One of those debut albums that is clearly the beginning of a legacy, "Talking Heads '77" finds the band raw yet somehow fully formed. At its best, it is absolutely brilliant, somewhat schizophrenic new wave pop, at its worst, quite frankly, it's not much different.

Having met in art school in Rhode Island, David Byrne (guitar and vocals), Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums) relocated to New York to pursue their destiny as a band, eventually adding Jerry Harrison to the mix (keyboards and guitar) from Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers (highly recommended for anyone who enjoys this album). The band performed Byrne's songs-- a fractured, paranoid, intelligent and yet goofy sort of off-kilter pop-- the key to his music is that you can't readily identify when it was recorded, it has that magic timeless nature to it such that if you played this album for someone who had never heard it, they'd have no reason to assume it was recorded nearly thirty years ago. With Byrne's strained, frantic vocals and an unnervingly able and inventive rhythm section, the pieces all get superb readings.

Again, at its best it's brilliant schizophrenic pop-- from the deep groove of paranoid "Psycho Killer" to the mildly funky, building and paranoid "No Compassion" (the clearest pointer to what the future holds) to goofy-yet-serious chirping opener "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" or the seemingly endless imagery of "Don't Worry About the Government". The less intriguing tracks are pleasant enough ("New Feeling"), but often fairly unmemorable ("First Week/Last Week... Carefree") when compared to the rest of the record. They'd probably stand out on anyone else's album, but the better material on here raises the bar.

This reissue is really something to get ahold of-- using the dualdisc format, both sides are remastered and the DVD side is mixed in 5.1. Put simply, the series sounds superb-- crisp and clean and really fitting the timeless quality of the music. The CD side adds five bonus tracks-- the band's first single (recorded without Jerry Harrison), the absolutely superb "Love-->Building on Fire", a song that defies explanation and is among the best thing the band ever did, a handful of b-sides (largely unmemorable but nice to have) and early (again, pre-Jerry Harrison) recording "Sugar on My Tongue", originally released as part of the "Sand in the Vaseline". This final piece shows just how fully formed Byrne's songwriting and sound was, even early-- it captures all the manic energy and frantic sounds that make the band great and is a wortwhile addition. The DVD side offers one of the b-sides, another mix of "Uh-Oh..." and a couple live video clips.

Truthfully, the Talking Heads would go on to bigger and better things in the company of Brian Eno on their next three records, all pretty much flawless, but this one is essential. Four stars without the remastering job, five with the cleaned up sound and the bonus tracks. Recommended.

All negative reviews are of the DualDisc format. The product is amazing, but only get it if you have a 5.1 surround sound setup. You won't be able to burn it and put it on your MP3 player, which sucks, but if you understand that and also understand that it is worth the price just to play it on your 5.1 surround sound system then buy it, I have it and a couple of others. It's KILLER to listen too on 5.1.

I'm not interested in whether this disc can play properly or not! Let's talk about the music here! As a debut, Talking Heads did a pretty good job. It's definitely one of their more sparse recordings and does not have many layers like their later work.

The cd side is digitally remastered. So how does it compare to the old "'77" cd? A major improvement. However, there are no lyrics to the songs like on the old copy. There are liner notes from various musicians who appreciate Talking Heads as well as a note from Jerry Harrison about how he and Andy Zax remixed the album into 5.1 surround sound.

Which brings me to the dvd side. It's quite amazing to listen to "'77" through five speakers digitally remastered. You feel like you're in the studio with the band. The two bonus tracks are okay but nothing special. The two videos are okay. It's nice for someone like me to watch them since I missed the opportunity to see the band live. The 5.1 surround sound is excellent, but because this album is two dimensional sonically it doesn't quite compare with "Fear Of Music" or "Remain In Light".

Okay, onto the music. As I said, this a good debut, but not great, and not their best work. It does contain the classic "Psycho Killer". It also has "No Compassion", "Uh-Oh, Love Comest To Town", "Tentative Decisions", "The Book I Read", "First Week/Last Week...Carefree" and "Pulled Up". In the bonus track department three tracks "Love --> Building On Fire", "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That" and "Sugar On My Tongue" all appeared on 1992's "Sand In The Vaseline". I particularly like "Sugar On My Tongue".

