Talking Heads DualDisc Brick

Disc 1
1	Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town 2:49
2	New Feeling 3:09
3	Tentative Decisions 3:08
4	Happy Day 3:55
5	Who Is It? 1:44
6	No Compassion 4:50
7	The Book I Read 4:10
8	Don't Worry About the Government 3:02
9	First Week/Last Week...Carefree 3:21
10	Psycho Killer 4:21
11	Pulled Up 4:37
12	Love - Building on Fire Bonus Track 3:00
13	I Wish You Wouldn't Say That Bonus Track 2:39
14	Psycho Killer Bonus Track / Acoustic 4:20
15	I Feel It in My Heart previously unreleased / Bonus Track 3:15
16	Sugar on My Tongue Bonus Track 2:36
Disc 2
1	Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town 5.1 Surround Sound 2:48
2	New Feeling 5.1 Surround Sound 3:09
3	Tentative Decisions 5.1 Surround Sound 3:04
4	Happy Day 5.1 Surround Sound 3:55
5	Who Is It? 5.1 Surround Sound 1:41
6	No Compassion 5.1 Surround Sound 4:47
7	The Book I Read 5.1 Surround Sound 4:06
8	Don't Worry About the Government 5.1 Surround Sound 3:00
9	First Week/Last Week...Carefree 5.1 Surround Sound 3:19
10	Psycho Killer 5.1 Surround Sound 4:19
11	Pulled Up 5.1 Surround Sound 4:29
12	Psycho Killer Bonus Track / 5.1 Mix / Version 4:14
13	Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town ... 5.1 Surround Sound 2:48
14	Pulled Up Live / previously unreleased / DVD 4:03
15	I Feel It in My Heart Live / previously unreleased / DVD 3:06
Disc 3
1	Thank You for Sending Me an Angel 2:11
2	With Our Love 3:30
3	The Good Thing 3:03
4	Warning Sign 3:54
5	The Girls Want to Be with the Girls 2:38
6	Found a Job 5:01
7	Artists Only 3:34
8	I'm Not in Love 4:34
9	Stay Hungry 2:39
10	Take Me to the River 5:02
11	The Big Country 5:39
12	Stay Hungry previously unreleased / Bonus Track / 1977 Version 3:47
13	I'm Not in Love previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Alternate Version 5:17
14	The Big Country previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Alternate Version 5:03
15	Thank You for Sending Me an Angel Bonus Track / Country Angel Version 2:11
Disc 4
1	Thank You for Sending Me an Angel 5.1 Surround Sound 2:11
2	With Our Love 5.1 Surround Sound 3:30
3	The Good Thing 5.1 Surround Sound 3:03
4	Warning Sign 5.1 Surround Sound 3:55
5	The Girls Want to Be with the Girls 5.1 Surround Sound 2:37
6	Found a Job 5.1 Surround Sound 5:00
7	Artists Only 5.1 Surround Sound 3:34
8	I'm Not in Love 5.1 Surround Sound 4:33
9	Stay Hungry 5.1 Surround Sound 2:39
10	Take Me to the River 5.1 Surround Sound 5:00
11	The Big Country 5.1 Surround Sound 5:30
12	Found a Job Live / previously unreleased / DVD 4:45
Disc 5
1	I Zimbra 3:08
2	Mind 4:13
3	Paper 2:38
4	Cities 4:17
5	Life During Wartime 3:41
6	Memories Can't Wait 3:30
7	Air 3:34
8	Heaven 4:01
9	Animals 3:30
10	Electric Guitar 3:01
11	Drugs 5:20
12	Dancing for Money previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 2:41
13	Life During Wartime previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Alternate Version 4:07
14	Warning Sign Live / previously unreleased / DVD 4:06
15	Cities Bonus Track / Alternate Version 5:30
16	Mind previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Alternate Version 4:26
Disc 6
1	I Zimbra 5.1 Surround Sound 3:06
2	Mind 5.1 Surround Sound 4:12
3	Paper 5.1 Surround Sound 2:36
4	Cities 5.1 Surround Sound 4:05
5	Life During Wartime 5.1 Surround Sound 3:41
6	Memories Can't Wait 5.1 Surround Sound 3:30
7	Air 5.1 Surround Sound 3:33
8	Heaven 5.1 Surround Sound 4:01
9	Animals 5.1 Surround Sound 3:29
10	Electric Guitar 5.1 Surround Sound 2:59
11	Drugs 5.1 Surround Sound 5:13
12	Cities previously unreleased / DVD / Version 5:15
13	I Zimbra previously unreleased / DVD / Version 4:04
Disc 7
1	Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) 5:49
2	Crosseyed and Painless 4:47
3	The Great Curve 6:27
4	Once in a Lifetime 4:22
5	Houses in Motion 4:33
6	Seen and Not Seen 3:24
7	Listening Wind 4:42
8	The Overload 6:10
9	Fela's Riff previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 5:19
10	Unison previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 4:49
11	Double Groove previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 4:27
12	Right Start previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 4:07
