Customer Reviews

Stop Making Sense: Special New Edition (1984 Film)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard Stop Making Sense when I was 7 years old. Having grown up with Talking Heads and had an affinity for live recordings, my father bought the CD for me. I loved all nine tracks on the original album. At age 10, I saw the film and was introduced to Stop Making Sense in all its glory. There were a lot of songs in the film which were not included on the album and I wondered why. Every single song blew my mind, and I wanted so much to hear all the music without having to go to my VCR to watch the film just to hear it. People made double albums back in the 80s, why couldn't it have been released as a double album?

Thankfully, with the release of the DVD came the re-release of the Stop Making Sense album, with all the songs from the film as well as the original 9. But I was a little skeptical. Two songs on here from the retrospective Sand In the Vaseline, "Life During Wartime" and "Girlfriend Is Better" had been edited down, the latter in particular being chopped to shreds, leaving out almost an entire verse. This was the case with even more songs on the vinyl release of the album, with most of the songs being shortened way too much. I worried that all of the songs would be edited down, and that the full-length versions would be lost forever. Finally, after receiving the DVD this past Christmas, my love for Stop Making Sense was rekindled, I saw this CD in Virgin Megastore for 10 bucks, and decided that for that price it couldn't be that bad, edited or not, so I picked it up.

Thankfully, the editing is very minscule, even unnoticeable. There are minor edits in "Slippery People" and "What A Day That Was," but they are almost unnoticeable. For the most part, the songs have remained untouched, and are here as we have always known them. "Girlfriend Is Better," thankfully, is here in its entirety, as it was on the original CD/cassette version of the album. "Life During Wartime" remains unedited, as does everything else. Along with mostly untouched songs from the original album, we also get the other songs from the film. The album sounds great and fresh, the remastering job is phenomenal. It's great to hear these awesome versions of "Found A Job," "Genius Of Love," "Making Flippy Floppy," and "This Must Be The Place" in great sound quality. Of course, fitting all of these tracks onto one CD means cutting out long bursts of crowd noise and in-between song chatter that graces many a great live recording, but that is not a big deal at all. The important thing is, we get the album we should have gotten to begin with, and it's a long overdue relief. I am, as I'm sure many others are, very relieved that the songs aren't edited, and the album is what it should have been and what it should be.

Of course, I am a huge fan of the film, it's one of, if not the, greatest concert films I've ever seen. However, if the music sucked, the movie wouldn't be as good. I hear plenty of people rave about the movie, but no one ever talks about the music, which is incredible. The band is really tight, it's amazing that this is a live recording. Perhaps there were some overdubs done later, I don't know, but it's still a great record nonetheless. I recommend this CD to anyone who likes the Talking Heads. Don't worry, don't hesitate, this is the album we have been waiting for and what we should have gotten to begin with. Buy this and enjoy it for a long time to come. I'm gonna end this review before I start to ramble on and stop making sense, so buy this CD, you will not be disappointed.

5/5

Jonathon Demme's 1984 concert film of the Talking Heads was an incredible experience. Sadly, when the original soundtrack was released, it contained only nine of the songs performed. Not only that, but they were entirely out of sequence, completely destroying the original purpose behind David Byrne's conception of the concert. Thank God they released this anniversary edition of the soundtrack, as this really does the film justice. Every song is here, and in its proper place, the way it was meant to be heard.

So, what is the big deal, you ask? Well, picture this. The soundtrack begins with "Psycho Killer," one of the first really big hits for the group. Instead of the entire band being onstage, David Byrne walks out with an acoustic guitar and a boom box. He presses PLAY on the box, which cues a drum program to begin playing. So the first song is just David Byrne singing and strumming his guitar, accompanied by pre-recorded percussion. For the next song, "Heaven," Byrne is joined onstage by bassist Tina Weymouth. Then Chris Frantz's drumset is wheeled out, and the three of them go into "Thank You For Sending Me an Angel." We finally hear some real drumming, not the predictable, computerized beats in "Psycho Killer." The album really begins to come alive. Then they go into "Found a Job," and things get more interesting. Byrne swaps his acoustic guitar for an electric, and lead guitarist Jerry Harrison comes out, meaning we now have two guitars. By the time the fifth track, "Slippery People," is underway, the entire band (including the extra musicians and backup singers) are on the stage, and now things are cooking. What happens over the remaining twelve tracks can only be described as an overload of the senses.

The purpose behind the concert was to provide a unique experience for the concert-goer, to create visual as well as aural art. Some of that sense is lost on the CD listener, but some of it remains. The songs were translated to disk beautifully, so that they still retain just about everything that made them a pleasure to listen to while watching the film. One can almost picture David Byrne running laps around the stage, dancing with the lamp, or wearing the big suit.

