandably proud and protective of the sound they created with David Byrne in the Talking Heads, but a sound doesn’t amount to a unifying vision.

In a bid to assert their claim to the band’s illustrious legacy, the three have reunited for their own album. Sort of. They created the instrumental tracks, then invited a parade of performers to write and sing lyrics. That strategy only reinforces their image as Byrne’s hired hands. Why not do it all themselves--especially when one of the album’s most engaging moments is a number sung by Weymouth in the mold of her and Frantz’s old side-group the Tom Tom Club?

Beyond that it’s a mixed bag. Johnette Napolitano (who will front the Heads on a tour that comes to the Roxy on Oct. 24), Andy Partridge and Gavin Friday provide passion and originality, but then there’s cut-rate Patti Smith from Debbie Harry and sub-R.E.M. from Live’s Ed Kowalczyk, and an unlistenable narrative by spoken-word performer Malin Anneteg.

It’s all kept more or less in line by the Heads’ assertive, atmospheric avant-funk, but it never adds up to a coherent statement. More than anything, it illustrates that a great band is the product not of the sum of its parts, but of an unrepeatable chemistry.

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