Disc 8
1	Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) 5.1 Surround Sound 5:46
2	Crosseyed and Painless 5.1 Surround Sound 4:45
3	The Great Curve 5.1 Surround Sound 6:26
4	Once in a Lifetime 5.1 Surround Sound 4:19
5	Houses in Motion 5.1 Surround Sound 4:30
6	Seen and Not Seen 5.1 Surround Sound 3:20
7	Listening Wind 5.1 Surround Sound 4:42
8	The Overload 5.1 Surround Sound 6:00
9	Crosseyed and Painless previously unreleased / DVD / Version 7:17
10	Once in a Lifetime previously unreleased / DVD / Version 5:34
Disc 9
1	Burning Down the House 4:01
2	Making Flippy Floppy 5:54
3	Girlfriend Is Better 5:43
4	Slippery People 5:06
5	I Get Wild/Wild Gravity 5:16
6	Swamp 5:13
7	Moon Rocks 5:45
8	Pull Up the Roots 5:09
9	This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) 5:04
10	Two Note Swivel previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Unfinished Outtake 5:51
11	Burning Down the House Bonus Track / Alternate Version 5:09
Disc 10
1	Burning Down the House 5.1 Surround Sound 4:00
2	Making Flippy Floppy 5.1 Surround Sound 5:54
3	Girlfriend Is Better 5.1 Surround Sound 5:45
4	Slippery People 5.1 Surround Sound 5:06
5	I Get Wild/Wild Gravity 5.1 Surround Sound 5:16
6	Swamp 5.1 Surround Sound 5:16
7	Moon Rocks 5.1 Surround Sound 5:45
8	Pull Up the Roots 5.1 Surround Sound 5:08
9	This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) 5.1 Surround Sound 4:56
10	Burning Down the House ... 5.1 Surround Sound 5:02
11	Burning Down the House DVD 4:10
12	This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) DVD 4:49
Disc 11
1	And She Was 3:39
2	Give Me Back My Name 3:22
3	Creatures of Love 4:15
4	The Lady Don't Mind 3:58
5	Perfect World 4:27
6	Stay Up Late 3:43
7	Walk It Down 4:44
8	Television Man 6:10
9	Road to Nowhere 4:27
10	Road to Nowhere previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Early Version 4:39
11	And She Was previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Early Version 3:39
12	Television Man Bonus Track / Extended Mix 7:52
Disc 12
1	And She Was 5.1 Surround Sound 3:36
2	Give Me Back My Name 5.1 Surround Sound 3:20
3	Creatures of Love 5.1 Surround Sound 4:12
4	The Lady Don't Mind 5.1 Surround Sound 4:03
5	Perfect World 5.1 Surround Sound 4:26
6	Stay Up Late 5.1 Surround Sound 3:51
7	Walk It Down 5.1 Surround Sound 4:42
8	Television Man 5.1 Surround Sound 6:10
9	Road to Nowhere 5.1 Surround Sound 4:19
10	And She Was DVD 3:37
11	Road to Nowhere DVD 4:10
Disc 13
1	Love for Sale 4:31
2	Puzzlin' Evidence / Bert Choir Cross 5:24
3	Hey Now 3:41
4	Papa Legba 5:55
5	Wild Wild Life 3:39
6	Radio Head 3:32
7	Dream Operator 4:38
8	People Like Us 4:28
9	City of Dreams 5:09
10	Wild Wild Life Bonus Track / Extended Mix 5:36
11	Papa Legba previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Pops Staples Vocal Version 6:01
12	Radio Head previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Tito Larriva Vocal Version 3:50
Disc 14
1	Love for Sale 5.1 Surround Sound 4:30
2	Puzzlin' Evidence 5.1 Surround Sound 5:23
3	Hey Now 5.1 Surround Sound 3:42
4	Papa Legba 5.1 Surround Sound 5:54
5	Wild Wild Life 5.1 Surround Sound 3:39
6	Radio Head 5.1 Surround Sound 3:14
7	Dream Operator 5.1 Surround Sound 4:39
8	People Like Us 5.1 Surround Sound 4:26
9	City of Dreams 5.1 Surround Sound 5:06
10	Papa Legba 5.1 Mix / Version 5:59
11	Wild Wild Life DVD 3:43
12	Love for Sale DVD 3:29
Disc 15
1	Blind 4:59
2	Mr. Jones 4:20
3	Totally Nude 4:11
4	Ruby Dear 3:50
5	(Nothing But) Flowers 5:35
6	The Democratic Circus 5:04
7	The Facts of Life 6:28
8	Mommy Daddy You and I 3:58
9	Big Daddy 5:38
10	Bill 3:22
11	Cool Water 5:22
12	Sax and Violins Bonus Track 5:17
Disc 16
1	Blind 5.1 Surround Sound 4:58
2	Mr. Jones 5.1 Surround Sound 4:18
3	Totally Nude 5.1 Surround Sound 4:10
4	Ruby Dear 5.1 Surround Sound 3:48
5	(Nothing But) Flowers 5.1 Surround Sound 5:31
6	The Democratic Circus 5.1 Surround Sound 5:01
7	The Facts of Life 5.1 Surround Sound 6:25
8	Mommy Daddy You and I 5.1 Surround Sound 3:58
9	Big Daddy 5.1 Surround Sound 5:37
10	Bill 5.1 Surround Sound 3:21
11	Cool Water 5.1 Surround Sound 5:10
12	Sax and Violins Bonus Track / 5.1 Mix 5:49
13	Blind DVD 4:13
14	Sax and Violins DVD 5:12

