Rhino\u2019s Super Deluxe reissue treatment of Talking Heads\u2019 catalogue continued last Friday with the release of a new 2LP version of the band\u2019s second album, the Brian Eno-produced More Songs About Buildings And Food. There\u2019s a black vinyl version (\u20ac42) and a limited-edition translucent red vinyl (\u20ac48). I ponied up for the latter because I\u2019m a sucker for coloured vinyl and because I don\u2019t buy into the idea that black vinyl always carries fewer clicks and pops. The red vinyl pressing is reasonably quiet \u2013 but not perfectly so.<\/p>\n
The second record in this set features eleven \u2018alternative\u2019 versions with \u201cTake Me To The River\u201d making way for an instrumental take on \u201cElectricity\u201d (which would later become \u201cDrugs\u201d on Fear Of Music). The gatefold sleeve is new with song lyrics printed on the inside of the jacket.<\/p>\n
A 60-page hardback book featuring archive photos and liner notes from each of the four band members can be found in the 4LP box set (\u20ac159, which I didn\u2019t buy): the first two black vinyl discs mirror the tracklisting of the 2LP set with the third and fourth black vinyl discs given over to a 19-song live set recorded at the Entermedia Theatre in New York in August 1978. The box also contains four 7\u2033 singles with reproduction picture sleeves, again on black vinyl. No colour here!<\/p>\n
However, that same book houses the 3CD + Blu-Ray edition (\u20ac82) that gives us yet more material: the original album, the alternative versions and the Entermedia live show occupy the three CDs but on the Blu-Ray we find hi-res stereo, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes of the album, six songs of live show video footage from the Entermedia show and eleven songs of live show video filmed at a Sproul Plaza, Berkeley show in 1978.<\/p>\n
As you might expect, the album has been remastered for its 2025 reissue. The hype sticker states that Rhino (and mastering engineer Ted Jensen) returned to the original 2-track master tape for a fresh extraction. But how does this new version compare to the original CD master and the 2005 Brick Dual-Disc remaster (also done by Ten Jensen and Ryan Smith)?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re aware of the loudness wars<\/a>, you won\u2019t be surprised to learn that the 2025 remaster surrenders a decent amount of dynamic range to the original master (DR13). The original CD was mastered at Masterdisk \u2014 before the liberal use of dynamic range compression became fashionable among mastering engineers and their overlords (the labels). What you might be surprised about is that it pulls up on the wrong side of the 2005 remaster (DR9). Yep, run through MAAT\u2019s DR Offline MKII, the 2025 remaster says hello at DR7.<\/p>\n Put the new one in the bin to drop $20 on a Canadian Don Mills vinyl pressing<\/a>? Nope, not yet. A single measurement can provide only a through-the-letterbox look at what lies within.<\/p>\n