Talking Heads | ||
| Allmusic Biography : At the start of their career, Talking Heads were all nervous energy, detached emotion, and subdued minimalism. When they released their last album about 12 years later, the band had recorded everything from art-funk to polyrhythmic worldbeat explorations and simple, melodic guitar pop. Between their first album in 1977 and their last in 1988, Talking Heads became one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the 80s, while managing to earn several pop hits. While some of their music can seem too self-consciously experimental, clever, and intellectual for its own good, at their best Talking Heads represent everything good about art-school punks. And they were literally art-school punks. Guitarist/vocalist David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, and bassist Tina Weymouth met at the Rhode Island School of Design in the early 70s; they decided to move to New York in 1974 to concentrate on making music. The next year, the band won a spot opening for the Ramones at the seminal New York punk club CBGB. In 1976, keyboardist Jerry Harrison, a former member of Jonathan Richmans Modern Lovers, was added to the lineup. By 1977, the band had signed to Sire Records and released its first album, Talking Heads: 77. It received a considerable amount of acclaim for its stripped-down rock & roll, particularly Byrnes geeky, overly intellectual lyrics and uncomfortable, jerky vocals. For their next album, 1978s More Songs About Buildings and Food, the band worked with producer Brian Eno, recording a set of carefully constructed, arty pop songs, distinguished by extensive experimenting with combined acoustic and electronic instruments, as well as touches of surprisingly credible funk. On their next album, the Eno-produced Fear of Music, Talking Heads began to rely heavily on their rhythm section, adding flourishes of African-styled polyrhythms. This approach came to a full fruition with 1980s Remain in Light, which was again produced by Eno. Talking Heads added several sidemen, including a horn section, leaving them free to explore their dense amalgam of African percussion, funk bass and keyboards, pop songs, and electronics. After a long tour, the band concentrated on solo projects for a couple of years. By the time of 1983s Speaking in Tongues, the band had severed its ties with Eno; the result was an album that still relied on the rhythmic innovations of Remain in Light, except within a more rigid pop-song structure. After its release, Talking Heads embarked on another extensive tour, which was captured on the Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense. After releasing the straightforward pop album Little Creatures in 1985, Byrne directed his first movie, True Stories, the following year; the bands next album featured songs from the film. Two years later, Talking Heads released Naked, which marked a return to their worldbeat explorations, although it sometimes suffered from Byrnes lyrical pretensions. After its release, Talking Heads were put on "hiatus"; Byrne pursued some solo projects, as did Harrison, and Frantz and Weymouth continued with their side project, Tom Tom Club. In 1991, the band issued an announcement that they had broken up. Shortly thereafter, Harrisons production took off with successful albums by Live and Crash Test Dummies. In 1996, the original lineup minus Byrne reunited for the album No Talking Just Head; Byrne sued Frantz, Weymouth, and Harrison for attempting to record and perform as Talking Heads, so the trio went by the Heads. In 1999, all four worked together to promote a 15th-anniversary edition of Stop Making Sense, and they also performed at the 2002 induction ceremony for their entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Through the 2010s, Byrne released a number of solo and collaborative projects. Tom Tom Club continued to tour, while Harrison produced albums for the likes of No Doubt, the Von Bondies, and Hockey. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 21 Title: Talking Heads: 77 Released: 1977-09-16 Tracks: 11 Duration: 38:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Uh‐Oh, Love Comes to Town (02:49) 2 New Feeling (03:09) 3 Tentative Decisions (03:08) 4 Happy Day (03:55) 5 Who Is It? (01:44) 6 No Compassion (04:49) 7 The Book I Read (04:10) 8 Don’t Worry About the Government (03:01) 9 First Week / Last Week… Carefree (03:21) 10 Psycho Killer (04:20) 11 Pulled Up (04:28) |
| Talking Heads: 77 : Allmusic album Review : Though they were the most highly touted new wave band to emerge from the CBGBs scene in New York, it was not clear at first whether Talking Heads Lower East Side art rock approach could make the subway ride to the midtown pop mainstream successfully. The leadoff track of the debut album, Talking Heads: 77, "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town," was a pop song that emphasized the groups unlikely roots in late-60s bubblegum, Motown, and Caribbean music. But the "Uh-Oh" gave away the groups game early, with its nervous, disconnected lyrics and David Byrnes strained voice. All pretenses of normality were abandoned by the second track, as Talking Heads finally started to sound on record the way they did downtown: the staggered rhythms and sudden tempo changes, the odd guitar tunings and rhythmic, single-note patterns, the non-rhyming, non-linear lyrics that came across like odd remarks overheard from a psychiatrists couch, and that voice, singing above its normal range, its falsetto leaps and strangled cries resembling a madman trying desperately to sound normal. Talking Heads threw you off balance, but grabbed your attention with a sound that seemed alternately threatening and goofy. The music was undeniably catchy, even at its most ominous, especially on "Psycho Killer," Byrnes supreme statement of demented purpose. Amazingly, that song made the singles chart for a few weeks, evidence of the groups quirky appeal, but the album was not a big hit, and it remained unclear whether Talking Heads spoke only the secret language of the urban arts types or whether that could be translated into the more common tongue of hip pop culture. In any case, they had succeeded as artists, using existing elements in an unusual combination to create something new that still managed to be oddly familiar. And that made Talking Heads: 77 a landmark album. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 21 Title: More Songs About Buildings and Food Released: 1978-07-21 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (02:11) 2 With Our Love (03:31) 3 The Good Thing (03:03) 4 Warning Sign (03:54) 5 The Girls Want to Be With the Girls (02:38) 6 Found a Job (04:59) 7 Artists Only (03:35) 8 I’m Not in Love (04:35) 9 Stay Hungry (02:40) 10 Take Me to the River (05:03) 11 The Big Country (05:32) |
