Customer Reviews

Talking Heads

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a Talking Heads fan, I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming! BRICK BOX contains all eight Talking Heads studio CDs, remastered into dualdiscs with a surround-sound option on the DVD side. Added into the mix are bonus tracks, rare live video, some not-so-rare promo clips, and photos that altogether would probably sell quite well as a stand-alone product. As impressive as the sound quality is, the key element here is the music itself. The upgraded sonics are the means to better appreciate the end. That being the fact that although Talking Heads have gotten some props (induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, for one), I still think they are hugely underrated.

Most great musical events come together via a unique balance of varied, seemingly incongruous elements, and this group is no exception. Begin with the distinctive, innovative and eccentric David Byrne (lead vocalist, principal songwriter, and guitarist), and continue with bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz, keboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison, and at times an expanded lineup of mostly funk-oriented musicians (Bernie Worrell from P-Funk, etc.). These musicians were able to blend together an amazing array of musical genres -- rock, pop, funk, gospel, etc. -- into an individualistic, constantly-evolving approach that I would argue stands the test of time as well as anyone this side of Miles Davis or Sly Stone. Unlike some others I do believe Byrne has continued this impressive streak of musical productivity as a solo artist since the group disbanded (soon after 1988's NAKED). Yet there is still something extra special about the Talking Heads' musical approach, as represented by these eight CDs.

Beginning as a left-of-center pop-meets-rock quartet, even the Heads debut in 1977 went against the grain of not only the mainstream, but also steered clear of alternative musical trends. Even the no-frills way that they dressed made a statement. The following two albums began to see their sound expanding both stylistically and sonically (in part via Brian Eno's co-production). The subsequent albums were as flawless and innovative as the debut, culminating in the absolutely brilliant REMAIN IN LIGHT (1980). Amazingly, as they got more progressive -- with prominent funk and world beat elements now central to their sound -- they became more popular; one of the too-rare occasions where the most creative music of the era found a large audience (probably because Byrne and co. didn't forget to make the tunes irresistably catchy as well as serve up provocative multi-cultural music). After a semi-hiatus, the group continued in a similar vein with 1983's SPEAKING IN TONGUES, featuring their biggest hit ("Burning Down The House"), which was quickly followed by a tour which resulted in one of the greatest rock films of all time (STOP MAKING SENSE).

Many followers believe that was the group's peak, and the last three albums were solid but less spectacular. Even if true, by any standards but their own the album LITTLE CREATURES (1985) was excellent. Perhaps it was somewhat of a retreat musically from the funk-based musical experimentation of the last several discs, but even this back-to-basics approach retained some of the intrigue and musical advances of the REMAIN IN LIGHT era. 1986's TRUE STORIES effectively put more emphasis on the tunes, while the last album (1988's NAKED, probably their least memorable overall) to an extent took its cues from the REMAIN IN LIGHT era, with Paris-based African musicians added to the quartet. However, the group never toured after 1983, and the members grew apart musically to the point where a breakup seemed the next logical step (they did reunite at their 2002 Hall Of Fame induction, still sounding ahead of their time).

Back to the fresh remixes. What the surround sound versions invariably do is expand the sound from 2D to 3D (or more accurately, 5.1 dimensional). The resulting fullness and clarity of sound are amazing to hear. In a couple of spots I take issue with the remixing decisions that were made (particularly on 1978's MORE SONGS...), but 99% of the time these new versions greatly improve on the original sound. So much more info is brought out particularly on FEAR OF MUSIC (1979) that one might at times think these are remixes with added elements. That album and REMAIN IN LIGHT in particular sound musically innovative by TODAY'S standards, let alone in comparison to their peers in the 1970s and 1980s. Really, this group could do no wrong, and these remastered versions make them sound even more right. (By the way, even if you don't have a surround sound system, the regular versions on the CD side are also significant upgrades).