Barnes & Noble

Packaged in a white plastic block with song titles chiseled into it, this box set collects all eight of Talking Heads' studio albums, each reimagined as a DualDisc with a surfeit of additional content. Co-produced by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, with Jerry Harrison overseeing the audio and DVD-A remixes, each DualDisc includes the original album in remastered stereo, plus rare bonus songs on the CD side. The DVD side contains the original album mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, along with bonus audio and video content, lyrics, and photos. Each disc also contains a limited-edition art print. Highlights of the previously unreleased tracks include an acoustic version of "Psycho Killer" mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound; a live 1976 video performance of "I Feel It in My Heart" recorded at the Kitchen in New York; alternate mixes of "The Big Country" and "Life During Wartime"; early versions of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere"; a version of "Papa Legba" featuring Pops Staples; and several unfinished outtakes from the Remain in Light sessions. The bonus video content includes several music videos and German television performances.

All Music Guide

Talking Heads fans have been waiting a long time to have the band's eight studio albums remastered and reissued, but they may find that the long-awaited revamping of the group's catalog is somewhat problematic. Instead of being released as individual titles, all eight titles were boxed and reissued as an expensive set, Talking Heads Brick (this box retails for $149.99; individual releases are tentatively scheduled to follow, three to four months after this set's October 2005 release) -- and they're not issued as CDs, they're only available as DualDiscs, a format that contains a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. Each album is presented in expanded form with a handful of bonus tracks on the CD side, with the DVD side containing the entire album, but usually not the new bonus tracks available on the CD side, in 5.1 Surround mixes and PCM stereo, plus some additional video bonus material. DualDiscs do offer more than a conventional CD, but they're thicker than CDs, which may mean that they may not play on all CD players, and almost surely won't play on any computer or car stereo -- all things that will frustrate fans, but that's hardly not the only thing that will frustrate them about this brick-like set. There's the fact that while most of the group's videos are here, some, like "Once in a Lifetime," are conspicuously missing. Then, there's the packaging, which may be considerably more user-friendly than the ungainly 2003 box Once in a Lifetime, but it's designed as an all-white art object. The raised-type text of the group's song titles is pretty cool on the outside of this moulded plastic box, but each individual CD is given a white tray inlay that contains no text at all -- no text on the spine indicating what album it is, no song titles on the back, which means that anybody wanting to know what the bonus tracks are on an individual discs will have to open up the booklets, which is exceptionally infuriating. Those booklets also contain an insert miniture art lithograph -- replications of pictures and photos interpreting what certain Talking Heads songs mean -- plus testimonials and some artwork recycled from the 2003 box, along with full lyrics, including some shots of the original lyrics. It's nice, but more complete liner notes would have been appreciated.

