"Once in a Lifetime" is a comprehensive three-CD box set by the American post-punk/new wave band Talking Heads, released in 2003 by Sire, Warner Bros., and Rhino. The box set includes a wide variety of tracks from the band’s extensive catalog, as well as a DVD containing an expanded version of the Storytelling Giant music video compilation. The packaging of the set recalls a CD longbox, and it features artwork by Russian artists Vladimir Dubossarsky and Alexander Vinogradov, with design work by Stefan Sagmeister. The art direction was highly acclaimed and earned Sagmeister a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package.
One of the key features of Once in a Lifetime is its inclusion of several previously unreleased songs. Among these is "In Asking Land," an outtake from the Naked sessions, which was later reworked into "Carnival Eyes" for David Byrne's 1989 solo album Rei Momo. Other non-album tracks include "Sugar on My Tongue," a 1975 studio demo from when the band was still a trio (without Jerry Harrison); "Love → Building on Fire," a 1977 non-album single; and the B-side "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That" from the Psycho Killer single. Two more tracks from the Naked era, "Sax and Violins" (originally written for the soundtrack to Until the End of the World) and "Lifetime Piling Up" (completed in 1992 for the Sand in the Vaseline compilation), also appear. These tracks had previously been featured on Sand in the Vaseline (1992), though some songs from that compilation, like "I Want to Live" and "Gangster of Love," remain exclusive to that release.
The box set also includes some noteworthy alternate versions of songs. One of these is "A Clean Break," a live recording from the The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads album (1982), which was made available on CD for the first time in this collection. Once in a Lifetime features four previously unreleased alternate versions, including the original Tony Bongiovi-produced mixes of "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" and "New Feeling," which feature brass and other commercial elements that were ultimately discarded by the band. Another alternate version of "Cities" is included, which features a verse previously only heard in live performances, most notably in a deleted scene from Stop Making Sense. Finally, there is an early mix of the song "Drugs," with Robert Fripp on guitar and a different production style than the final version. The alternate version of "Cities" was later reissued on the 2006 remaster of Fear of Music, while the alternate versions of "New Feeling" and "Drugs" were made available digitally on Bonus Rarities and Outtakes in 2006.
Promo materials for the box set revealed that the original title was intended to be More Than Meets The Eye: Talking Heads Box Set, but this was later changed to Once in a Lifetime, reflecting the band's iconic song and the comprehensive nature of the collection.