The concert resulting in the film and this album was performed shortly after the band released their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." So, needless to say, many of the songs you will hear are from that album. And I have to say that for each of them, I prefer the live version to the studio version. Each one of them sounds more vibrant, more full of life when performed on the stage. The improvisation on "Burning Down the House" is as good as it gets. Ditto "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)," which is one of the most beautiful things I've heard, and I don't even like love songs. The studio versions lack that extra energy. Their pulse is just too slow. This is never more true for "Life During Wartime," which is actually a song from 1979's "Fear of Music." But anyway, this song displays Byrne's tendency to perfectly mismatch music and lyrics. The pulsating beat of club rock flows beneath what I interpret to be a humourously disturbing tale of a country under martial law. The song should not work as well as it does, and yet somehow, they pull it off. Anyway, after hearing the live version of it, I can no longer listen to the studio version. Also noteworthy is the improvisation on "Crosseyed and Painless." The intro and the extended guitar solos are just the icing on the cake for that one!

If there is a bad song on this album, it would have to be the interlude by the Tom Tom Club (a solo project of Heads drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth). "Genius of Love" could have been a great song. The instrumentation is very good. Sadly, it's ruined by Frantz's raucous babbling. He's attempting to be random like David Byrne, but tragically, he's not good at it. Other than that, this album is solid gold. It demonstrates the full potential of live music, and sounds amazing while doing it. Whether you're a fan of the Talking Heads or not, this album belongs in your collection.

While this is ceratainly a fantastic album and probabely the Talking Heads best overall collection it is not the exact sound track as advertised. I own a VHS HIFI copy of the actual movie and have played it in the form of an audio cassette at least 100 times. The current new issue does not contain all the songs in the movie and several of the included tracks are not the ones in the movie. For instance, the hypnotic guitar solo during the introduction to Cross Eyed and Painless, perhaps the Talking Heads most energetic song, has been dramatically shortened from the version in the movie. Despite these frustrating shortcomings the newly released Stop Making Sense is far superior to the original release and should be considered an essential for any Talking Heads fan!

The movie remains one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, concert film of all time, and this re-release finally does it justice. While the earlier version was just a sort of live greatest hits CD, this one is a more complete look at the band and its skills. From the simplicity of "Psycho Killer," which consists solely of David Byrne playing an acoustic guitar over the rhythm of a boombox to the lush orchestration and gospel-inspired power of "Take Me To The River," this CD amazes. The addition of "Heaven" "Crosseyed and Painless" and others add depth and breadth.

The truly remarkable thing about Talking Heads is that they make intelligent music. Not only are their lyrics far more sophisticated than just about any other band, but the music is also a notch above. They play challenging chord progressions, non-syncopated drum beats and complicated harmonies that force us to listen to music in entirely different ways. And although this album precedes Byrne's total immersion into world music, you can definitely see its influence in the music. This album belongs on the shelf of anyone who considers himself/herself a fan of music.

It's difficult to rate any Talking Heads cd, but I feel that this one is their best because it's very nearly flawless. Sure, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures and More Songs About Buildings and Food are all great cds. I have all 8 studio cds, Stop Making Sense audio and video, Sand in the Vaseline, most of David Byrne's solo material, and even The Heads (1996) cd without David. Talking Heads are undoubtedly a classic original rock band homegrown right here in America. Stop Making Sense is brilliant because the re-work some of their best songs from previous studio albums. I can't think of an artist that has improved their own catalogue of songs like the Talking Heads did on this cd. There isn't a bad song on this disc. With it being digitally remastered with added tracks, Stop Making Sense makes more sense now. Sure, it's around 75 minutes of music and who wants to sit that long? Well, you won't be disappointed or bored. There is such an energy on this disc that is missing from other Talking Heads cds. I know many people who do not like the Talking Heads but they are a bit more lenient about Stop Making Sense. But just listen to "Once in a Lifetime", "Girlfriend is Better", "Life During Wartime", "Slippery People", "Heaven", "Psycho Killer", "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" and you will know why the Talking Heads are brilliant. This isn't a bloated 75 minutes of music like the latest Alanis Morissette cd or Nine Inch Nails cds. There's not a beat missed with Stop Making Sense. If you only buy one Talking Heads disc, I would recommend this one. If you want a reasonable overview of the band then I'd recommend Sand in the Vaseline. To me, Talking Heads are like the Police, they broke up too soon and it would be great if they ever did get back together and record new material.