| More Songs About Buildings and Food : Allmusic album Review : The title of Talking Heads second album, More Songs About Buildings and Food, slyly addressed the sophomore record syndrome, in which songs not used on a first LP are mixed with hastily written new material. If the bands sound seems more conventional, the reason simply may be that one had encountered the odd song structures, staccato rhythms, strained vocals, and impressionistic lyrics once before. Another was that new co-producer Brian Eno brought a musical unity that tied the album together, especially in terms of the rhythm section, the sequencing, the pacing, and the mixing. Where Talking Heads had largely been about David Byrnes voice and words, Eno moved the emphasis to the bass-and-drums team of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz; all the songs were danceable, and there were only short breaks between them. Byrne held his own, however, and he continued to explore the eccentric, if not demented persona first heard on 77, whether he was adding to his observations on boys and girls or turning his "Psycho Killer" into an artist in "Artists Only." Through the first nine tracks, More Songs was the successor to 77, which would not have earned it landmark status or made it the commercial breakthrough it became. It was the last two songs that pushed the album over those hurdles. First there was an inspired cover of Al Greens "Take Me to the River"; released as a single, it made the Top 40 and pushed the album to gold-record status. Second was the album closer, "The Big Country," Byrnes country-tinged reflection on flying over middle America; it crystallized his artist-vs.-ordinary people perspective in unusually direct and dismissive terms, turning the old Chuck Berry patriotic travelogue theme of rock & roll on its head and employing a great hook in the process. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 21 Title: Fear of Music Released: 1979-08-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 40:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 I Zimbra (03:08) 2 Mind (04:12) 3 Paper (02:39) 4 Cities (04:10) 5 Life During Wartime (03:41) 6 Memories Can’t Wait (03:30) 7 Air (03:34) 8 Heaven (04:01) 9 Animals (03:30) 10 Electric Guitar (03:02) 11 Drugs (05:09) |
| Fear of Music : Allmusic album Review : By titling their third album Fear of Music and opening it with the African rhythmic experiment "I Zimbra," complete with nonsense lyrics by poet Hugo Ball, Talking Heads make the record seem more of a departure than it is. Though Fear of Music is musically distinct from its predecessors, its mostly because of the use of minor keys that give the music a more ominous sound. Previously, David Byrnes offbeat observations had been set off by an overtly humorous tone; on Fear of Music, he is still odd, but no longer so funny. At the same time, however, the music has become even more compelling. Worked up from jams (though Byrne received sole songwriters credit), the music is becoming denser and more driving, notably on the albums standout track, "Life During Wartime," with lyrics that match the musics power. "This aint no party," declares Byrne, "this aint no disco, this aint no fooling around." The other key song, "Heaven," extends the dismissal Byrne had expressed for the U.S. in "The Big Country" to paradise itself: "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens." Its also the albums most melodic song. Those are the highlights. What keeps Fear of Music from being as impressive an album as Talking Heads first two is that much of it seems to repeat those earlier efforts, while the few newer elements seem so risky and exciting. Its an uneven, transitional album, though its better songs are as good as any Talking Heads ever did. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 21 Title: Remain in Light Released: 1980-05-10 Tracks: 8 Duration: 40:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (05:48) 2 Crosseyed and Painless (04:47) 3 The Great Curve (06:27) 4 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 5 Houses in Motion (04:33) 6 Seen and Not Seen (03:24) 7 Listening Wind (04:43) 8 The Overload (06:00) |
| Remain in Light : Allmusic album Review : The musical transition that seemed to have just begun with Fear of Music came to fruition on Talking Heads fourth album, Remain in Light. "I Zimbra" and "Life During Wartime" from the earlier album served as the blueprints for a disc on which the group explored African polyrhythms on a series of driving groove tracks, over which David Byrne chanted and sang his typically disconnected lyrics. Remain in Light had more words than any previous Heads record, but they counted for less than ever in the sweep of the music. The albums single, "Once in a Lifetime," flopped upon release, but over the years it became an audience favorite due to a striking video, its inclusion in the bands 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, and its second single release (in the live version) because of its use in the 1986 movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills, when it became a minor chart entry. Byrne sounded typically uncomfortable in the verses ("And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife/And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"), which were undercut by the reassuring chorus ("Letting the days go by"). Even without a single, Remain in Light was a hit, indicating that Talking Heads were connecting with an audience ready to follow their musical evolution, and the album was so inventive and influential, it was no wonder. As it turned out, however, it marked the end of one aspect of the groups development and was their last new music for three years. