HiRez Poll Talking Heads - BRICK [DVD-A DualDiscs]

Topic Police!

There are plenty of other threads for talking about hardware and DualDisc playback issues.

I thought on this one a couple of months before i voted, mainly because almost everyone voted a 10. I just can't vote 10 on the whole box set. The explanation i give is that individually i would rate the CD's as 4 - 10's, 2 - 9's and 2 - 8's. There were a couple i didn't care for a whole lot. But most a like a lot. Anyway i vote a 9, which i believe is still a very good vote. And i would add that most of the surround mixes are Superb. Very happy with the set.

Amazing set. Definitely a 10.

A funny sidenote...Rhino and the band are apparently cringing that we're referring to this set as "Brick." To them, it's Talking Heads. It was never intended to be called "brick," but it's seemed to have caught on. When I was speaking to the media rep from Rhino a few months ago for my column, I kept referring to this great release as the "Brick," and he kindly said, "you know, everyone's kinda named it that, but it's really not the name." Funny how the public can determine the reality!

Felix E. Martinez said:

A funny sidenote...Rhino and the band are apparently cringing that we're referring to this set as "Brick."

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Rhino's website has referred to the Talking Heads DualDisc box as "DualDisc Brick" since day one. I don't see how the company can be "cringing" or surprised over something they themselves initiated.

Because it was supposed to refer to the packaging, not the title of the set. I agree, they stoked the fire!

Felix E. Martinez said:

I agree, they stoked the fire!

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No, they started the fire.

"We Didn't Start the Fire"...........................ooops! That one was stereo only!

El Guapo,
Thanks for the "Heads Up" so to speak on the European CD + DVD-A releases.
I've had The Brick since day one and love it but it might be cool to have the single ones as well.
I almost never double buy but I think I might in this case.

Also a friend of mine has a player, a Pioneer I think, that doesn't do dualdisc.

I'll add my praise for these discs and ring em up with a perfect 10. I had only been a casual TH fan before buying these discs but now I'm hooked. The clarity of the sound and the creativity of the surround mix are as good as I've heard. When I play Burning Down the House for other musically inclined friends, their jaws drop. These discs make it only more frustrating to me that more music companies and consumers don't understand what COULD be made available. BTW, no dual-disc problems on my Denon 1920 player.

I don't have the last 3 titles yet, but I like all of the others. I'm not sure how often I'll listen to my favorite (More Songs) in multichannel, though. It kind of takes some of the mystery out of the mix. Remain in Light an speaking in Tongues are a revelation! Some of the best mixes that I have heard.

This set is a great effort and the surround mixes are good.

Maybe somebody would like the music if they danced on it when they were teenagers I happen not to like it. So I won't vote on this one.

Next to Porcupine Tree ( who are completely different anyway) these are my favourite discs , certainly as a set.Still sound as vibrant as they ever did..

~M~

I still can't vote on this set since I haven't picked up "Naked" and haven't opened all of the others yet, but the percentage of 10 votes here is surprising and doesn't make any sense since the individual releases aren't rated nearly this high except "Remain in Light". There may be a concept regarding how the sum is greater than the parts here, but I don't think this release should be anywhere near the top of the heap. Individually, I think there a couple of 7's in the box. Still, I agree it was a great effort. I had been happy with just a 2-disc CD compilation from this group for the last couple of decades.

Chris

Only the first few albums are limited in terms of mix, with the rest indeed done with a creativity and playfulness one wishes others would emulate. I can understand the '10' rating as it applies to the box, for it's obvious that the best possible and sensible mixes were made from the sources, and the presentation is impeccable and unique.

ED

I've been a major Talking Heads fan since the first LP and had great expectations for this 5.1 surround set. Those expectations were met and surpassed. "Remain in Light" and "Fear of Music" have always been my favorites, and the mixes for both are astonishing. Those two and "Speaking in Tongues," with their complexly layered music, are beautifully suited for the surround treatment.

After two years I still find myself returning to these discs over and over, and hearing things that I missed on previous listens.

For me it's a 10 across the board -- the packaging, bonus tracks, videos, and Jerry Harrison's mixes are all superlative.

I finally made it through the whole set...

...and I'm not sure what the big deal is.

The surround mixes are okay. Some bits here and there stand out, but they aren't the greatest I've ever heard.

I also don't particularly care for the music on these disks, but that's beside the point (and my voting doesn't reflect that).

