Rhino’s expanded edition adds two complete 1979 shows, studio rarities, new Dolby Atmos mixes and rare BBC footage to the Talking Heads classic.
by Paul Cashmere
Talking Heads are opening the Fear of Music archive with two complete 1979 concerts that have never previously been released in full, forming the centrepiece of a new Super Deluxe Edition due November 13.
Rhino’s Fear of Music (Super Deluxe Edition) will be issued as a 3CD/Blu-ray collection, with the same core material also spread across a six-LP vinyl set. Alongside a new 2026 remaster of the original album, the collection brings together alternate versions, an unfinished outtake, the 12-inch version of “I Zimbra”, rare BBC film and new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes.
The two concerts capture Talking Heads during the tour that followed the release of Fear of Music in August 1979. The Berklee Performance Center show in Boston was recorded on August 24, while the Capitol Theatre performance in Passaic, New Jersey was recorded on November 17. Nearly all of the performances have not previously been released, with only a small number having appeared on The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads in 1982.
That makes the live material more than a bonus for collectors. It documents the band while Fear of Music was still new, with sets that move from “Artists Only”, “Stay Hungry” and “Cities” through “Heaven”, “Air”, “Psycho Killer” and “Life During Wartime”. The Boston recording also includes “Take Me To The River”, while the Passaic concert adds “Animals” and “Found A Job”.
The Blu-ray expands the listening options further with high-resolution stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos versions of the album. It also contains two performances filmed in England for the BBC programme Old Grey Whistle Test: “Life During Wartime” and “Air”.
“Life During Wartime” is the immediate focus of the campaign, with the 1979 Old Grey Whistle Test performance now officially released on Talking Heads’ YouTube channel. The timing also coincides with the song receiving RIAA Gold certification for the first time.
The original Fear of Music was released on August 3, 1979, and became Talking Heads’ highest-charting album to that point in the United States, reaching No. 21. It was also the band’s first gold album. “Life During Wartime” became a Top 40 US single, extending the group’s reach while retaining the tension and rhythmic experimentation that defined the record.
The album’s unusual production environment is part of its story. Rather than returning to a conventional commercial studio after More Songs About Buildings and Food, Talking Heads recorded the basic tracks in Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz’s Long Island City loft, with a Record Plant engineering crew running cables from a van outside the building. Brian Eno again worked with the band, treating the recording space and studio technology as part of the composition process.
Jerry Harrison later explained that the group wanted a different recording process because they believed it would give the album an individual quality of sound as well as songwriting. Chris Frantz recalled that the band had written, arranged and rehearsed much of the material in the loft and that Eno was receptive to using the unusual space.
Some of the most revealing details are buried in “Drugs”. The band and Eno stripped instruments from the backing track to create space, while David Byrne contributed a vocal recorded after jogging because he wanted to sound out of breath. The track also contains recordings of koalas Byrne made during the band’s Australian tour, an unexpected connection between the New York sessions and Australia.
That Australian detail is only one part of the album’s international story. Talking Heads toured Australia and New Zealand in June 1979, shortly before Fear of Music was released.
The new collection also revisits the visual world of the album. The matte-black embossed cover, conceived around an industrial tread pattern, reflected the urban character of the music and became one of the record’s defining design elements.
The CD and vinyl Super Deluxe Editions include a 60-page hardcover book with rare photographs and liner notes by Will Hermes. The six-LP set contains the remastered album, six rarity tracks and both complete concerts, while the two-LP edition pairs the remastered album with the rarities.
Fear of Music (Super Deluxe Edition) will be released November 13.
Fear Of Music (Super Deluxe Edition)
3CD/Blu-ray Track Listing
CD One: 2026 Remaster
“I Zimbra”
“Mind”
“Paper”
“Cities”
“Life During Wartime”
“Memories Can’t Wait”
“Air”
“Heaven”
“Animals”
“Electric Guitar”
“Drugs”
Rarities
“Mind” – Alternate Version
“Life During Wartime” – Alternate Version
“Dancing For Money” – Unfinished Outtake
“Cities” – Alternate Version
“Drugs” – Alternate Version
“I Zimbra” – 12″ Version
CD Two: Live At The Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, 8/24/79
“Artists Only” *
“Stay Hungry” *
“Cities”
“Paper” *
“Mind”
“Heaven” *
“The Book I Read” *
“Electric Guitar” *
“Air” *
“Warning Sign” *
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
“Memories Can’t Wait” *
“Psycho Killer” *
“Life During Wartime” *
“Take Me To The River” *
CD Three: Live At Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 11/17/79
“Artists Only”
“Stay Hungry”
“Cities” *
“Paper” *
“Mind” *
“Heaven”
“Electric Guitar” *
“Air”
“Animals” *
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire”
“Found A Job” *
“Memories Can’t Wait”
“Psycho Killer” *
“Life During Wartime” *
Blu-ray
Audio: Hi-Res Stereo, 5.1 & Atmos Mix of original album, 2026 Remaster
Video: Live On Old Grey Whistle Test, 1979
“Life During Wartime”
“Air”
Fear Of Music (Super Deluxe Edition)
6LP Track Listing
LP One: 2026 Remaster
Side One
“I Zimbra”
“Mind”
“Paper”
“Cities”
“Life During Wartime”
“Memories Can’t Wait”
Side Two
“Air”
“Heaven”
“Animals”
“Electric Guitar”
“Drugs”
LP Two: Rarities
Side One
“Mind” – Alternate Version
“Life During Wartime” – Alternate Version
“Dancing For Money” – Unfinished Outtake
“Cities” – Alternate Version
“Drugs” – Alternate Version
“I Zimbra” – 12″ Version
Side Two
Etching
LP Three: Live At The Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, 8/24/79
Side One
“Artists Only” *
“Stay Hungry” *
“Cities”
“Paper” *
Side Two
“Mind”
“Heaven” *
“The Book I Read” *
LP Four: Live At The Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA, 8/24/79
Side One
“Electric Guitar” *
“Air” *
“Warning Sign” *
Side Two
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
“Memories Can’t Wait” *
“Psycho Killer” *
“Life During Wartime” *
“Take Me To The River” *
LP Five: Live At Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 11/17/79
Side One
“Artists Only”
“Stay Hungry”
“Cities” *
“Paper” *
Side Two
“Mind” *
“Heaven”
“Electric Guitar” *
“Air”
LP Six: Live At Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 11/17/79
Side One
“Animals” *
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire”
“Found A Job” *
Side Two
“Memories Can’t Wait”
“Psycho Killer” *
“Life During Wartime” *
Fear Of Music (2026 Remaster)
2LP Track Listing
LP One
Side One
“I Zimbra”
“Mind”
“Paper”
“Cities”
“Life During Wartime”
“Memories Can’t Wait”
Side Two
“Air”
“Heaven”
“Animals”
“Electric Guitar”
“Drugs”
LP Two: Rarities
Side One
“Mind” – Alternate Version
“Life During Wartime” – Alternate Version
“Dancing For Money” – Unfinished Outtake
“Cities” – Alternate Version
“Drugs” – Alternate Version
“I Zimbra” – 12″ Version
Side Two
Etching
*Previously Unreleased
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