In case you didn't know it, all of the albums available in this "Talking Heads Brick" (which have subsequently been released as individual DualDiscs in the U.S.) have recently been released in Europe PROPERLY -- as 2-disc sets, one being a standard cd and the other a dvd-audio disc. I waited to hear these wonderful 5.1 mixes (and they ARE wonderful) because I was concerned about compatibility issues. Given the number of negative reviews here, it seems my concerns were well founded.

So if you've been holding out on this wonderful music because of concerns about the DualDisc format (or you're just unable to get the discs you already bought to play correctly) get yourself to Amazon's UK website and order the cd+dvd-a packages (which include all of the same music but slightly different graphics, including no outside "brick").

Oh, to the previous reviewer who explained how to "fix" his Pioneer to get it to the play the dvd-audio tracks by changing the setting from dvd-audio to dvd-video: When you did this, you instructed the player to play the Dolby Digital tracks that are also available on these discs. You are NOT listening to the higher resolution dvd-audio tracks but rather lossy, compressed Dolby Digital tracks. Yes, they are the same mixes but the audio fidelity is markedly different.

All eight official Talking Heads studio albums are collected here in a nice embossed plastic 'brick' on state-of-the-art DualDiscs.

Each DualDisc contains a remastered stereo mix on one side and a 5.1 dolby surround (DVD-A) mix of the other side. Each side comes with different bonus tracks, varying from outtakes to remixes, music videos and rare live video footage.

Of course, like with every boxset, the collection is not complete - there are different alternate versions and outtakes on the previously released "Sand in the Vaseline" 2CD set and "Once in a Lifetime" boxset, but "Brick" offers a lot of new -and previously unreleased- material to keep you busy for a while.

The 5.1 surround mix - done by longtime Talking Heads producer Eric 'E.T.' Thorngren and Heads' keyboard player Jerry Harrison - is by far the best surround mix I've ever heard. It beats 'new' surround albums like the latest Beck and Bjork easily with an amazing mix that puts you in the perfect spot with the band playing just in front of you and effects (percussion!) haunting you from every corner of the room. And it all sounds natural! Try anything from "Remain in Light" or "Naked" (the bands most tense albums) in surround and you know what I mean.

But also the less complicated albums (Jerry added some nice linernotes on the 5.1 mixes to every album) sound spectacular in surround; it's unbelievable that everything you hear now (handclaps, basslines, percussion, background vocals, soundeffects) was on the original records when they were first recorded - A lot of details were inaudible on the vinyls and previous CD releases, so even for the die-hard fans (and I consider myself one), there's a lot to explore on the new discs.

Each DualDisc comes with linernotes, lyrics and a limited edition artprint (mostly reproductions of works from Frank Olinsky's book "What the Songs Look Like).

Highlights for me -besides rediscovering the entire Talking Heads backcatalogue in glorious surround sound and high-detailed stereo mixes- include old live video footage (a 3-piece Talking Heads with drummer Chris Frantz on Xylophone!), super-funky unreleased outtakes on "Remain in Light", early versions of classic hits like "Road to Nowhere" and "And She Was" and a special extended version of "Burning Down the House" in surround sound that was done especially for this release.

The DualDisks are scheduled for seperate release in January 2006, but if you want them all, "Brick" is for you.

Since most people visiting this site are already probably familiar with Talking Heads' music, I'll skip the hyperbole. You know how good their music is. And before I say anything else, I have to mention that it's definitely worth owning every single one of the albums included in this box. But you should also know how alternately revelatory and frustrating this boxed set turns out to be.

Now, then...the Brick.

What a great idea. Remaster all the albums, both in 2.0 and 5.1 mixes, one mix on either side of each disc in the DualDisc format, and box them all together. They play 5.1 in either DVD-Audio players or regular DVD players.