Apart from these packaging and format problems, the set does deliver on many fan's highest hopes for the set. The sound is indeed a marked improvement over the shoddy compact discs that have been on the market for roughly 20 years; it's not an improvement on the 2003 box, but an extension, and it's a pleasure to hear all these albums in such clear, rich sound. Similarly, the 5.1 mixes are good and use the sound stage well, even if they're not particularly revelatory.

Of course, the bonus tracks are of the most interest to the hardcore fans who have been waiting for this overhaul of the group's catalog, and, by and large, this new material is very good. Talking Heads: 77 has the singles "Love=Building on Fire" and "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That," plus the B-side acoustic version of "Psycho Killer" and "Sugar on My Tongue," which previously appeared on Sand in the Vaseline; there's also a good previously unreleased outtake of an early song called "I Feel It in My Heart," which is also on the DVD side as a compelling video performance of the band playing at the Kitchen in 1976, while there's video of the group live in 1978 playing "Pulled Up." More Songs About Buildings and Food has a spare version of "Stay Hungry" cut during the 77 sessions, along with alternates of "I'm Not in Love" and "The Big Country," which are lean, fairly rough, and exciting. There's also a previously "Country Angel" version of "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel," which is built on acoustic guitars and has heavy washes of organs; there are two live performances from 1978 on the DVD side. Fear of Music -- which rivals Remain in Light as the best overall remastering here -- has alternate versions of "Life During Wartime," "Cities," and "Mind," plus the "unfinished outtake" "Dancing for Money," which may have a promising groove, but is as unfinished as it's billed, containing little more than a rhythmic vamp and two basically wordless guide vocals; the DVD side contains two performances from their 1980 appearance on the German TV show Rockpop. Remain in Light has four unfinished outtakes, and the fact that they're not finished should come as no great surprise given the way that the album was recorded from the rhythm tracks up, but all four are excellent, dense rhythmic vamps highlighted by "Fela's Riff," which is so tight there's no room for guide vocals, and the intertwined, trippy "Double Groove" ("Right Start" mutated into "Once in a Lifetime"). The DVD side contains Rockpop appearances from 1980, but not any music videos. Speaking in Tongues has just two bonus tracks: the unfinished "Two Note Swivel," which is closer than anything on Fear of Music or Remain in Light to being completed, since David Byrne actually has words in addition to the melody, plus an alternate "Burning Down the House" that isn't as lively as the finished version; the DVD contains videos for "Burning Down the House" and "This Must Be the Place." Little Creatures contains an early version of "Road to Nowhere" that is much tamer and simpler than the finished version, and an early version of "And She Was" that lacks the pre-chorus and sounds like a rough demo; there's also an extended mix of "Television Man" that was released as a 12" single, plus vidoes of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere" on the DVD side. True Stories has an extended mix of "Wild Wild Life" that was originally issued on the original CD version of the album, plus "Papa Legba" and "Radio Head" taken from the film True Stories -- they contain the original Talking Heads backing tracks but are sung by Pops Staples and Tito Larriva, respectively; the DVD has videos for "Wild Wild Life," plus "Love for Sale." Finally, Naked, perhaps appropriately, has the least amount of bonus material, containing just the outtake "Sax and Violins," which was released on the Until the End of the World soundtrack, and the DVD contains the video of it as well.

It's a lot of material to get through, and many fans may prefer to wade through it as individual releases, particularly since the bonus material does get less interesting around Speaking in Tongues. They also may feel a little burned because the unreleased songs and alternate takes here are much more compelling than the unreleased material on Once in a Lifetime, and they also may feel burned that not every music video the group did is here, when there clearly was space to fit them in. So, there's plenty to complain about, but there's also plenty to celebrate, since despite it all, this set does deliver the basics: it has the albums in glorious remastered sound, plus good bonus material. The packaging and presentation could have been better, but fans who want to shell out for this very expensive set will at least be satisfied that their desire for improved sound and bonus tracks has finally been fulfilled. Stephen Thomas Erlewine