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 21 Title: The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads Released: 1982 Tracks: 33 Duration: 2:36:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 New Feeling (03:10) 2 A Clean Break (Let’s Work) (05:05) 3 Don’t Worry About the Government (03:03) 4 Pulled Up (04:05) 5 Psycho Killer (05:31) 6 Who Is It? (01:44) 7 The Book I Read (04:22) 8 The Big Country (05:09) 9 I’m Not in Love (04:57) 10 The Girls Want to Be With the Girls (03:44) 11 Electricity (Drugs) (03:28) 12 Found a Job (05:35) 13 Mind (04:55) 14 Artists Only (03:49) 15 Stay Hungry (04:05) 16 Air (04:02) 17 Love → Building on Fire (03:46) 18 Memories (Can’t Wait) (03:44) 19 Heaven (04:31) 1 Psycho Killer (05:33) 2 Warning Sign (05:39) 3 Stay Hungry (03:56) 4 Cities (05:00) 5 I Zimbra (03:30) 6 Drugs (Electricity) (04:41) 7 Once in a Lifetime (05:57) 8 Animals (04:05) 9 Houses in Motion (06:54) 10 Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (08:24) 11 Crosseyed and Painless (05:58) 12 Life During Wartime (04:54) 13 Take Me to the River (06:35) 14 The Great Curve (06:42) |
| The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads : Allmusic album Review : Although most people probably think the only Talking Heads live release is Stop Making Sense, the fact is that theres an earlier, better live album called The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads. Originally released in 1982 on LP and cassette, the album chronicles the growth of the band, both stylistically and personnel-wise. The first LP is the original quartet version of the band, recorded between 1977 and 1979, performing excellent versions of tunes (mostly) off 77 and More Songs About Buildings and Food. Also included were the previously unavailable "A Clean Break" and "Love Goes to a Building on Fire," as well as early versions of "Memories Cant Wait" and "Air." The second LP comes from the Remain in Light tour, recorded in 1980 and 1981. In order to present something close to the music on that album, the original quartet lineup was greatly expanded. Added were two percussionists (Steven Stanley, Jose Rossy), two backup singers (Nona Hendryx, Dollette McDonald), Busta Cherry Jones on bass, Bernie Worrell (!) on keys, and a young Adrian Belew on lead guitar. The excitement of this material is palpable, and the muscular band rips into these tunes with more power than the originals in most cases. "Drugs" gets revamped for live performance, and "Houses in Motion kicks into high gear with a great art-funk coda. Belew is absolutely on fire throughout, especially on "The Great Curve" and "Crosseyed and Painless," where his deranged feedback soloing has never sounded better. At this point in their career, Talking Heads were still basically an underground band; it was "Burning Down the House" that really thrust them into the mainstream, and Stop Making Sense documents their arrival as a more or less mainstream act. The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads captures a hungry band on its way up, performing with a fire that was never matched on later tours. Unfortunately, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads remained unavailable on compact disc for years, which is a shame since its arguably one of their finest releases. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 21 Title: Speaking in Tongues Released: 1983-05-31 Tracks: 9 Duration: 47:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Burning Down the House (04:01) 2 Making Flippy Floppy (05:54) 3 Girlfriend Is Better (05:43) 4 Slippery People (05:06) 5 I Get Wild/Wild Gravity (05:16) 6 Swamp (05:13) 7 Moon Rocks (05:45) 8 Pull Up the Roots (05:09) 9 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (04:56) |
| Speaking in Tongues : Allmusic album Review : Talking Heads found a way to open up the dense textures of the music they had developed with Brian Eno on their two previous studio albums for Speaking in Tongues, and were rewarded with their most popular album yet. Ten backup singers and musicians accompanied the original quartet, but somehow the sound was more spacious, and the music admitted aspects of gospel, notably in the call-and-response of "Slippery People," and John Lee Hooker-style blues, on "Swamp." As usual, David Byrne determinedly sang and chanted impressionistic, nonlinear lyrics, sometimes by mix-and-matching clichés ("No visible means of support and you have not seen nothin yet," he declared on "Burning Down the House," the Heads first Top Ten hit), and the songs very lack of clear meaning was itself a lyrical subject. "Still dont make no sense," Byrne admitted in "Making Flippy Floppy," but by the next song, "Girlfriend Is Better," that had become an order -- "Stop making sense," he chanted over and over. Some of his charming goofiness had returned since the overly serious Remain in Light and Fear of Music, however, and the accompanying music, filled with odd percussive and synthesizer sounds, could be unusually light and bouncy. The album closer, "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)," even sounded hopeful. Well, sort of. Despite their formal power, Talking Heads preceding two albums seemed to have painted them into a corner, which may be why it took them three years to craft a follow-up, but on Speaking in Tongues, they found an open window and flew out of it. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 21 Title: Stop Making Sense Released: 1984 Tracks: 9 Duration: 46:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Psycho Killer (04:29) 2 Swamp (04:29) 3 Slippery People (live) (04:13) 4 Burning Down the House (04:14) 5 Girlfriend Is Better (05:06) 6 Once in a Lifetime (05:34) 7 What a Day That Was (06:30) 8 Life During Wartime (05:51) 9 Take Me to the River (05:59) |
