Ok. I just got around to listening to the Talking Heads box set, Once in a Lifetime. Yes, it was released in 2003 or some such. Yes, I bought it shortly after its release. The only explanation for the fact that it sat unopened on a bookshelf for so many years is that shortly after buying it, they released a CD version of The Name of this Band Is... and that long-awaited release occupied my Talking Heads studies for a few years.
Anyway, the remastered versions of the original mixes sound great. They're well worth the price of the collection. But the remixed and alternate versions are nothing to write home about. I even have to skip over a few.
David Byrne should be required by law to reunite them....
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15 comments:
Spiros: Stop making sense!!
Query: Tom-Tom Club? "Genius" is sampled beyond belief. . .
wv: heste, as in this post is a be-
I was just talking with a friend about great second albums and naturally More Songs came up. I love 77, but when Eno came on board they really hit their stride. Is there a better three-album run than More Songs, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light? Why did I ever get rid of all that great vinyl? You're right about the re-issue of The Name of this Band (how tight they were live, just the four of them), but I suddenly feel the need to hear "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" turned all the way up.
Glaucon,
For reasons that are wholly my own, I think *Fear of Music* is their best. But I agree that the run-of-three that you mention is unmatched-- except perhaps for Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's (I'd also say that the trio of Los Angeles, Wild Gift, and Under the Big Black Sun deserves consideration...).
Anyway, "No Compassion" is playing now... thoroughly enjoying.
Glaucon, Sprios--advice sought.
Here's the puzzle I have. I want very much to consider Eno the greatest producer. The Talking Heads' three album run seems enough. However, there's U2. Technically, I think he works miracles with them. I just have U2 issues, as I'm sure a number of people do. Would you think his own records, particularly "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" and "Here Come the Warm Jets," be enough to let go of my U2 issues? Or will I just have to live with qualification on the powers of Eno?
Listening to the True Wheel.
In my view, *Neroli* absolves Eno of all sin...
729:
On the strength of his appearances in the NYT crossword puzzle alone, Eno should be forgiven all U2-related sins. As he should be for his Bowie-related activities (not to mention those other two great 70s albums, Another Green World and Before and After Science, and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts).
Plus, is his perhaps the most awesome name in rock? 'Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno': monogram that, muthafucka!
PS Burning airlines give you so much more.
*Slaps head* The Berlin Trilogy--WTF was I thinking, Glaucon!?!?? How did I manage to forget that?
Humble pie or bitter fruit?
729:
For this grievous offense against hipness, I propose the following penalty: in your next talk or paper, you must, when discussing a passage from Plato, substitute in one Greekified line from "I Zimbra", e.g., γαγι βερι βιμβα χλανδριδι, and report back.
But don't feel bad. When you mentioned "the Berlin trilogy" I started singing "The Kids" as if Lou Reed's Berlin was part of it!
The real question is whether Eno's supremacy can survive the presence of Phil Collins on Taking Tiger Mountain, etc.
As much as I cherish , it has to come in second to . I'd probably put the Talking Heads set above , but just barely.
As much as I cherish More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, it has to come in second to Give 'Em Enough Rope, The Clash (US), London Calling. I'd probably put the Talking Heads set above Another Music in a Different Kitchen, Love Bites, A Different Kind of Tension, but just barely.
This sounds awesome -- I must get it, too!
729 and Glaucon,
No love for Roxy Music? Even For Your Pleasure? Surely that at least contributes to tipping the scale against U2.
@ English Jerk *Slaps Head* (Ow, that's twice today!)
I can't keep up with myself.
@Glaucon Here's the way I see the Phil Collins thing. There's not just association with Eno, but other more talented musicians and songwriters. George Harrison, Peter Gabriel. Eno came in the midst of this time of choice. While it is likely that nothing could have changed his cheesy inclinations and what followed, it is as though the universe took the time to throw positive influences in his path. All of the blame falls on him.
There's a really funny problem with using the Greekified line from I Zimbra. Despite Hugo Ball's best Dadist intentions, the sentence has much to much meaning (or near-miss meaning in ancient Greek. It actually contain a number of noun and verb roots and reads, charitably, something like "Ignite the Bimbo's apricot cloak!"
There is certainly no sin in having had Collins play drums for you back in the 70s. He used to *really* be able to play.
And *Here Come the Warm Jets*, *Taking Tiger Mountain by Storm* and *Another Green World* are as good a trio as has ever been made.
I don't know, Spiros. Passing your law would expose the up-to-now great life of the Talking Heads to a serious Sting-like danger. Let's all bask in the glory of the life as it is without giving an aging David Byrne the opportunity to fuck it all up.
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