SAND IN THE VASELINE

I got the 2 cassette version of this compilation when it came out. Apart from the odd song here or there, this is really all the T Heads most people need. And then some. The liner notes are very informative. The first two songs I believe were unreleased demos. Two songs appear in their live versions. The set is in chronological order, and the quality really starts dropping off by the end of the second disc/tape.

I don't know if this is still in print, but it's better than any single disc anthology these guys have. Since this was released in the early 1990s, the mastering job is good and sympathetic to the original sound; the most recent album remasters are not so good sounding. I don't think the T Heads were all that "progressive", but they certainly were one of the more interesting groups to come out of punk in the late 1970s.

As would be expected, a lot of the best songs are from the albums they did with Brian Eno. The better songs on this set are located at the end of disc one and the beginning of disc two. But a good job is done selecting the tracks from the other albums. It's nice they included lesser known songs like "Warning Sign", "Memories Can't Wait", "Swamp" and "Love For Sale".

A good introduction to this group. If you want to hear a whole album, I would suggest checking out Fear Of Music. Or possibly one of the live albums. For this compilation I will give 3 stars.