The 5.1 mixes are a revelation...I've been listening to this music for over 20 years and I'm hearing so many things for the first time that have previously been buried in the mix...really incredible. Almost all of the discs benefit from this depth and clarity - especially More Songs, Remain in Light, and Naked. However, these were remixed by Jerry Harrison...so the keyboards are jacked up really high in the mix. Which is cool in some cases as they were initially (unfairly) minimized on certain albums. But it also means that Speaking In Tongues is an entirely different listen. The keyboard parts have dated a little bit, so it becomes a true artifact of the 80's. Huge sound, swirling effects, and distracting stereo trickery. It's almost as if it were reproduced by Esquivel.

Now for the bonuses -- the extra tracks on each disc are fascinating. Not fascinating enough to warrant repeated listenings in most cases, but intriguing if you're a Talking Headsophile. The artifacts from the Fear of Music and Remain in Light sessions, especially, provide indications as to Eno's influence in their writing process at the time. They sound much like Eno songs backed by the Heads. The demos, alternate takes, and remixes of several songs are also very cool. There are also a handful of additional outtakes, such as "I Feel It In My Heart" from the 77 sessions (which was deservedly left off the album) and "Sax and Violins" from the Naked sessions (which would have provided a much-needed ray of hope to close out the oppressively bleak second half of that album). However, some of them are given the 5.1 treatment while others inexplicably are not.

Worse, they've neglected to include some of the outtakes they've released on other collections in the past. Where's "I Want to Live", "Popsicle", "In Asking Land", "Gangster of Love", and "Lifetime Piling Up"? Those last two or three songs are lame, but as long as they're being comprehensive here, what gives? Also missing are the alternate versions of "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" and "New Feeling" previously released elsewhere. You can get some of this stuff on iTunes, by the way -- just not here. But that's not as unforgivable as the video omissions.

Although their last feeble collection, "Once in a Lifetime", was kind of a joke, it came boxed with the spectacular, expanded DVD version of their video collection "A Storytelling Giant". All of their videos were included with the original between-song vignettes intact. The Brick doesn't include this disc. Instead, they give us some early live stuff (admittedly, the shaky footage of "Warning Sign" gives me the shivers, it's so good) some Fear of Music-era live stuff (fine) and a smattering of their videos later on.

Excellent, but where's my favorite video of theirs, for "(Nothing But) Flowers"? How about "The Lady Don't Mind" or "Stay Up Late?" For god's sake, where are the original, revolutionary videos for "Crosseyed and Painless" and "Once in a Lifetime"!? They're shucked for live versions of both songs. This is shocking.

The packaging looks neat from the outside. Like everything else the band does, it's designed to fascinate. But it couldn't have killed them to have the names of the discs embossed on the spines. Likewise, it'd be great to be able to see exactly where the bonus songs are on the disc without digging through the CD insert to find the song titles. But now I'm nitpicking.

All that aside, I've spent hours poring over this treasure trove. It's my favorite band, after all. But you shouldn't spend this much on a boxed set and not get everything they could feasibly have crammed into it. Was it a contract issue or some kind of rights agreement that kept these significant items off the set? Good thing it was a gift, or I'd feel a liiiiiiitle cheated. But I'm going to give the Brick four stars because the band's just about the best thing in the world and this is where you can find (almost) all of it.

I won't waste time commenting on the music here, cause if you are considering buying the Brick, you must be a fan already. Rather, I'll comment on the odd behaviours of these Dual Discs.

1.) The CD side plays on only 1 of my 4 home players... a very old Sony changer, but they don't play on a newer Sony SACD player, nor on my Marantz Universal player or Toshiba DVD player. Strangely, I can play or rip the CDs in my Mac G5, and they do play in both my car players.

2.) No Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. I am no fan of the sound of DD, but for people without DVD-Audio players, you are out of luck on hearing the amazing 5.1 mixes. With other DualDiscs, i've been burned the other way.... only getting a DolbyDigital 5.1 mix that sounds worse than the normal CD tracks. Dual Disc labelling is seriously misleading!!