| Stop Making Sense : Allmusic album Review : While theres no debating the importance of Jonathan Demmes classic film record of Talking Heads 1983 tour, the soundtrack released in support of it is a thornier matter. Since its release, purists have found Stop Making Sense slickly mixed and, worse yet, incomprehensive. The nine tracks included jumble and truncate the natural progression of frontman David Byrnes meticulously arranged stage show. Cries for a double-album treatment -- à la 1982s live opus The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads -- were sounded almost immediately; more enterprising fans merely dubbed the VHS release of the film onto cassette tape. So, until a 1999 "special edition" cured the 1984 releases ills, fans had to make do with the Stop Making Sense they were given -- which is, by any account, an exemplary snapshot of a band at the height of its powers. Even with some of his more memorable tics edited out, Byrne is in fine voice here: Never before had he sounded warmer or more approachable, as evidenced by his soaring rendition of "Once in a Lifetime." Though almost half the album focuses on Speaking in Tongues material, the band makes room for one of Byrnes Catherine Wheel tunes (the hard-driving, elliptical "What a Day That Was") as well as up-tempo versions of "Pyscho Killer" and "Take Me to the River." If anything, Stop Making Senses emphasis on keyboards and rhythm is its greatest asset as well as its biggest failing: Knob-tweakers Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison play up their parts at the expense of the treblier aspects of the performance, and fans would have to wait almost 15 years for reparations. Still, for a generation that may have missed the bands seminal 70s work, Stop Making Sense proves to be an excellent primer. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 21 Title: Little Creatures Released: 1985-06-10 Tracks: 9 Duration: 38:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 And She Was (03:39) 2 Give Me Back My Name (03:22) 3 Creatures of Love (04:15) 4 The Lady Don’t Mind (03:58) 5 Perfect World (04:27) 6 Stay Up Late (03:43) 7 Walk It Down (04:44) 8 Television Man (06:10) 9 Road to Nowhere (04:20) |
| Little Creatures : Allmusic album Review : Talking Heads most immediately accessible album, Little Creatures eschewed the pattern of recent Heads albums, in which instrumental tracks had been worked up from riffs and grooves, after which David Byrne improvised melodies and lyrics. The songs on Little Creatures, most of which were credited to Byrne alone (with the band credited only with arrangements) sounded like theyd been written as songs. Perhaps as one result, the band had been streamlined, with extra musicians used only for specific effects rather than playing along as an ensemble. Byrne, who was singing in his natural range for once, frequently was augmented with backup singers. The overall result: ear candy. Little Creatures was a pop album, and an accomplished one, by a band that knew what it was doing. True, Byrnes lyrics were still intriguingly quirky, but even his subject matter was becoming more mature. "Ive seen sex and I think its okay," he sang on "Creatures of Love," and suddenly the geek had become a man. Where he had once pondered the hopes of boys and girls, he was now making observations about children. And even if his impulses remained strange -- "I wanna make him stay up all night," he declared about a baby (presumably not his own) in "Stay Up Late" -- he retained his charm and inventiveness. Little Creatures was, in a sense, Talking Heads lite. It was hard to think of this as the same band that produced "Psycho Killer." But for the bands expanding audience, who made this their second platinum album, that was okay. And their popularity was being accomplished with no diminution in their creativity. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 21 Title: True Stories Released: 1986-10-07 Tracks: 9 Duration: 41:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Love for Sale (04:31) 2 Puzzlin’ Evidence (05:24) 3 Hey Now (03:42) 4 Papa Legba (05:55) 5 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 6 Radio Head (03:30) 7 Dream Operator (04:38) 8 People Like Us (04:28) 9 City of Dreams (05:09) |
| True Stories : Allmusic album Review : Time hasnt been kind to Talking Heads ancillary soundtrack to David Byrnes oddball directorial debut. Though it generated one of the bands biggest radio hits ("Wild Wild Life"), both the film and its songs were dismissed as self-consciously quirky retreads of other, better material; and its well-known the quartet was beginning to splinter apart around the time of the sessions. Byrne himself has said that he regretted the whole notion of releasing True Stories with his own vocals, a decision made at the behest of the films financial backers: All along, he intended for the lyrics to be sung, in character, by Pops Staples, John Goodman, and the rest of the cast. (Some of these alternate-vocal versions were eventually released as B-sides.) Despite its perfunctory nature, however, True Stories is not without its charms. Though an obvious swipe at consumerism, "Love for Sale" boasts one of the bands best hooks, and its easily their hardest-rocking tune since the Fear of Music days. "Radio Head" is a successful continuation of some of the regional-American motifs Byrne explored on Little Creatures (and bears the distinction of inspiring Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and company to name their band after it). Free from the movies weird patina of irony, "Dream Operator" is one of the most affecting tunes Talking Heads ever recorded; the closing-credits theme "City of Dreams" is similarly touching. Elsewhere, there is filler -- touching upon gospel, country-western, zydeco, and sundry other Byrne influences -- but the bands skill at arranging an album and maintaining a mood remains intact. So while True Stories may remain a regrettable chapter in the bands history, its certainly not an embarrassing one. