Customer Reviews

Talking Heads: Chronology Deluxe

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David Byrne presents a series of retrospective snapshots of early Talking Heads, back when they were recent art school grads and most folks weren't yet hip to what they were doing. Alas, I was one of those clueless souls. When I first saw them perform live at an outdoor gig on the UCLA campus in 1979, I was intrigued by the subversive paranoia of "Psycho Killer" and by their transformation of Al Green's "Take Me to the River," but I have to admit I was not bowled over by most of their songs or by their frontman. Who the hell was this jittery new wave robot?

Fortunately that reaction was due to my own shortcomings and prejudices as a listener rather than any deficiencies in the group or their music, and fortunately producer Brian Eno recognized their unique sound and vision and decided to collaborate with them. As Byrne writes about the "Chronology" project, which took him several years to assemble, "What you really get is a sense of how tight this band was." The insistent rhythms and angular melodies and oblique lyrics finally worked their way into my brain and took root, and I became a fan, buying and listening to everything they released.

Byrne points out that "the early clips were obviously not commercial--the sound and image can be a little rough--but you can see the extremely stripped down version of the band playing at CBGB in those days." The later performances are well-filmed and well-recorded, and they are amply worth the viewing and listening. At last we have a video compilation to document the evolution of one of the most vital avant-garde groups in rock history.

I recommend the deluxe edition over the plain DVD. Contained within a colorful 48-page hardcover book are many photos, an angst-ridden Lester Bangs review from 1979 (Byrne calls it "a beautiful existential rant"), and a collection of 15 live performances from the mid-70s to the early 80s. And live was always the best way to appreciate the band. Also included on the DVD are an interview with David in 1978, a long excerpt from a British TV show in 1979, a performance from Talking Heads' 2002 reunion at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and commentary from all four bandmates.

When I attended the "Stop Making Sense" tour stop in Seattle in 1983, I was as electrified as everyone else by how the group had blossomed creatively; the injection of funk into the musical mix was a stroke of brilliance. You get a sense of this during the only song they play from the album "Speaking in Tongues": their massive hit "Burning Down the House." But "Chronology" isn't about commercial success. It's about the birth of genius. The photos and essay in the book and the performances on the DVD capture this very well. If you know and love Talking Heads from their later incarnations, you owe it to yourself to check out their beginnings.

Also recommended is a live double album from 1982, "The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads," with tracks from concerts between 1977 and 1981. The first disc features the quartet on their own while the second features the group with six sidemen. Rereleased in 2004, the 17 original cuts are augmented by 16 additional numbers. If you enjoy the DVD, the two-CD set is a must-have.

I recieved mine today and it was a time machine disguised as a DVD.
I was lucky enough to see them live 5 times in the course of their various tours.

The early B&W videos have been cleaned-up well. The audio has also been cleaned-up too.

A must buy for TH fans.

I found the Talking Heads Chronology to be a terrific collection of concert video and other selected moments. I enjoyed seeing the bands early days, the personnel changes and additions and how the group developed into a great band with David Byrne as its lead. A fun buy, worth getting.

What's nice about this collection is how well it complements the rest of Talking Heads' limited catalog of live releases. While the package design and between-segment disc presentation fits right in with the gimmicky and careless visual appearance of about half of their albums, the content--a mix of live performances (or "live" in at least the American Bandstand bit) broadcast on TV and concert bits recorded professionally and sometimes perhaps not--does a nice job of adding to what's already been released without duplicating anything. None of these performances were included among the live videos in the CD-DVD reissues from several years ago, though some of these are from the same concerts. So no double-dipping here, even if it would be nice to have those 8 spots included on the disc if for no other reason than more convenient viewing. Furthermore, where Stop Making Sense focuses on their late-middle period songs, this set is all about the pre-1983 songs. In fact, for the first time we really get to see and hear the Heads' original three-piece sound over the first several performances here from 1976. Finally, it's great to see their too-short 2002 reunion captured here. Overall, this is the perfect video companion to The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads.

This video is much shorter than I'd like it to be. There is clearly more extant concert footage from each of the gigs represented here, though I suppose much further inclusion would have duplicated some songs. Then of course there's the fact that they basically stopped performing together after filming Stop Making Sense despite recording a few more albums. I guess you can say Byrne quit when he knew he was a Head. But a bad joke doesn't make that final performance any less bittersweet as one wonders what they could have recorded in the intervening years, or better yet performed. It makes it seem as if Frantz, Weymouth and Harrison were just talented musicians Byrne played with for a number of years, and now he just goes out and plays some of those songs with other sidemen. This video showcases the great music they made together, and the understated yet agitated appearance that made that music so intriguing. So five stars for the video content, but if I could I would take two stars away from Mr. Byrne.

First, I definitely recommend the "Deluxe Limited Edition", this review is based on that Edition. This dvd contains some very significant, early rare, previously unreleased, footage of the Talking Heads. The Talking Heads along with the Ramones, Blondie, & Patti Smith were among the very finest punk rock bands to emerge from the New York City "CBGB" music scene, and all are inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I was fortunate to visit CBGB's in NYC before it was shut-down in 2006, due to a dispute between Hilly Krystal (founder) & the owner of the building.

The Deluxe Limited Edition Contains a DVD, a Hard Back Book written by the late Lester Bangs for the Village Voice, only in this Edition, you get his written works about the Talking Heads in a previously unreleased "Unedited" form. The Bonus Material on the DVD contains: The South Bank Show 1979, which actually is video/ audio commentaries by David Byrne, Chris Franz, Jerry Harrison, & Tina Weymouth, with their performances playing in the background.