3.) The DVD-Audio 5.1 mixes are truly amazing, in both mixing and sound quality, but oddly, the center channel is out-of-phase with the Front Left & Rights. I have never heard this with any other 5.1 DVD-A or SACD discs, so it is not a problem with my system. I find the sound to be much better with the center turned OFF, as the phase cancellation sucks the life out of the front channels.

SO... the content is amazing, but Dual Discs are NOT. They are a cruel joke that i will continue to fall for whenever i see one that I really really want. But if you have a DVD-A player, then you must hear these discs!

I have had an infuriating experience with Warner Music Group lasting a year, first, over the Rhino "Brick" box, and now the individual T-Heads DualDisc titles. My problem is physical damage to the discs, unnecessarily caused by obvious careless handling & packaging at the pressing plant.

In the "Brick", the unique white jewel cases come gouged and scratched, and the discs in both the Brick and individually-packaged titles, have fingerprints, smears, scratches, and pits.

This began last year when I purchased the "Brick" upon release. When I opened the set, every jewel case was damaged. These cases have a solid white rear panel, and can't be commercially replaced. They are not individually shrink-wrapped (which would eliminate the problem), and are obviously forcefully shoved into the box set's plastic outer shell at the plant, hence the damage.

It was worse inside each jewel case: All of the discs literally looked like they were used. Several were so badly artifacted they couldn't be read in any player or drive.

So, following web site direction, I e-mailed "Dr. Rhino". I received a reply, which directed me to return the set for replacement. As this is an expensive item, that entailed going to the Post Office to buy Insurance & Delivery Confirmation at my own cost. Annoyed, I decided to wait a few months, reasoning that perhaps the first production batch was bad and they would sell through. I stood in line at the USPS for 45 minutes, mailed it and waited. Six weeks later, the replacement showed up, carelessly packed into a crushed box, and the entire set was in worse shape than the first one. I e-mailed again, didn't get an answer for 2 months, and when I did, it was "send it back again"! The audacity of that response was pretty amazing: Why would I keep wasting my money and time to cycle their defective product?

So, I contacted the CD store where I purchased the original set. All the TH titles had been released individually, so the store manager & I decided we would change out the box for the separate titles, and he would return the bad ones.

I just received those yesterday: In five of the eight titles, all the same surface-damage artifacts. Several digipaks had their plastic disc retaining spindles broken with shards floating around inside. Also, inside each digipak, there is a 3.5"-square paper "DualDisc" tutorial insert. In some of the digipaks, it was tossed on top of the disc, where it rubs against the disc, an additional cause of surface damage.

So, the store manager is going to continuously order in each individual title and open them, looking for virgin discs. He is going to return all the defective discs, and repeat the process going until he finds five clean discs. Which is pathetic.

I've been thru three complete sets in one year, which means you are almost certainly going to run into this problem with your purchase. So, when you buy the Brick or any of the individual titles, please do not accept & settle for damaged product. Send it back to Amazon, e-mail Rhino, do whatever you have to do to get what you paid a lot of money for.

This would have never happened, or would have certainly been quickly corrected, when Messrs. Foos & Bronson, who founded Rhino, were in charge. Unfortunately, in 1998, Rhino was swallowed whole and "WEA-fied" by the odious Warner Music Group, where CEO Edgar Bronfman is obviously far more interested in extolling the virtues of DRM than he is in running a business that can deliver quality.

There are very few bands where I own their entire output. Talking Heads is one of them. Why? Like many pivotal and seminal bands they made memorable music. This collection of the band's eight studio albums comes in the dual disc format with CD audio on one side plus (yea!) bonus tracks, extended remixes and outtakes. The other side features the entire album remixed in surround sound format with videos, photo galleries and other enticements. I noticed that some folks complained about the Dualdiscs not playing on their players. My guess is that if your player is more than a couple of years old, it may not play this format or just have a difficult time finding the instructions on how to play. It's a pretty common problem in situations like this. Why four stars and not five? Because the Heads eight albums vary a bit in quality. All of them are worthwhile but some or better written or more groundbreaking than others.

