This live album was originally released as a double LP in 1982, when the Talking Heads were still extremely active. Twenty-two years later, the bonus-laden, two-CD reissue serves as a fascinating in-concert document of the phases the band went through during its first five years. The late-’70s tracks on the first disc show the early version of the band in all its geeky glory, mixing spastic New Wave quirkiness, funk rhythms, and art-school lyrics. It’s intriguing to hear the difference between some of the songs’ inception and their eventual recorded versions, such as a relatively straightforward “Electricity (Drugs),” which would turn ominous and atmospheric on FEAR OF MUSIC. The second disc captures the expanded, early-’80s version of the band, with extra musicians and backing vocalists in tow, tackling the fugue-like art-funk masterpieces of the aforementioned album and REMAIN IN LIGHT. It’s all the more impressive to hear the interlocking of the guitars, keyboards, and percussion achieved without the benefit of studio overdubbing, and David Byrne’s near-manic intensity is even more focused and affecting in the live setting. Even vinyl freaks/Heads maniacs who hung on to the original LP for two decades will need to get this, if only for the wealth of indispensable bonus tracks.
