Talking Heads Announce Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live

In what’s more proof that we’ll never truly be done with these weirdo rock legends, Talking Heads have announced yet another blast from the past, Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live.

Due out March 6th via Rhino, this latest archival release comes as Talking Heads extend their 50th anniversary celebration. (Perhaps indefinitely?) Across three CDs, Tentative Decisions expertly charts the “rapid evolution of the original trio (David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth),” with 15 unreleased demos recorded for CBS Records in September 1975 alongside a dozen-plus demos culled from circa 1975-1977.

Tentative Decisions will also be released as black-vinyl edition, which includes 10 early demos and a live cut taken from a 1976 gig at the Ocean Club. (It was previously released for RSD Black Friday 2025, albeit on clear vinyl.) The vinyl edition also features 1974 recordings of both “Psycho Killer” and “Warning Sign” attributed to The Artistics (aka, Byrne and Frantz’s band during their studies at the Rhode Island School of Design).

“Tentative Decisions…uncovers a cache of live recordings from 1976 and 1977, capturing the band at key moments,” according to a press release. “The October 1976 performance at Max’s Kansas City took place just a few weeks before the group met with Seymour Stein and signed to Sire Records. A few months later, the January 1977 show at The Jabberwocky Club in Syracuse would be among the last by the original trio before Jerry Harrison joined in March.”

In the lead up to the March release, the band’s shared the CBS demo of “Love Goes To A Building On Fire,” which is out now digitally. If you love the original, this demo is a solid promise of the understated banger to come. Check it out below.

The Talking Heads’ other 50th-related releases and endeavors have included a touring screening of Stop Making Sense with Harrison; the first-ever “Psycho Killer” music video (starring actress Saoirse Ronan); and a deluxe edition of Talking Heads: 77.

Pre-orders for Tentative Decisions are available now. Check out the full tracklists following the audio and album artwork.

Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live Artwork:

Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live Three-CD Tracklist:

Disc One
01. Psycho Killer (September 1975 Demo)
02. Tentative Decisions (September 1975 Demo)
03. No Compassion (September 1975 Demo)
04. Warning Sign (September 1975 Demo)
05. I’m Not in Love (1976 Demo)
06. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (1976 Demo)
07. The Book I Read (1976 Demo)
08. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That (1976 Demo)
09. Love Goes To A Building On Fire (1976 Demo)
10. Happy Day (1976 Demo)
11. Artists Only (Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, New York, NY, 8/17/76)
12. Psycho Killer (as The Artistics)
13. Warning Sign (as The Artistics)

Disc Two
CBS Demos (September 1975)
01. Psycho Killer *
02. Sugar On My Tongue *
03. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel *
04. I Want To Live *
05. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That *
06. The Girls Want To Be With The Girls *
07. Who Is It? *
08. With Our Love *
09. Stay Hungry *
10. Tentative Decisions *
11. Warning Sign *
12. I’m Not In Love *
13. The Book I Read *
14. Love Goes To A Building On Fire *
15. No Compassion *

Disc Three
Live at Max’s Kansas City, New York, NY (10/9/76)
01.“Artists Only *
02. 1, 2, 3 Red Light *
03. Happy Day *
04. Don’t Worry About The Government *
05. Psycho Killer *
06.“Love Goes To A Building On Fire *
07. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel *
08. With Our Love *
09. Pablo Picasso” *
10. I’m Not In Love *
Live at the Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse, NY (1/26/77)
11. No Compassion *
12. New Feeling *
13. Psycho Killer *
14. A Clean Break (Let’s Work) *
15. Sugar On My Tongue *
Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, New York, NY (8/17/76)
16. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That *
17. Take Me To The River *

Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live LP Tracklist:

Side One
01. Psycho Killer (September 1975 Demo)
02. Tentative Decisions (September 1975 Demo)
03. No Compassion (September 1975 Demo)
04. Warning Sign (September 1975 Demo)
05. I’m Not In Love” (1976 Demo)

Side Two
01. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (1976 Demo)
02. The Book I Read (1976 Demo)
03. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That (1976 Demo)
04. Love Goes To A Building On Fire (1976 Demo)
05. Happy Day (1976 Demo)
06. Artists Only (Live At The Ocean Club, New York, NY (8/17/76))

7” Single
A. Psycho Killer (as The Artistics)
B. Warning Sign (as The Artistics)

* = Previously unreleased