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 21 Title: Naked Released: 1988-03-15 Tracks: 10 Duration: 46:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Blind (04:58) 2 Mr. Jones (04:18) 3 Totally Nude (04:03) 4 Ruby Dear (03:48) 5 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:14) 6 The Democratic Circus (05:01) 7 The Facts of Life (06:26) 8 Mommy Daddy You and I (03:58) 9 Big Daddy (04:01) 10 Cool Water (05:08) |
| Naked : Allmusic album Review : Talking Heads last proper studio album before their protracted breakup finds them returning to the dynamic that produced their best work, with inspired results. As swan songs go, Naked proves to be a pretty good one: Alternately serious and playful, it once again allows frontman David Byrne to worry about the government, the environment, and the plight of the working man as it frees up the rest of the band to trade instruments and work with guest musicians. Its closest in spirit to Remain in Light -- arguably too close: The first side is a collection of funky, syncopated, almost danceable tunes; the second, a murky, darkly philosophical rumination on identity and human nature. The major difference is a Latin influence replacing Lights African rhythm experimentation, most evident on the album openers "Blind" and "Mr. Jones," as well as in drummer Chris Frantzs decision to use brushes and softer percussion instruments (as opposed the big beat sound he offered up on Little Creatures and True Stories). With the venerable Steve Lillywhite behind the boards and such luminaries as Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl, and Yves NDjock punctuating the credits, the album sounds technically perfect, but theres little of the loose, live feel the band achieved with former mentor Brian Eno. Its quite a feat to pull of a late-career album as ambitious as Naked, and the Heads do so with style and vitality. But no matter how much the liner notes may boast of free-form invention and boundless creativity, the albums elegiac, airtight tone betrays the sound of four musicians growing tired of the limits theyve imposed on one another. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 21 Title: Once in a Lifetime: The Best Of Released: 1992-10-12 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:03:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Psycho Killer (04:20) 2 Take Me to the River (05:03) 3 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 4 Burning Down the House (04:01) 5 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (04:56) 6 Slippery People (live) (04:13) 7 Life During Wartime (live) (05:04) 8 And She Was (03:39) 9 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 10 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 11 Blind (05:00) 12 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) 13 Sax and Violins (05:18) 14 Lifetime Piling Up (03:53) |
| Once in a Lifetime: The Best Of : Allmusic album Review : For the holiday season of 1992 (and a year after they announced their split), the Talking Heads issued the excellent double disc anthology, Popular Favorites 1984-1992: Sand in the Vaseline, which combined rarities, hits, and key album cuts. While America got the double disc set, Europe received a streamlined, single disc collection, The Best Of (Once In A Lifetime). As its title suggests, the fourteen track collection focuses solely on the groups best known tracks, including such classics as "Psycho Killer," their commercial breakthrough cover of Al Greens "Take Me to the River," "Once In A Lifetime," and "Burning Down the House," among others. But the inclusion of a pair of oddities, "Sax and Violins" and "Lifetime Piling Up," will raise a few eyebrows, especially with such a backlog of stronger material that very easily could have fit alongside the renowned hits (namely "Memories Cant Wait," "Crosseyed and Painless," "Swamp," "Girlfriend is Better," etc.). But by and large, for a single disc collection, The Best Of (Once In A Lifetime) accomplishes its goal -- hopefully one day a slightly more expanded version will see a stateside release. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 21 Title: Popular Favorites: Sand in the Vaseline Released: 1992-10-12 Tracks: 33 Duration: 2:20:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sugar on My Tongue (02:36) 2 I Want to Live (03:23) 3 Love → Building on Fire (02:58) 4 I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That (02:36) 5 Psycho Killer (04:20) 6 Don’t Worry About the Government (03:01) 7 No Compassion (04:49) 8 Warning Sign (03:54) 9 The Big Country (05:32) 10 Take Me to the River (05:03) 11 Heaven (04:01) 12 Memories Can’t Wait (03:30) 13 I Zimbra (03:08) 14 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 15 Crosseyed and Painless (04:47) 16 Burning Down the House (04:01) 17 Swamp (05:13) 18 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (04:56) 1 Life During Wartime (live) (05:04) 2 Girlfriend Is Better (live) (03:36) 3 And She Was (03:39) 4 Stay Up Late (03:53) 5 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 6 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 7 Love for Sale (04:31) 8 City of Dreams (05:09) 9 Mr. Jones (04:20) 10 Blind (05:00) 11 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) 12 Sax and Violins (05:18) 13 Gangster of Love (04:29) 14 Lifetime Piling Up (03:53) 15 Popsicle (05:19) |
