HiRez Poll Talking Heads - TALKING HEADS '77 [DVD-A DualDisc]

JonUrban · Aug 27, 2006

Originally available in the "Talking Heads Brick", which at the time of this thread origination heads the HiRezPoll, the seven discs were released individually some time later. Here's a chance to comment on the specific discs, as requested by some of our members.

So, please post your thoughts and comments on this DVD-A DualDisc!

Dylan Berichon · Feb 25, 2007

I just got through this one and...

...well, I wasn't impressed.

I probably shouldn't vote, since I don't really care for the music on this one.

Franklin · May 10, 2015

Just in terms of the music, first impressions is that what was side 2 is the more enjoyable half of the album. I was disappointed that Psycho Killer (acoustic) was not, well, particularly acoustic. Still liked that version though, and the Fa-Fa-Fa is a real earworm.

fizzywiggs41 · May 10, 2015

Musically I find this disc....The Heads first for the most part a little rough around the edges.This is Punk not new wave.I agree the alt.PSYCHO
KILLER is not "acoustic" but what a kick *** track never the less and I find I prefer this at times, over the original!

The surround is excellent throughout this disc.What an amazing surround accomplishment by JERRY HARRISON and E.T. THORNGREN.I'm sure this recording was made with no frills being their first.

I rate this as an 8.5 and if the music was better, as we all know it did get with future releases, it would be a ten!

Franklin · May 10, 2015

I'd put this near the top of the five albums I'm familiar with (77, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Little Creatures, True Stories) and Remain in Light at the bottom. I wasn't expecting to like this album as much as I did. May have to give the 5.1 another go soon so I can rate it.

ProgRules · May 12, 2015

Mike the Fish said:
I'd put this near the top of the five albums I'm familiar with (77, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Little Creatures, True Stories) and Remain in Light at the bottom. I wasn't expecting to like this album as much as I did. May have to give the 5.1 another go soon so I can rate it.

No speaking in tongues? That is my fave TH album and is awesome in 5.1. Burning down the House is the best 5.1 track in the whole catalog imo- and the alternate version is as good as if not better than the original track.

Then again, our tastes may be very different, as I'd put 77 at the bottom above TS and I'd rank RiL #2 behind SiT.

Franklin · May 12, 2015

ProgRules said:
No speaking in tongues?...

I haven't heard/got it yet! I appreciate that the RiL may be a controversial rating, but I find some of it (track 3 in particular) quite challenging. I remember liking The Overload though. Where do you place Naked? I've heard some or all of it (in stereo), but I can't remember it!

fizzywiggs41 · May 12, 2015

ProgRules said:
No speaking in tongues? That is my fave TH album and is awesome in 5.1. Burning down the House is the best 5.1 track in the whole catalog imo- and the alternate version is as good as if not better than the original track.

Then again, our tastes may be very different, as I'd put 77 at the bottom above TS and I'd rank RiL #2 behind SiT.

I couldn't agree more

The ALTERNATE version Burning down the house is amazing! I find I listen to it more than the original! Speaking in tongues is my second fave now, only because I never had More Stories....back in the day.Both discs I highly recommend, as well as Little Creatures.

Wonder if we'll ever get TRUE STORIES-THE MOVIE in bluray someday? It's a rather unique movie, quirky imho. (I like the dvda too!)

Franklin · May 12, 2015

I think Little Creatures has the most active mix of the TH albums that I've heard so far, but I haven't warmed to it massively as an album.

fizzywiggs41 · May 12, 2015

I love LITTLE CREATURES because of two singles on the disc, don't have it in front of me to name both, but THE LADY DON'T MIND is one and one of my fave Heads tracks!

MORE STORIES ABOUT BUILDING AND FOODS became my fave HEADS disc after a few listens, not at first! Jerry Harrison states this became his favorite mix in surround in his liner notes! Too bad other than one Kenney Sheppard disc, did Harrison not take on more projects in Surround! I love his mixes, on the Heads discs.

NAKED is a good mix but musically, I think it's lacking somewhat, has one minor hit song though.