The good news--the audio on the CD sound blows away the previous CDs issued in the early 90's. There's better dynamic range which benefits all the albums but two of my favorites in particular "Remain in Light" and "Fear of Music". The other CDs sound much, much better with the sound having greater clarity and better presence. While many of the bonus tracks having been previously released ("Sugar on My Tounge" and "Saxes and Violins" in particular) there are some from the boxed set and two CD best of set that aren't on here. We do get early versions of "Road to Nowhere", "And She Was", an extended version of "Television Man","Two Note Swivel" (and unfinished outtake from "Speaking in Tongues"), "Burning Down the House" (Alternate version, three outtakes from "Remain in Light", an acoustic "Psycho Killer", "Love-Building on Fire", "I Feel it in My Heart" and four alternate versions of tracks from "More".

The bad news--The CD side of "Fear of Music" won't play on a lot of computers and some CD players (evidently some home CD players as well) but that's not the case with all of these. I didn't have any problems with the rest of the releases. I have written Rhino to find out what they are going to do about the authoring problem for "Fear of Music" (which is why it won't play on a lot of devices). Once I hear back, I'll report if there will be a replacement disc issued. I haven't had problems with the CD side for any of the other discs and since I usually listen to the CD side in the car, that could be an issue (for more folks than me I might add).

***Just an update--I contacted Rhino and there are no plans to repress "Fear of Music" if there are problems with your CD player or computer. It appears the CD/DVD hybrid is not compatable with a lot of players. That's too bad as Rhino will probably lose a few sales due to this. Rhino plans on releasing these titles individually in the Spring of 2006.***

The CD artwork doesn't exactly duplicate the original albums or CDs themselves. The discs are issued with a new booklet but the backside of the holders are blank (as are the spines on the holders). Clearly the holder was supposed to act as an "art object" (much as the latest incarnation of the "Best of" with the large book is supposed to be a coffee table art book). Still, it would have been nice to have the option of knowing what CD you were pulling out of the case.

The DVD side has all eight albums remixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound by Head Jerry Harrison. There are also live video performances, videos, photo galleries and the like. Harrison does a great job in remixing the albums. The first album recorded only in 16 track in particular sounds surprisingly strong in this incarnation. The best albums though in terms of sound are those involving complex arrangements or polyrhythmic interplay such as "Fear of Music", "Remain in Light", "Speaking in Tongues" and "Naked". That's not to say that albums like "Little Creatures" don't sound great--they do and Harrison does a great job of remixing them it's just that in terms of textures and sonics those albums lend themselves well to the format. If you're watching TV while listening there is a single static graphic that appears on screen (all of them quite interesting looking and featuring the unmistakable Heads arty bend)with the song title. No lyrics appear as you're watching the video (unlike, say, the "Crowded House" Dualdisc release). It's kind of interesting to listen to the 5.1 mix in stereo as well because different elements come out and are accentuated creating a slightly different mix to the sound.

The videos include live performances of the band (previously unreleased on DVD) with the "Fear of Music" and "Remain in Light" material played by the augmented line up featuring guitarist Adrian Belew (their best line up in my opinion)doing "Cities", "I Zimbra"

Each Dualdisc comes in a CD like case with a white plastic backing. The titles of the CDs aren't on the individual holders which is a bit of a pain. The booklets feature new photos, lyrics, comments from contemporaries (such as support member current King Crimson/Bear Adrian Belew and XTC's Andy Partridge). There's also miniature limited edition art prints that illustrate a song or lyric enclosed in the booklet. They are kind of small so be careful or you'll lose them.