| Popular Favorites: Sand in the Vaseline : Allmusic album Review : Featuring material from every Talking Heads album except the live The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline is a terrific double-disc retrospective of the bands long and varied career. Featuring all of their hit singles and trademark songs ("Psycho Killer," "Take Me to the River," "Burning Down the House," "And She Was," "Once in a Lifetime," "Swamp," "Memories Cant Wait," "Crosseyed and Painless," "Road to Nowhere," "(Nothing But) Flowers," "Life During Wartime"), the set also includes five previously unreleased tracks. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 21 Title: The Originals Released: 1997 Tracks: 27 Duration: 2:06:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Psycho Killer (04:29) 2 Swamp (04:29) 3 Slippery People (live) (04:13) 4 Burning Down the House (04:14) 5 Girlfriend Is Better (05:06) 6 Once in a Lifetime (05:34) 7 What a Day That Was (06:30) 8 Life During Wartime (05:51) 9 Take Me to the River (05:59) 1 And She Was (03:39) 2 Give Me Back My Name (03:22) 3 Creatures of Love (04:15) 4 The Lady Don’t Mind (03:58) 5 Perfect World (04:27) 6 Stay Up Late (03:43) 7 Walk It Down (04:44) 8 Television Man (06:10) 9 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 1 Love for Sale (04:31) 2 Puzzlin’ Evidence (05:24) 3 Hey Now (03:42) 4 Papa Legba (05:55) 5 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 6 Radio Head (03:32) 7 Dream Operator (04:38) 8 People Like Us (04:28) 9 City of Dreams (05:09) |
 | Album: 14 of 21 Title: 12x12 Original Remixes Released: 1999 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:11:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Lady Dont Mind (extended version) (06:50) 2 Television Man (extended mix) (08:02) 3 And She Was (extended mix) (04:56) 4 Wild Wild Life (long E.T. mix) (05:31) 5 Love for Sale (extended mix) (06:08) 6 Hey Now (Milwaukee mix) (07:14) 7 Radio Head (extended mix) (04:29) 8 Blind (extended mix) (07:40) 9 Nothing but Flowers (Lillywhite mix) (07:33) 10 Ruby Dear (Bush mix) (03:25) 11 Blind (Deaf Dub & Blind mix) (06:36) 12 Love for Sale (Love dub) (03:09) |
| 12x12 Original Remixes : Allmusic album Review : Although "Houses in Motion" (from Remain in Light) was released in an extended version, Talking Heads didnt start dabbling in extended remixes until Speaking in Tongues, which had some brilliant remixed B-sides. Remixed, however, only includes tunes from their final three albums: Little Creatures, True Stories, and Naked, arguably Talking Heads least experimental albums. Some of these versions stick pretty close to the originals, others get more creative, but ultimately this release is intended for collectors and fans who missed out on these the first time around. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 21 Title: Once in a Lifetime Released: 2003-11-17 Tracks: 55 Duration: 3:54:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sugar on My Tongue (02:36) 2 Love → Building on Fire (02:58) 3 I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That (02:36) 4 Don’t Worry About the Government (03:01) 5 Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town (original mix) (02:55) 6 New Feeling (original mix) (03:03) 7 Pulled Up (04:29) 8 Psycho Killer (04:20) 9 Warning Sign (03:54) 10 Artists Only (03:35) 11 Tentative Decisions (03:08) 12 No Compassion (04:49) 13 Stay Hungry (02:40) 14 I’m Not in Love (04:35) 15 The Book I Read (04:10) 16 Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (02:11) 17 Found a Job (04:59) 18 A Clean Break (04:57) 19 Take Me to the River (05:03) 20 The Big Country (05:32) 21 Heaven (04:01) 1 I Zimbra (03:08) 2 Cities (alternate version) (05:27) 3 Life During Wartime (03:41) 4 Air (03:34) 5 Memories Can’t Wait (03:30) 6 Drugs (alternate version) (03:33) 7 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 8 Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (05:48) 9 Listening Wind (04:43) 10 Houses in Motion (04:33) 11 Crosseyed and Painless (04:47) 12 Burning Down the House (04:01) 13 Making Flippy Floppy (05:54) 14 Girlfriend Is Better (05:43) 15 Slippery People (05:06) 16 Swamp (05:13) 17 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (04:56) 1 And She Was (03:39) 2 Stay Up Late (03:43) 3 Creatures of Love (04:15) 4 The Lady Don’t Mind (04:04) 5 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 6 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 7 Love for Sale (04:31) 8 People Like Us (04:29) 9 Puzzlin’ Evidence (05:24) 10 City of Dreams (05:09) 11 Blind (05:00) 12 Mr. Jones (04:20) 13 The Democratic Circus (05:04) 14 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) 15 In Asking Land (outtake) (03:58) 16 Sax and Violins (05:18) 17 Lifetime Piling Up (03:53) |
| Once in a Lifetime : Allmusic album Review : Talking Heads are one of a handful of seminal rock bands whose catalog has been curiously overlooked in the CD era. Their albums have not been remastered, their legendary 1982 double-live album, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, has never made it to disc, and apart from 1992s Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand in the Vaseline, there has been no retrospective assembled (to make matters worse, in the U.K. that set was condensed to the single-disc The Best of Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime). So, Rhino/WSMs 2003 box set Once in a Lifetime (sure, the title is repeated, but what else could it reasonably be called?) is noteworthy for many reasons, because it marks the first remastering of the groups catalog (and the new sound is terrific), marks the first time any of The Name of This Band reached CD (alas, theres only one cut, "A Clean Break (Lets Work)," which never made it to another album), unearths a few rarities, and most importantly, provides an excellent three-disc retrospective on this seminal quartet. These three discs run 54 tracks, which is quite a bit more generous than