Review by Greg Prato [allmusic]
For the holiday season of 1992 (and a year after they announced their split), the Talking
Heads issued the excellent double disc anthology, Popular Favorites 1984-1992: Sand in the
Vaseline, which combined rarities, hits, and key album cuts. While America got the double
disc set, Europe received a streamlined, single disc collection, The Best Of (Once In A
Lifetime). As its title suggests, the fourteen track collection focuses solely on the group's best
known tracks, including such classics as "Psycho Killer," their commercial breakthrough cover
of Al Green's "Take Me to the River," "Once In A Lifetime," and "Burning Down the House,"
among others. But the inclusion of a pair of oddities, "Sax and Violins" and "Lifetime Piling
Up," will raise a few eyebrows, especially with such a backlog of stronger material that very
easily could have fit alongside the renowned hits (namely "Memories Can't Wait," "Crosseyed
and Painless," "Swamp," "Girlfriend is Better," etc.). But by and large, for a single disc
collection, The Best Of (Once In A Lifetime) accomplishes its goal -- hopefully one day a
slightly more expanded version will see a stateside release.
1. (04:21) - Psycho Killer
2. (05:03) - Take Me To The River
3. (04:20) - Once In A Lifetime
4. (04:02) - Burning Down The House
5. (04:55) - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
6. (04:14) - Slippery People (Live)
7. (05:05) - Life During Wartime (Live)
8. (03:39) - And She Was
9. (04:20) - Road To Nowhere
10. (03:42) - Wild Wild Life
11. (05:00) - Blind
12. (05:34) - (Nothing But) Flowers
13. (05:18.) - Sax And Violins
14. (03:52) - Lifetime Piling Up
Playing Time.........: 01:03:27
