Talking Heads - 'Brick'

 

To my ears, the Talking Heads were not just the biggest, but most consistently listenable of the so-called "New Wave" (a tricky term, I know) acts.  Releasing eight commercially successful albums over a decade, they broke ground with Byrne's electronic funk and World Music affectations, and always retained enough musical integrity to make them the darlings of critics (not to mention coke heads everywhere).  Musically, they didn't have the chops of their counterparts in bands like XTC and Television, but on the other hand, most of the New Wave groups were nothing more than attitude to start with - just look at the B-52's.  Not unlike Blondie and the Police, the Talking Heads had an imaginative and easily recognizable lead vocalist in David Byrne, who could also enliven even the most dull backing tracks.

'Brick' is an eight DualDisc box set containing the band's eight studio, with high resolution stereo remastered mixes on the CD layer and extra tracks from the recording sessions and video and 5.1 mixes on the DVD layer.  This is a body of work that makes the so-called "Arty" younger bands sound timid, even without any live material.

The outtakes on 'Brick' are often wilder than the cooler-headed, more deadpan versions chosen for the original releases.  Highlights include four rhythmically-charged, unfinished 'Remain in Light' outtakes (including one that eventually evolved into the band's signature "Once in a Lifetime") that allow insightful glimpses into Brian Eno's innovative production techniques on the album (and I say that as not much of an Eno fan), alternate versions of "Cities," "Life During Wartime" and "Mind" from 'Fear of Music', a countrified version of "Thank You For Sending Me an Angel" from 'More Songs About Buildings and Food' and a strangely muted early version of another Heads staple, 'Speaking in Tongue's', "Burning Down the House."  An early demo of "And She Was" from 'Little Creatures' demonstrates that the whole of a glorious pop song can be the assembly of its simple parts.

The Talking Heads catalog was in desperate need of remastering, with the original CD attempts sounding pretty poor.  Thanks to Jerry Harrison's supervision, the new mixes really add a lot, are tastefully done and give us state-of-the-art audio.  If you're a Talking Heads fan, you really should have these sonic upgrades.  The freeload is the high resolution stereo remastered mixes.

To freeload the Talking Heads in all their nervous energy and jittery glory, tell us who are some of your favorite "New Wave" or "Post Punk" albums are.