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View Full Version : Talking Heads "brick" boxset released with 8 DualDiscs: 5.1 mixes/bonus tracks/videos


FunkyHiFi
10-11-2005, 07:21 PM
Here it is at it's official site, Rhino Records. (http://rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=74722)

Here's an article about it at a major surround music (http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=13082234) site.

Here's a long thread about it at another music site (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=61569&page=1&pp=20).

So far most people say the surround mixes are really good. That's good because surround music is still pretty new* (about six years old) and not all mixers are as good as others.

Individual remixed/remastered albums on DualDisc will appear next January. I saw this brick :) at Best Buy already-yep, it cost $150! It seemed to be made of thick white plastic and was quite artsy looking.

BTW: all dvd-audios with surround tracks have either a Dolby Digital or DTS track so you can listen to them on a regular dvd-video system. If you have a standalone dvd-audio player, then you will have to use its six analog RCA output jacks to transport the high (or "advanced") resolution signals to your receiver. Most players' info displays use the letters "PPCM" to describe a dvd-audio track (PPCM = packed PCM, a lossless compression system). FYI: if something is coming out of the player's digital output while playing a dvd-audio track, it will NOT be a surround signal & it will NOT be a true high resolution signal-this is called a "downmixed" signal. Dumbing down the signal like this is due to pirating concerns.

* actually surround music appeared-and went-in the early 70s but was known as "quadraphonic sound" because of its use of four channels instead of just two. It was easy to make a "quad" mix in the studio but what doomed the quad format to failure was that most of the home playback technology just wasn't good enough. About 3,500 albums were mixed into quad form, including Dark Side Of The Moon and other major albums. I own Dark Side in quad on a DTS-CD and it is amazing to hear this way, though you can't buy it anymore in this form. Here's a forum (http://quadraphonicquad.com/) that's all about quad.

Drederick Tatum
10-13-2005, 04:18 AM
I don't really have anything to add except that Talking Heads are probably the best band to come out of the 70s.

FunkyHiFi
10-13-2005, 11:42 PM
I've always liked their stuff on the radio. A couple of Talking Heads fans told me either the Remain In Light or Fear Of Music album would be good for a newbie like me to start with. But considering that their material is kind of "deep", would it be better to buy their The Best Of CD?

Drederick Tatum
10-14-2005, 11:17 PM
I'd just go straight for Talking Heads 77. Little Creatures is one of my other favourites. that's right I'm using italics

Documad
10-14-2005, 11:25 PM
I think the best way to start would be with the Stop Making Sense concert DVD or the CD of the same concert. I don't usually recommend live CDs, but some of the live versions are actually better than the originals. And that's the best concert DVD ever.

FunkyHiFi
10-15-2005, 02:28 AM
Dred: well I usually do like starting with a band's first album if possible just to see how they progressed & you're the second person to suggest Talking Heads 77 (italics are kewl :D) so that's now on my list too.

Documad: You don't know how many times I've picked up that dvd & thought about buying it becuase for years I've heard from SO many people how awesome that concert is, even if you're not a TH fan. I love good visuals mixed with good music & for example have been wanting to buy Peter Gabriel's Play dvd with all those ultra artistic videos-now I'm not sure which one to get! (I'm trying to save for a used motorcycle, & a nice telescope (http://www.celestron.com/prod_pgs/tel/c6n.htm) [yep, I'm a science nerd] which will run me about $800 new).

FunkyHiFi
01-16-2006, 04:37 PM
For you Talking Heads fans in Europe, four of the surround versions of their remixed albums finally debuted in individual album form (more will be released IIRC next month). And instead of the screwed up "DualDisc" format* we get over here, you guys get a CD+dvd-audio package.

Here's the Remain In Light CD+dvd-audio (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BW9VBG/qid=1137280517/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-0536612-4902003) at Amazon.co.uk.

People still rave about the surround mixes on these discs but sorry, you can't hear them on an iPod. But if you do buy one of these discs and have a surround system to play them on, make sure it's set up correctly or else you won't hear what us audio nerds are blabbering about. In other words: no speakers behind the couch on the floor; no left speaker on a shelf & the right speaker behind a potted plant or (I've actually seen this several times) all five speakers lined up on top of the TV. :(

* some CD players won't play the CD side, because it isn't exactlly built to official CD standards (that's why the Compact Disc logo is not permitted to be used on the labeling) and some people are reporting their dvd players act weird when playing them-scary. And several player manufacturers issued warnings about playing them until they could test the discs themselves

Matt
01-17-2006, 01:12 AM
I don't usually recommend live CDs, but some of the live versions are actually better than the originals. And that's the best concert DVD ever.

I totally agree with you. case in point: Life During Wartime. Flaccid album version, but the live version kicked my ass three ways from sunday.


* some CD players won't play the CD side, because it isn't exactlly built to official CD standards (that's why the Compact Disc logo is not permitted to be used on the labeling) and some people are reporting their dvd players act weird when playing them-scary. And several player manufacturers issued warnings about playing them until they could test the discs themselves

I've had a scary experience involving the CD side of my Devo Live 1980 disc. the DVD side works great, but I tried to put it in my portable CD player, and the device freaked out. The disc spun like crazy, resulting in scratches in the CD side. My CD player smelled like burnt hair, and never worked again. This is the sole reason I will never buy any DualDiscs, although I'm sure this was an extreme case.