My only complaint--I wish that all the"new" tracks from the two disc best of had been included as bonus tracks on the discs or, at the very least, be included as a limited edition Dualdisc available as part of the package for "Brick". Other than that, Rhino has done a great job here. The outside packaging featuring the titles of Talking Head songs is a hard plastic shell within which all the Dualdiscs fit. It's a bit bigger than a CD which makes it pretty easy to store with your other boxed sets on a shelf or with other CDs. Kudos to Rhino and the Heads on such an excellent job with the remastering/packaging.

My personal ratings for each album: 77 five stars, "More Songs" 5 stars, "Fear" five stars, "Remain" five stars, "Speaking in Tongues" four stars, "True Stories" three stars, "Naked" four stars. You'll have your own personal ratings and favorites no doubt based on when you got into the Heads.

So Talking Heads fans will be wondering whether this is worth it if they already have most or all of the above-mentioned releases, and the answer is YES. This is true for all of the albums, but especially for Remain in Light and Naked, which really sound like new albums. Listening to either one of these records on the DVD-side surround mixes on solid speakers is a life-altering experience. (And furthermore, thanks to some tweaks and editing, in many ways the DVD sides really are different from the CD sides.) Even without surround, the remastered CD sides are an instantly noticeable improvement. The unreleased material and B-sides are generally excellent, and often provide insight into how the album, or its songs, were made or put together. The video extras, while few in number, are surprisingly good and aren't dated, grainy, or cheesy. Given how wretched music videos from the 70s and 80s tend to be, this is a testament to the artistic skill of the Heads.

As mentioned above in the title of this review, the packaging on this, while it looks cool, was really poorly designed. The backs of the individual cases are white, so we don't get to see the rear cover art, and they're also white on the side, so you can't tell which CD you've got until you pull it out. The exterior case is creatively designed but the CDs fit in it rather tightly, which means their cases are prone to breaking when you take them out, and they're rather difficult to get out. Also, many have had problems with the Dualdisc format (on my computer, the DVD-side is finicky on several of the discs and sometimes doesn't want to play).

But the heck with that. You buy CDs for the music, not to look at the tracklist on the back. If you are a Heads fan then get this. Believe the hype.

Of course, the best way to hear this embarrassment of riches is to set up your system with the 5 speakers placed accordingly, set the levels for volume and distance, choose A.F.D. as your option to hear it as it was intended, then close your eyes and observe as the music swirls, plays games with you, peeks out and reveals structures you have never heard before. Have the synthesizers whoosh over your head to goose you in the backside, cavort back and forth in front of you, then high five the bass as it vibrates at your feet and beats at your heart, as the vocals (mixed down in many of the songs just enough to structure the music) lead you by your hyper-pleasured brain through the dark, funky and shifting landscape..

Of course the best way to hear this is to push play and dance. You can dance like a schoolgirl to the first album, like an electrocuted nerd to the second, an amphetamine soldier the third, the fourth like Charly as he goes from brilliant back to retarded again, the fifth like a Zulu goatherd possessed by spirits, the sixth like a fratboy drunk and in jail again, the seventh a pregnant cowgirl, and the last like you're really really tired of dancing and you want to finally sit down in that one 5.1 sweetspot again.

Thank you Jerry Harrison. The only word that comes to mind is love.

~
Having received this as a Christmas gift, I was very anxious to listen to this complete collection. But, as many other reviewers have mentioned, the set would not play in most of my CD players.

So, to add to the list:

o The CD layer would not play in a Resolution Opus 21 (a rather high-end player.) It would usually fail to read the disc, or if it did, it skipped horribly.

o When played in my Sony DVP-NP685V unit - a player that would probably read the letters off a tire if you could find a way to get it in the transport - the 5.1 layer played stereo only, and the stereo layer played intermittently.

The ONLY player that succeeded in playing these discs was my Bose Wave radio. Whoopie.

I generally only write positive reviews, but I had to add to the chorus of people who are disappointed with the outcome of this set. Save yourself the trouble and wait for this problem to be fixed unless you absolutely know that your CDP can play these discs.

With regrets,
R.