- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
If Once in a Lifetime does run out of steam toward the end, it has to be said that it doesn't outstay its welcome, and apart from a track or two at the very end, this is a compelling, entertaining listen from start to finish.
-
The first two discs rock with transcendent grace, but stumble on disc three, in part because their last studio albums were uneven.
-
BlenderMarred only by incredibly pompous liner notes and a lack of worthy rarities. [#23, p.122]
-
Even the vague pointlessness that hangs over this product (some interesting rarities aside from the not-very-different 'alternate takes' of a few tracks included here wouldn't have gone amiss) can't detract from the incredible music contained in the first two CDs.
-
Avoid the last disc, groove on the first two, and ruminate on the strange beauty of this sui generis body of work.
-
MojoThese are songs to admire rather than lose oneself in. [Jan 2004, p.116]
-
Once in a Lifetime shies away from the Talking Heads life force. It presents them as winking ironists, not the true black-music believers that they were.
-
Q MagazineThis collection is laced with a compelling sense of psychosis. [Dec 2003, p.156]
-
Not that they didn't crank out a generous dollop of highlights - I Zimbra, Life During Wartime, Heaven, And She Was et al - but stuff from the debut album now sounds irritatingly thin and scratchy, while material from their last couple of albums, True Stories and Naked, is the sound of a band reaching the end of its tether.
-
UncutAt a time when all things punky or funky with an NY zip code are the peak of chic, Talking Heads ought to be lauded as authentic pioneers. [Jan 2004, p.118]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 10 out of 11
-
Mixed: 0 out of 11
-
Negative: 1 out of 11
-
Mar 1, 2013
-
JaySJun 13, 2005
-
AshleyMondayMar 7, 2005