Talking Heads: 77 CD

This is a DualDisc, which contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other.

When they burst out of the New York underground/CBGB's movement, the Heads stood apart from the pack because not only were they unlike anything that gone before, they were even anomalous to their contemporaries. A million miles from the detached irony of Blondie or the willful primitivism of the Ramones, the Talking Heads virtually invented geek-rock, setting the stage for everyone from the Violent Femmes to They Might Be Giants. Lyrically, David Byrne came off as the guy who thought too much about everything. Fortunately, he also happened to be a unique visionary, whose quirky, hyper-cerebral modernism echoed the work of poet John Ashbery and "serious" composer Robert Ashley.

All this high-mindedness doesn't detract from the infectious rock & roll appeal of the tunes on the band's debut album, though. Their twitchy, preppies-on-amphetamines rhythms and semi-neurotic gestalt fueled tunes like twisted anthem "Psycho Killer" and the jubilant "Pulled Up." Byrne's high, yelping tenor was the perfect complement to the band's tightly-wound but kinetic rhythms, and 77 is an auspicious debut.

Formed in the 1970's by art school chums David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and ex-Modern Lover Jerry Harrison, Talking Heads rose out of CBGB's punk crucible and proved themselves one the most artistically adventurous and influential bands ever. This Dualdisc features the album i remastered stereo along with rare bonus audio tracks. The DVD side features the album in DVD Audio, along with bonus DVD audio and video content. Video contact includes "Pulled Up" (live at Sproul Plaza, 1978) and "I Feel It in My Heart" (Live at the Kitchen, 1976).

Includes bonus tracks.

Recorded at Sundragon Studios, New York, New York.

Talking Heads: David Byrne (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion); Jerry Harrison (organ, keyboards, synthesizer, background vocals); Tina Weymouth (bass guitar); Chris Frantz (drums).

Talking Heads: David Byrne (vocals, guitar); Jerry Harrison (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Tina Weymouth (bass); Chris Frantz (drums).

Additional personnel: Arthur Russell (cello); Brad Baker (horns).

Spin (p.104) - "With his distressed falsetto, David Byrne is new wave's first definitive voice."
Uncut (p.82) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[The] remarkable cohabitation of painterly, arty ambitions and fascination with the lissom qualities of the groove can be seen from their very first single."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Their claustrophobic tunes of social unease, mathematical arrangements and front man David Byrne's self-conscious take on mundane events elevated them far beyond what would become new wave."