Talking Heads fans won't be let down, that's for sure, but I wish I would have spent my $100 elsewhere.

My favorite title in the group was "Fear of Music."

I'm voting a 7.

Dylan Berichon said:

I finally made it through the whole set...

...and I'm not sure what the big deal is.

The surround mixes are okay. Some bits here and there stand out, but they aren't the greatest I've ever heard.

I also don't particularly care for the music on these disks, but that's beside the point (and my voting doesn't reflect that).

Talking Heads fans won't be let down, that's for sure, but I wish I would have spent my $100 elsewhere.

My favorite title in the group was "Fear of Music."

I'm voting a 7.

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I can't vote, I have purchased 7 of the 8 discs separately and haven't listened to all of those yet. I haven't purchased "Naked", but the thing that has always puzzled me is that the individual discs aren't so highly rated here, yet the box set ranks incredibly high here. Somehow this is a case where the box set is better than the sum of its parts. I wasn't a big fan, but I am now, I think these discs are great, just not the best surround release in history. For me, it ranges from "Remain in Light", a 10, to several that would be 7 for me. Overall, an 8 would be my likely vote if I acquire all 8, although by the time I get to that point, I might find it is indeed a 9. Impressive effort by Warner for my money.

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

...but the thing that has always puzzled me is that the individual discs aren't so highly rated here, yet the box set ranks incredibly high here. Somehow this is a case where the box set is better than the sum of its parts...

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Chris, you mean after posting the exact same rumination here and getting responses on that very topic, you're still puzzled to the extent that you felt it necessary to repeat the same comment? Now THAT has me puzzled.

Anybody watch Antique's Roadshow? Say that Betty Bodagget brings in her Tiffany lamp that aunt Irene left her. The appraiser says that this particular lamp came as a pair. The value of the single lamp is worth $1,000 but if she had both, the set would be worth $3,000.

It's not a direct correlation but I believe this analogy works. Yes, a box set can rate higher than the average rating of the individual discs. Why is that so confounding for you? I mean, this ain't Ripley's material we're talking about.

Well, let's all agree that it helps to be a TH fan at the outset....

But beyond that, what makes the package exceptional:

1. Exceptional to outstanding mixes---for the material. This was a labor of love on Jerry Harrison's part, assembling all this and then sensibly and effectively remixing, no easy trick over a project this sprawling. The first album was limited in what he could do, so he did as much as he could. As the band got more sophisticated and ambitious and the recording situations more elaborate, so are the mixes--that is, the progression from album to album is logical.

2. Beyond the mixes, I dig the idea not only of including the important videos, but putting them in 5.1--also no small consideration, since it would have been easy enough to just leave them in stereo, think of them as icing on the cake, but no, much more care was put in.

3. The package itself is unique and attractive. Presentation is indeed 'icing on the cake,' but adds to the richness of the project.

4. To appreciate a box like this, think not only of TH, but the Beatles; imagine(and I know you all can! ) that the Fab folks finally break down and put out one just like this--from the earliest material to ABBEY ROAD and LET IT BE. Of course the early stuff is going to be very limited--indeed, some is mono-only, others twin-track only--and therefore probably wouldn't be any kind of 5.1 at all. But by AHDN, reasonable(if not great)5.1 mixes could be fashioned, and by the time of PEPPER, well...ready to be knocked out(as the ANTHOLOGY strongly suggests?). Yet despite the disparity in mix quality, I'd bet most everyone would rate the box a '10,' even if, individually, many of the early albums wouldn't deserve anything like it. It's the PACKAGE one is voting on, and in that regard, this is among the very best. The greatest? No, and the poll results reflect that, but it is in the top ten, understandably so.

ED

As a big fan this was everything I could hope for.

Here's some notes:

Even on the 77' and Flood albums I heard new things that in previous 2 channel listening I missed.

Fear of Music is my fav

I agree completely that the box is greater than it's parts, since every single disc was approached in micro details and any limititations was based upon the original recordings not the the effort or mixing of Jerry Harrison. Even though I don't love some of the later stuff as much, the surround mix add's detail missing in 2 channel.

In addition the BIG thing to take from this is that a member of the band actually performed the dissection.

I like the photos, I like the stills, I really think this is up there, maybe not Sea Change or Rumours but a solid 9. Not too mention all the discs released as once in a big box, I can't think of another band/artist that did that.