it sounds, since all Talking Heads studio albums apart from their last, 1988s Naked, are represented by over half of their songs (counting alternate takes, but not outtakes; these alternates are notably but not radically different, though "Cities" has brand new words), often coming three or four cuts from the total. Thematically, the three discs are sharply arranged, accentuating different eras for the band. After three early sides, all found on Sand in the Vaseline, the first disc is largely devoted to the debut Talking Heads: 77 and its 1978 sequel, More Songs About Buildings and Food. Instead of following strict chronological order on this collection, the two albums are interwoven, to play up at first the tense, nervy post-punk of early Talking Heads, and then it steadily reveals their growing immersion in funk and African rhythms. This has the effect of slightly downplaying Brian Enos contributions to More Songs, but he returns to the forefront on disc two, which captures Talking Heads at their creative peak for 1979s Fear of Music, 1980s Remain in Light, and 1983s Speaking in Tongues, which is when their collaboration with Eno ended. This is the sound of classic Talking Heads -- David Byrne spitting out frenzied, fractured words over the tightly wound yet supple art-funk grooves laid down by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, given melodic flair by Jerry Harrison. Its filled with timeless moments: "I Zimbra" filtering Fela Kuti through the New York boho punk; the deliriously paranoid "Life During Wartime," as potent during the war on terrorism as it was during the cold war; the brilliant "Once in a Lifetime," still Byrnes signature piece; "Crosseyed and Painless," spinning early hip-hop into uptight punk-funk; the Technicolor burst of "Burning Down the House," the single that brought them into the Top Ten; the sweet, aching "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)." Disc three deals with the aftermath of this brilliant run. At first, the group scaled the groove back and turned toward relatively straight-ahead pop with 1985s Little Creatures, represented here by such songs as "And She Was," "Stay Up Late," and the careening "Road to Nowhere," all of which retain their potency. After that, the box loses momentum as Talking Heads lost momentum, stumbling through the film project True Stories (which did produce a couple of pretty good songs in "Wild Wild Life," "Love for Sale," and "People Like Us") before ending after the worldbeat inclinations of Naked (containing the excellent "(Nothing But) Flowers" and the pretty good "Blind"; "In Asking Land" was an outtake released here for the first time, and its not particularly noteworthy). If Once in a Lifetime does run out of steam toward the end, it has to be said that it doesnt outstay its welcome, and apart from a track or two at the very end, this is a compelling, entertaining listen from start to finish. Although it bypasses Stop Making Sense entirely, its not missed, and its hard to quibble with the track selection ("The Great Curve" is the only song that perhaps should have been here but isnt, and for only one song out of eight albums, thats not bad at all), which means Once in a Lifetime is about a good of a retrospective as could be imagined, if judged just on musical terms. But this box set offers more than music. Theres a fourth disc, a DVD that is an expanded version of their video collection Storytelling Giant, containing all the groups videos by adding clips from True Stories, Naked, and Sand in the Vaseline to the original programming. This is hardly padding or an extra feature; its an integral part of the box set, since there was always a strong visual element to Talking Heads, and they were one of the great pioneers in music video. Watching the videos of Storytelling Giant now, decades after their original release, its startling how they remain fresh even as their production techniques age. "Once in a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House," and "And She Was" are still played frequently, at least on VH1-Classic, but lesser-known videos for "Crosseyed and Painless" and "Road to Nowhere" are equally vibrant (and thats to say nothing about the nostalgia trip "Love for Sale" provides; intended as a commentary on advertising, its now a time capsule of slogans, logos, and lingo from ads from 1986, making it a delight for entirely different reasons than the rest of the collection). While the DVD is more than welcome, the packaging is a little problematic. Its designed as a long narrow book, with rather garishly precious artwork, and the discs are inserted into pouches within the covers of the book. This design makes it difficult to read the numerous essays, which are all designed as reminiscences, whether its from all four bandmembers, rock critic David Fricke, novelist Rick Moody, performance artist Maggie Estep, or other assorted New York luminaries. These are generally good and interesting, and the collection of press clippings of the time is rather brilliant, but a basic history would have been welcome. Then again, this set isnt really designed to be read or played -- its designed to be looked at once or twice, then sat on the shelf. Which is too bad, because those three CDs are everything a Talking Heads retrospective should be and the DVD is essential viewing. Its enough to keep the box from being essential itself. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 21 Title: The Best of Talking Heads Released: 2004-08-17 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:17:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Love → Building on Fire (02:58) 2 Psycho Killer (04:20) 3 Uh‐Oh, Love Comes to Town (02:50) 4 Take Me to the River (05:03) 5 Found a Job (04:59) 6 Life During Wartime (03:41) 7 Heaven (04:01) 8 Memories Can’t Wait (03:30) 9 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 10 Houses in Motion (04:33) 11 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (04:56) 12 Girlfriend Is Better (05:43) 13 Burning Down the House (04:01) 14 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 15 And She Was (03:39) 16 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 17 Blind (05:00) 18 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) |
