A 2
CD compilation of the
greatest hits of the
Talking Heads.
Subtitle: TALKINGHEADSPopular Favorites
The liner notes are incredibly informative for such an undertaking -- many greatest hits comps will just give the names of the songs, the running times, and the album they came from if you're lucky. But the generous nature (and art school training) of the 'Heads led them to fill the small CD booklets with all kinds of fascinating information.
The first book (IIRC) gives a small history of the band, followed by interviews with the four members of the band (David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison), who talk about their feelings on starting the band, on joining the band, and on life as a Talking Head and rock musician in general.
The second set of notes folds out to reveal a three-column listing of all of the songs included, with complete instrumentation listings and comments on the songs by random band members (i.e. David Byrne mentions that "Love For Sale" was intended to be written using only lines from advertisments, and Tina Weymouth talks about being bothered by some of the lyrics in "Warning Sign".)
The art on the CD cases is also interesting, as one would expect from a band that formed in design school: the back cover of the first booklet has headshots of the four Heads with their faces erased and drawn in by (AFAIK) the individual musicians. The second set unfolds to reveal a collage of Polaroids of an electric guitar.
Track Listing:
Disk 2:
"
Lifetime Piling Up" and "
Popsicle" were
bonus tracks, added as an
incentive for people who already owned all of the Talking Heads' albums to also buy this one.
Definitely a recommended purchase.