Talking Heads’ ‘Fear of Music’ Gets Super Deluxe Edition

Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and David Byrne performing on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1979.

Talking Heads’ acclaimed album, Fear of Music, is getting a Super Deluxe Edition. The 1979 release channeled the raw, industrial energy of late-1970s New York City into one of the group’s most rhythmically adventurous albums, and featured such tracks as “Life During Wartime,” “I Zimbra,” “Cities” and “Drugs.” The expanded collection from Rhino, available on 3-CDs/1 Blu-ray or as a 6-LP edition, arrives November 13, 2026, and is available to order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here and here. Both editions feature rare and unreleased music, as well as new mixes.

The set includes a new remaster of the original album, a trove of rarities, and two complete concerts from the album’s tour recorded at Boston’s Berklee Performance Center (8/24/79) and the Capitol Theatre in New Jersey (11/17/79). Nearly all the performances are previously unreleased (except a few that appeared on 1982’s The Name of This Band is Talking Heads).

The Blu-ray includes new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround sound, and high-resolution stereo mixes of the album, along with rare film footage of the band performing two songs in England for the BBC’s popular music show, Old Grey Whistle Test.

Watch the live performance of “Life During Wartime” from that broadcast

The 6-LP SDE collects the remastered album, rarities, and concert recordings. A 2-LP version features the remastered album and rarities. Both versions feature a custom etching. Both Super Deluxe Editions come with a 60-page hardcover book featuring rare photos and deep-dive liner notes by Will Hermes, author of Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever.

From the Oct. 1 announcement: Released on August 3, 1979, Fear of Music earned Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison their highest placement yet on the Billboard 200, peaking at #21 and becoming their first gold album. Its dystopian anthem “Life During Wartime” cracked the Hot 100 as a left-field Top 40 success, introducing the band to an even wider audience. Critics praised the album’s anxious songwriting and producer Brian Eno’s dense, layered production—with NME, Melody Maker, and the Los Angeles Times all crowning it the best album of 1979.

Talking Heads bypassed commercial studios, tracking the album over two days in Weymouth and Frantz’s Long Island City loft rehearsal space. “The music for the album had been mostly written, arranged, and rehearsed there and we felt that the acoustics of our rehearsal space would make for an interesting contrast in sound to our previous two albums. Eno was keen on the idea, too,” Frantz wrote in his memoir Remain In Love.

Eno and the band used the studio as a compositional tool, altering tracks long after the basic loft sessions were finished. On “Drugs,” they took a conventional backing track and systematically muted instruments, stripping away individual notes to force space into the mix. They also added a recording of koalas Byrne made on tour in Australia, and a guitar solo made from fragments of multiple solos. Byrne says: “Finally, I sang the song after jogging in the studio, because for some reason I wanted to sound out of breath.”

The song gets its strength from the rhythm section, in particular Weymouth’s deceptively simple bass lines, pumped up by Eno. “I play bass much less delicately than [Byrne] plays guitar, but I think all singers need a depth of bass and drums behind them; it gives them more strength to scream.”

In the liner notes, Hermes argues that New York City looms larger over this record than any other by the band: “Even the record’s packaging telegraphed it.” The distinctive matte-black, embossed sleeve was originally suggested by Harrison, who spotted a diamond tread pattern on the industrial rubber flooring in the loft of Yann Weymouth (Tina’s architect brother). Hermes adds, “[It] evokes all sorts of impenetrable, vaguely menacing urban ambience, from steel tread plates on trench covers and sidewalk curb ramps to those perilously omnipresent delivery truck lift-gates.”

The 3-CD/1-Blu-ray pack shot.

FEAR OF MUSIC (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)
3-CD/1-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”

The set is available to order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here and here.