| The Best of Talking Heads : Allmusic album Review : Rhinos -- or, more accurately, Sire/Warner/Rhinos -- Best of Talking Heads follows 2003s box set Once in a Lifetime by a year, and it features the same remastering from that set. It also shares part of a title with the 1992 U.K. compilation The Best of Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime, which was released the same year as the American double-disc overview Popular Favorites: Sand in the Vaseline. Given the similar titles, similar release dates, and similar track listings, its easy to get confused at first, but all you need to know is that if youre looking for a comprehensive collection, get the Rhino box, and if you want a disc of hits, get this single-disc Rhino collection. Not that the 2004 Best of Talking Heads has every hit or well-known song -- "I Zimbra," "Born Under Punches," "Crosseyed and Painless," "Swamp," and "Stay Up Late" could all have been here and all are missed -- but at 18 tracks, this is a generous compilation and draws a better portrait of the band than not just the 1992 single-disc compilation, but arguably the patchwork Popular Favorites as well. For the casual fan, this is likely all theyll need to have, and for others, its a good place to get acquainted with the band. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 21 Title: Bonus Rarities and Outtakes Released: 2006-02-08 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:11:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 I Want to Live (03:23) 2 New Feeling (alternate version) (03:14) 3 First Week/Last Week…carefree (acoustic version) (03:37) 4 A Clean Break (Lets Work) (live at CBGBs, 10/10/77) (05:01) 5 These Boots Are Made for Walkin (David Byrne Solo acoustic version) (01:05) 6 Im Not Ready Yet (David Byrne Solo acoustic version) (00:58) 7 Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (alternate version) (02:11) 8 Warning Sign (alternate version) (04:18) 9 Artists Only (alternate version) (05:13) 10 Electricity (instrumental) (03:24) 11 Drugs (alternate version) (03:39) 12 I Zimbra (12" version) (03:56) 13 Crosseyed and Painless (alternate version) (07:15) 14 The Lady Dont Mind (Moog March version) (06:18) 15 People Like Us (John Goodman vocal version) (04:30) 16 Gangster of Love (LP version) (04:29) 17 Lifetime Piling Up (03:53) 18 Popsicle (05:19) |
 | Album: 18 of 21 Title: The Collection Released: 2007-01-15 Tracks: 13 Duration: 59:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Psycho Killer (04:24) 2 Burning Down the House (live) (04:04) 3 Girlfriend Is Better (live) (05:08) 4 The Lady Don’t Mind (03:58) 5 Television Man (06:10) 6 Love for Sale (04:31) 7 Radio Head (03:32) 8 People Like Us (04:30) 9 Blind (vocal mix) (04:48) 10 Totally Nude (04:11) 11 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) 12 Mommy Daddy You and I (03:58) 13 Road to Nowhere (04:20) |
 | Album: 19 of 21 Title: Same As It Ever Was Released: 2009 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:06:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Love → Building on Fire (02:58) 2 The Book I Read (04:10) 3 Psycho Killer (04:20) 4 Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (02:11) 5 Take Me to the River (05:03) 6 Heaven (04:01) 7 Cities (04:14) 8 Life During Wartime (03:41) 9 Crosseyed and Painless (04:47) 10 Once in a Lifetime (04:20) 11 Burning Down the House (04:01) 12 This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (04:58) 13 And She Was (03:43) 14 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 15 Wild Wild Life (03:41) 16 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:34) |
| Same As It Ever Was : Allmusic album Review : Released via Starbucks Opus Collections series in 2009, Same as It Ever Was is a very good 16-track overview of Talking Heads basics. Surprisingly for a compilation geared toward mass-market casual fans, Same as It Ever Was skews a little bit toward their early art punk and not their latter-day crossover hits, with half of the set culled from their first three albums, but this is the kind of hair-splitting that is only of interest to those who already own the proper albums, all housed in Rhinos white-plastic brick. This is for the less dedicated listener and it will satisfy them, as it has "Psycho Killer," "Take Me to the River," "Life During Wartime," "Once in a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House," "This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)," "Road to Nowhere," "Wild Wild Life," and "(Nothing But) Flowers" on one entertaining disc. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 21 Title: Essential Released: 2011-10-04 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:09:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Road to Nowhere (04:20) 2 And She Was (03:39) 3 The Lady Don’t Mind (03:58) 4 Television Man (06:10) 5 Love for Sale (04:31) 6 Hey Now (03:42) 7 Wild Wild Life (03:40) 8 Radio Head (03:32) 9 Blind (05:00) 10 Totally Nude (04:11) 11 (Nothing but) Flowers (05:33) 12 Sax and Violins (05:17) 13 Psycho Killer (04:24) 14 Once in a Lifetime (05:27) 15 Take Me to the River (live) (05:34) |
 | Album: 21 of 21 Title: Performance Released: 2014-05-12 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:10:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Artists Only (06:09) 2 Stay Hungry (03:37) 3 Cities (05:08) 4 Paper (02:40) 5 Mind (05:16) 6 Heaven (04:24) 7 The Book I Read (05:32) 8 Electric Guitar (03:07) 9 Air (04:06) 10 Warning Sign (05:03) 11 Love → Building on Fire (03:45) 12 Memories Cant Wait (03:56) 13 Psycho Killer (07:50) 14 Life During Wartime (04:11) 15 Take Me to the River (05:37) |