Talking Heads: 77 [CD + DVDA] [Original recording remastered]

I always loved this album from the first time of hearing New Feelings I was hooked> I did not hear it until there was a lot of fuss in the music press about the release of Fear of Music so I was not in there as a fan at the begining, however, I soon had the first three Talking Heads albums and bought each new one as it was released. They remained one of the few must have bands whose albums were always anticipated and snapped up. I did, however, feel rather let down by the CD transfer of the Talking Heads albums so I am delighted to say that the situation has now been rectified with knobs on. The graphics on the DVD of 77 are a bit more Punk (in a way that has not dated well) than the subsequent albums and the quality of the videos is rather poor even the bonus tracks are not really worth having here (which is not the case on the other albums) but the sound quality of the CD and DVDA are brilliant! If you liked this in the 70s/80s and wonder if it is worth another listen then buy it,you will be rewarded with an album that still sounds fresh and more vibrant than before due to the excellent rematering; if you are yonger and want to know what all the fuss is about then buy it! Good music does not die it only get burried alive by careless record companies. Thank goodness these albums have been dug up again and can been heard and seen in their full glory. Well done all involved.

Even with the benefit of nearly 35 years hindsight Talking Heads debut album remains a deeply curious record and one which it is very easy to see why Eno became so absorbed in them. It's worth remembering how suspicious the CBGB crowd ( and other bands affiliated to these scene) were of them when they first appeared slotting in uncomfortably between Television's artful reconstruction of Rock n Roll, Blondie's 1960's girlgroup cuteness and The Ramones buzzsaw fury. David Byrne and fellow heads seemed to be young vacationing Republicans who had inadvertently got lost among the scuzz and sleaze of The Bowery when they were in fact looking for their Summer house in The Hamptons.

If the truth be told however Byrne and Co had a particular kinship with The Ramones and both would tour the UK together soon after the release of this debut album. Theirs was a shared interest in 'less is more' with Minimalism being at the core of their respective Arts. A further shared concern came across in the subject matter of many of their songs where mental instability and the hopeless search for comfort in an accelerated uncaring world came very much to the fore.

Talking Heads debut album is a masterpiece of minimalism and aggravated emotions. From the opener 'Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town' it's clear that a new rock agenda is being forged. What would be a straightforward love song in the hands of many others comes across here as something to be wary of with Byrne's narrator passionately imploring the subject of his desire to acknowledge his superiority in aspects of intellect, the songs that follow are just as quietly menacing, 'New Feeling' is next with the new feeling never properly expressed. 'Happy Day' comes across like The Carpenters if they had spent a period in a psych ward (it's interesting to note that The Carpenters were an acknowledged influence on David Byrne - how Punk Rock is that?). In old money side 1 ends with 'No Compassion' which I often imagine could have been on a certain Ted Bundy's Walkman during his contemporaneous reign of abject terror.

If anything the second half of this album is even more impressive with the gloriously skewed pop of 'The Book I Read' commencing proceedings followed by perhaps the overall highlight of 'Don't Worry About The Government', a song which is so far removed from the standard pop themes of the day it's astonishing. By the end of the song with it's beautiful aural Prozac melody you nevertheless find that you are intensely worried about the government. The album wraps up with the barely concealed psychosis of 'Pulled Up' which Byrne admitted was as much influenced by Norman Bates as the preceding bizarrely catchy 'Psycho Killer.'

A fantastic record then and one that lured Brian Eno to the Heads cause. The following Year's 'More Songs About Buildings And Food' was a refinement of this debut album albeit with less memorable tunes. Eno's presence was really felt on the two albums after this 1979's neurosis laden 'Fear of Music' and 1980's dazzling 'Remain In Light.' This debut however encapsulates many of David Byrne's preoccupations over the next few years or so and remains a very literate, intelligent pop record...just be sure not to step into the shower alone.

The first & by far best Talking Heads Album! The first record(when I was 13) that I ever bought & what a record!!!