I know the amazon product description lists the songs on the dvd, but it doesn't list the venue, & other info about the song, so I'll include that info in my review.

1.Mic Test (The Kitchen NYC 1976)
2.With Our Love (CBGB 1975 NYC)
3.I'm Not in Love (CBGB 1975 NYC)
4.Psycho Killer (intro by Seymour Stein, Sire Records, CBGB 1975 NYC)
5.Intros Montage (the Kitchen NYC 1976)
6.The Girls Want to be with the Girls (the Kitchen NYC 1976)
7.Don't Worry About the Government (Old Grey Whistle Test Show, UK 1978)
8.Dressing Room fan footage & "Found a Job" (Entermedia Theatre NYC 1978)
9.Thank you for sending Me an Angel (Entermedia theatre NYC 1978)
10.Warning Sign (Sproul Plaza, Berkely, CA 1978)
11.Artist Only (Saturday Night Live 1979 NYC)
12.Take Me to the River (American Bandstand 1979) NOTE: On this one, after the Talking Heads finish the song, Dick Clark begans to interview David Byrne, and David "freezes up", so Dick went over to Tina and asked her was David always that shy? Tina replies that David is "Organically Shy". Also it should be noted that this performance sounds just like the radio version, because Dick Clark had the bank "lip-synching" their instruments. This is covered in detail in the book "This must be the Place" by David Bowman on pages 145-146.

Note: The Following songs are greatly improved, along with David Byrne's confidence, also you get the addition of several outstanding African-American musicians to the band.

13.Crosseyed and Painless (Capitol Theatre, NJ 1980, includes Brian Eno)
14.Animals (rockpop concert, Germany 1980 includes Brian Eno)
15.Love - Building on Fire (US Festival San Bernardino, CA 1982)
16.Cities (Montreux Festival, Montreux, Switzerland 1982 - NOTE: This is simply an "Awesome Performance". "....Did I forget to mention Memphis, the home of Elvis & the ancient Greeks....?"
17.Burning Down the House (Dave Letterman Show NYC 1983)
18.Life During Wartime (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony NYC 2002).

In conclusion, if you like the Talking Heads, I highly recommend this Deluxe Limited Edition of their "Chronology", you'll love it. Thanks and I hope this review has been helpful.

P.S. Just an extra note, Jerry Harrison has been producing records for blues guitarist, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, from my home state of Louisiana. Jerry appears on Kenny Wayne's "10 Days Out-Blues From the Backroads" DVD/CD, as the producer. Also, Jerry has been involved in producing Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Live in Chicago" CD, and "How I Go" studio CD.

Great insight into a truly important band.
The music is interrupted occasionally by commentary.
(FYI to video editors: THAT ALWAYS SUCKS!)
We enjoyed it for the "backstage/studio" journey.
The audio was fairly good, considering the technology of the time.

The Talking Heads Chronology Deluxe DVD really is pretty cool. The footage is really interesting, especially the bonus features. It was a worthwhile watch.

HOWEVER, there was one thing that really bothered me: THE EDITING. Maybe I'm just a picky art student, but it is completely obvious the editing between clips was done pretty hastily, and probably on iMovie. (Not that there's anything wrong with iMovie, but you have to disguise your use of it if you're going to do it well.) The fade-outs between clips were much too quick (I recognized them as the default fade-out speed for iMovie) and many times cut off the ends of people's speech. The choices in where to cut clips were also really clunky and not very natural- you'd think cutting a clip after someone talks would be alright, but there's one in particular (I think it's the intro montage) that cuts right as David starts talking again and it's really distracting. The commentary was also a little strange, in that it didn't explain beforehand that they weren't commenting together- each member is separate (to be honest, I was looking forward to whatever drama would ensue with David thrown in with the rest of them.) It's interesting commentary though- the best part is when, during the Hall of Fame performance, David says something like "Now you get to see your favorite band all old and pasty, just like you. Maybe it's better not to see that." (Ha ha ha)

Besides that blunder, the book-style casing is beautiful and the footage is great if you love the Heads as much as I do.

From an awkward, almost painful beginning in our old NYC hood downtown to the bittersweet farewell at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this is a must-have document for anyone who treasures the journey of one of the all-time greatest bands in pop music history. To have decades of musical growth gathered into a single collection is an endless delight. Yet, for me--even more than these snapshots of the band as an increasingly sophisticated whole--the most remarkable thing in this retrospective is watching a man save his own life through the act of performing...David Byrne, from his almost painful awkwardness in the mid-70s, to the expressions of sheer musical joy of the 80s, to the comfort and assurance of the mature artist. You need to own this Chronology, folks. This is music as fresh today as it ever was.

I'm a huge Talking Heads fan and I have a lot of collectibles including unreleased songs. This is a nice addition to my collection but I really wish it were longer, a lot longer. Talking Heads have such a long history and there is so much to tell. Maybe I'm being greedy. But it is worth the price and I don't regret the purchase. It is still an amazing product.

Let's keep this short and sweet. This live DVD/Book is an incredibly fascinating look at the Talking Heads. The video documents the progression of the band's different phases. It's really amazing to see the transformation. They were definitely one of the greatest bands of their era. The book also is really a great read as well. I highly recommend.