I have the original vinyl and the expanded CD and think it is a great live album. Agree with trickness, the version of Drugs is excellent.
The original tracks are largely the same except for the Cross Eyed and Painless edit (or I should say it’s the same performances). It’s better mastered.
I thought they were at their peak during the Fear of Music tour. I saw them at Irving Plaza, and then later on during that tour at Queens College and the Capitol Theater. I also saw the first two shows with the big band at Heatwave which was a music festival in Hamilton with the Pretenders, Rockpile, Elvis Costello, The B-52’s, Teenage Head, and a bunch of other band and then the Central Park Show. Completely out of left field. But I still prefer the four piece band.
Good call on the review itself, only, I don't believe in the notion of, "CD Bloat" myself. If an artist is given a chance to re-assess the product due to an extended accomodation in a new media...isn't a listener afforded a similar freedom, to just stop listening? Nobody's keeping either from having that freedom, yet it's always the artist who takes the blame for it. I'm reminded of the King in the beginning of the Amadeus movie, pulling some lamebrained "critique" out of his royal *ss, merely because he somehow is expected to have a pithy comment, whether he understands it or not. But just knetching because the artist took more initiative to re-release the CD version of an LP with "more art on it", seems similarly disingenuous. I don't recall there being this same sort of criticism back in the days of 10" discs being re-formatted onto LP...but then, there wasn't a wholesale resentment of the LP the same way digital caused vinyl purists to pull every rabbit out of a hat to pillory the CD ( "...you know who else used PITS...? The Devil...!" ).
The bass was sporadically out-of-tune for those earlier live performances. If memory serves, it was more frequent on that '79 tour, for some reason.
I found the CD issue to be too compressed for my taste (DR7). The Rhino reissue vinyl copy I have simply sounds better.
Yes, “Pulled Up” has its’ definitive version performance on this LP. I liked to cheekily pull out this LP whenever someone called them “The” … As for “Pulled Up”, sheer perfection on this performance!: The band actually sounded very happy! From the beginning dry intro: “The name of this song is ‘Pulled Up’ “, to the exhaustedly warbled “Thank you very much! ... auuurgh!... ”, topped off my someone yelling “F*! Yes!” just before launching into the alt lyrics version of “Psycho Killer”, you could tell history was being made with this recording. This version of this song just makes me wanna dance and sing along!
Absolutely agree that the Version of Drugs is amazing and Electricity (Drugs) is a cool alternate take. Also the 8 minute Born Under Punches? WOW!!!
For me, the original album somehow was both a greatest hits compilation, a specific song sequence, told a little story, and a live document. The expanded edition loses the flow, and certainly seems less focused. It's the same running time as the first four albums from which it's drawn. Don't get me wrong, I love having the expanded edition. I actually kind of wish it was more expanded (1975-2002). But I still listen to the original more.
I've written this elsewhere, but : Sadly, the CD is missing the 'smooth-funk' opening for "Crosseyed & Painless"..... boo, I say....
I really like the album but the CD issue is horribly loud - so much so that I struggle to listen to it
I have the CD, and I think you simply must be very sensitive to these things. It's a perfectly good listen on CD, imo. Not to mention, we waited long enough for it, and it includes bonus tracks.
Yeah I've never understood the comments saying that it's mastered too loud,I've always found it an enjoyable listen,it's not like a 2009 remastered Rolling Stones cd!
I love it, both the original LP and the expanded CD. Stop Making Sense may be a better place to start for newbies and a more complete overview of their career (in its expanded form that is), but TNOTBITH is more fun.
this thread will get me listening to it again... having just seen david byrne/american utopia on broadway (a must see if you're in nyc area!) i'm on a bit of a talking heads binge now and then.. only saw talking heads twice, but great shows- central park the week that 'fear of music' was released (still a four piece, and their opening act was the B-52's, i think), and in washington dc during the stop making sense tour....
I love it. I've got both the original double vinyl and the expanded Rhino double CD. A great chronicle of a great band.