For an album that came out nearly 30 years ago, "'77" holds up very well. Talking Heads were always ahead of their time and a true original. The digital remastering on the cd side is great, but you really need to listen to the dvd side and hear the album in 5.1 surround sound to be blown away. I'm a little annoyed by the expensive price tag to replace my old copy. I really think it should be $9.99, but then Rhino wouldn't make any money. If you really like the Talking Heads like I do, you will shell out the extra cash to get all eight albums digitally remastered. I wish they had included "Stop Making Sense" in 5.1 surround sound dual disc format!

Hard to believe that 32 years ago Tina,David and the gang dropped this debut album that is still challanging musicians in the art pop field today. So....this being my first time really hearing it in it's whole how do I feel having been a long time fan of the Heads classic music to come? Well for something so influential on the "art pop" field...that's just the whole thing with this album. It may have come out of the world of CBGB's punk but by NO MEANS is this a "punk record". It's not exactly simple,it's not exactly loud and rocking out but it's got something huge going for it. Even at this early point,using the basic band the main focus of Talking Heads musically was the rhythm;everything from the great "island groove" of "Uh Oh,Love Comes To Town" through tunes like "Happy Day" and "The Book I Read" are just filled with lots of funk. And one thing David Byrne always understood about making a great funk tune that wasn't fake sounding was to keep the rhythms tight and simple. Interestingly enough Jerry Harrison's new-wavish keyboards (heard of course most famously on "Psycho Killer") gives this music a sound I'll call "funk-wave";no need to guess what that stands for lol. Add to that David Byrnes already awkward,detached and nervously delivered lyrics and BOOM you have a band with a totally unique sound. Tina's basslines on songs like "No Compassion" and "First Weel/Last Week..Carefree"..well pretty much everything here even bring to mind,yes a light disco flavor.But if you know that genre's influence on new-wave/punk no panicking for the discophobes please;this isn't exactly Saturday Night Fever,unless of course it was being done outside our space time continuum that is. This album all came together over several years before it even came out and the result is a band whose concepts were as rooted in the New York avante garde culture in terms of feeling but also full of great pop melodies and funky grooves. So the group really says it all for someone like me whose into all that kind of stuff. The last tune "Pulled Up" is the most rocky thing here and...well it's really not straight new wave. Talking Heads were never about playing it straight;they were a total oxymoron-a commercial mainstream band with a totally uncommercial,hip attitude. As for the bonus tracks you get to hear some more likeminded tunes that seem to extend on David Burns lyrical obsession here with buildings (you can hear plenty of that on "Don't Worry About The Government" too) and you also get the original version of "Psycho Killer".Now the story goes that the albums producer Lance Quinn originally did the song with creepy cellos and horns in the backround;was this his idea of a rock n roll Peter & The Wolf or something?Who knows,who cares but it's an interesting version-doesn't have the same impact as the one we all know and...okay maybe it's a little overdone but it sounds good. And about this sound,much has been made of the DualDisk format,a plus for me buying this but upsetting for many others. Since this was the first CD version of this I ever had (my first was a cassette) I love the format;it plays on all my CD players,all from different eras dating back to 1990 and rips on my laptop CD drive. Not only that but,on a set of older computer speakers in my BASEMENT this remastering is so terrific it literally sounds like the day it was made. You almost get the impression all the tracks were re-recordered on a new digital master rather then just remastered the sound is so alive and punchy-no issue with the loudness war here. So with no minuses there's a million pluses to enjoying this album and despite the warnings I recommend getting this version.The notes are better,you have bonus tracks and DVD footage and you also get the amazing sound even on the regular CD side!

Heavily fractured through a prism of art school irony and minimalism, all David Byrne ever really wanted to be was a pop star, a status he would only (semi-)attain a decade later when he slapped on the Big Suit. But, way back in '77, with a nod to pop instrumentalist Sergio Mendes, this album was the frankest manifesto of that aspiration. Its incredibly catchy songs defy you not to sing along in your own full-throated, geeky-gawky glory after about the second listen. If you think I'm a bit far-fetched, watch Byrne's only outing as a film director, True Stories, in which the common folk of Virgil, Texas, the General Public that Byrne is gently ribbing, nevertheless manage to gather for a night of karaoke and belt out.... a Talking Heads rocker. Even now, 30 years later, I still know all the words. Even then, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were beginning their three-LP run as the greatest rhythm section of rock's post-punk era.