ProgRules · May 12, 2015

Mike the Fish said:
I haven't heard/got it yet! I appreciate that the RiL may be a controversial rating, but I find some of it (track 3 in particular) quite challenging. I remember liking The Overload though. Where do you place Naked? I've heard some or all of it (in stereo), but I can't remember it!

I like Naked a lot; probably rank it 4th behind SiT, RiL, and More Songs. More Songs was my fave TH album before the Brick came out, but it didn't "expand" as much as some of the others in surround "in my mind." RiL and Naked were the albums that got the biggest boost from surround- by that, I mean that the surround treatment made me appreciate them that much more. Personally, I think all of these TH discs are required; the only one I'd possibly recommend skipping is TS.

But tastes are different. I'd still highly recommend SiT. And just in case, if you don't have the Stop Making Sense video- get that immediately! One of the best ever concert videos.

ProgRules · May 12, 2015

fizzywiggs41 said:
I couldn't agree more

The ALTERNATE version Burning down the house is amazing! I find I listen to it more than the original! Speaking in tongues is my second fave now, only because I never had More Stories....back in the day.Both discs I highly recommend, as well as Little Creatures.

Wonder if we'll ever get TRUE STORIES-THE MOVIE in bluray someday? It's a rather unique movie, quirky imho. (I like the dvda too!)

I don't see TS making it to Blu. Quirky is an understatement. I found it humorous, but it is typical David Byrne dry humor. I enjoyed watching it, but I have no desire to see it again and I imagine most folks would react WTF??? I taped it off HBO back in my college daze and gave it to my Soc. prof. to watch, since it portrayed many of the themes we were examining in his course "the problems of modernity." We seemed to be sympatico in a lot of views and tastes, but he disliked the movie so much he couldn't even get halfway through.

skherbeck · Jun 22, 2017

Wasn't really impressed with the surround on this one upon first listen (with the exception of the "alternate" versions at the end and "Tentative Decisions"); however, isolating the rear channels in Audacity revealed discrete elements in the rears on all the songs, so I boosted the rear channels 2dB, and a nice surround field emerged. Lots of good music here, especially on the second half of the album. Fidelity is excellent. 8.

fizzywiggs41 · Jun 22, 2017

skherbeck said:
Wasn't really impressed with the surround on this one upon first listen (with the exception of the "alternate" versions at the end and "Tentative Decisions"); however, isolating the rear channels in Audacity revealed discrete elements in the rears on all the songs, so I boosted the rear channels 2dB, and a nice surround field emerged. Lots of good music here, especially on the second half of the album. Fidelity is excellent. 8.

FWIW I have permanently boosted my rears by a min 2-3 dbs .

I find most 5.1 recordings require a bit of a rear boost , but there are some exceptions-mostly those done up by Scheiner .

humprof · Jun 22, 2017

The mix here and on "More Songs About Buildings and Food" is more sparing, less dramatic, than some of the later albums--but as Jerry Harrison says in the liner notes, the simpler arrangements on the early albums actually yielded some subtle but effective surround...

markshan · Feb 28, 2018

This is still my favorite TH album. I always considered it sparse, but the surround mix shows that about half the album is more layered than I had previously considered. I even heard a couple elements which had previously escaped my attention (bits of piano in the first part of "Tentative Decisions" and backing vocals in "Book I Read" as just two examples). Some complain that the rear channels are a bit light on content, but I think ET Thorngren and Jerry Harrison presented the work in a way that is at once true to it's original release and more expansive. The fidelity is great, and the extras are compelling. A ten all the way for me.

atlantasteve · Feb 15, 2021

Jerry Harrison wrote that these songs occupy a larger soundstage. He is spot on. A punk album with style. Not every MCH release has to have you constantly looking behind yourself. Sometimes it just feels all around you. A strong 9.

Titch · Feb 16, 2021

ProgRules said:
I don't see TS making it to Blu.

You didn't, did you?

ProgRules · Feb 16, 2021

Titch said:
You didn't, did you?
View attachment 63270

Color me surprised. Not the 1st time I've been wrong, nor will it be the last.

HiRez Poll Talking Heads - TALKING HEADS '77 [DVD-A DualDisc]

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