I saw Talking Heads on the Speaking in Tongues tour, most likely a few months before the film was shot. That concert had a number of similarities to the Stop Making Sense performance captured on film (and audio), and it remains, for obvious reasons, probably the best concert I've ever seen. I saw the Stop Making Sense movie in 1986, and bought my first CD player a couple of months later. The original release of this CD was one of the first 2 or 3 I bought, and to this day it remains as one of the discs I keep in my portable wallet for listening in my car. I was disappointed from day one that "This Must be the Place" and "Crosseyed and Painless" were not on the original Stop Making Sense CD. These are perhaps my two favorite Talking Heads songs, and the live versions really are something special. Needless to say, I'm delighted at the re-release, which includes both of these songs, as well as "Making Flippy Floppy" and "Heaven," two other great live recordings. I agree with the reviewer below -- the Tom Tom Club song could have been easily omitted. That bit certainly hasn't aged well. "I Zimbra" would have been a much better choice for the re-release. However, this is on the whole one of the great live albums ever, and well worth the upgrade if you already have the original version.

Back when I was a kid, during the 80s, my first love, whom I met at camp, used to write to me long detailed letters of her life, which seemed far more interesting and visceral than my own backwoods existence. She once mentioned that she liked Talking Heads, a group I'd never heard of but I ran straight out and bought the first cassette by them I could find -- "Stop Making Sense."

I used to go around on my paper route, in the freezing rain, under a hooded sweatshirt, cranking "What a Day That Was" and "Burning Down the House" on my Walkman, chilled to the bone and soaking wet but warmed by the incredibly upbeat rhythms and confusing lyrics.

By the time I was finally able to get the movie on VHS, I'd listened to the tape a million times and knew most of the songs. But I didn't know what the band looked like or what their stage show involved. Not only was I blown away anew by the Heads, but there were all these other songs I'd never heard. How, I wondered, could they ever have left "Naive Melody" off the initial album?

Anyway, that old first love is long gone, but she turned me on to the Talking Heads before she split and now the album has been reissued with the set-list intact (except for two songs). This music is caffeine in a bright cold can; it's like waking up and looking out the window and finding snow; it's drier-warmed sheets, and it's also the sound of a Saturday wake and bake, the sound of the first spring-forward Sunday afternoon. Good sounds. Enjoy!

Yeah, sure, this record is a classic soundtrack/live-recording and now with more tracks from the movie this edition is even better. Having said this, Talking Heads's first live record, THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS, is infinitely better. It's much less polished than STOP MAKING SENSE, but gets down to the nitty-gritty of the early Talking Heads sound without all the theatricality and without the layer upon layer of synth-sound. If you want to hear Talking Heads the way they sounded live at small venues jamming out with red-hot intensity on their early music, THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS is the way to go. But if you're looking for their more well-known, sleek, polished and slickly produced stuff, then buy this one. Either way, you can't go wrong.

In 1984, I saw Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense" four separate times--this was not unusual for any Talking Heads fan. So when the soundtrack was released, I rushed to get a copy. It's not hard to imagine my disappointment to find that it only contained nine songs from the film. Nine! Where were "Heaven", "This Must Be the Place" and the Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love"? This soundtrack was nothing less than a gyp!

Now, almost two decades later, is this new edition which contains so many of the tunes that I found unforgiveably left off the original! The sound is crisp and true. Without trying to overemphasize the importance of Talking Heads, this documentary of a truly great tour will reveal why this band had such a following, and why its music is still influencing the music of today.

This 1984 concert journal by the Talking Heads--in my opinion the most unique and inventive new wave band of all time--has long been hailed for its originality and poignancy, but has never quite received the appreciation it deserves. But perhaps this very worthwhile re-issue of "Stop Making Sense" will persuade critics to give it another look.
But as for the classic original in 1984, if the Talking Heads' critics didn't fully know what they were about before, they sure knew it when they were graced with "Stop Making Sense." The glorious result of the band's tour for their previous studio set "Speaking in Tongues," "Stop Making Sense" was the soundtrack to the Talking Heads' concert film/documentary, directed by Jonathan Demme.
This will sound cliched and naive, but I think that "Stop Making Sense"--aside from being a marvelous concert film--boasts some of the purest live recordings ever. Instead of gritty and inaudible music, barely noticable compared to the hooping and hollering of the audience, the Talking Heads and their guest musicians execute a power and a graceful and delicate force. The performances of their studio gems hold completely different and interesting arrangements, both vocally and musically, giving each song a new dimension and flexibility (as if they did not have them before). But overall, the product is listenable, with no drawn out improvisations to make up for a lack of material--each note is worked to perfection. "Stop Making Sense" proves to anyone the unique and brilliant world of the Talking Heads, and is a perfect accompanyment to an equally striking film.
This re-issue is worth the wait. The extra tracks are well chosen and well balanced, while still appreciating the original product. In fact, I recommend the "Stop Making Sense" re-issue as opposed to the original. Not to sound like a greedy salesman, but you'll definitely get the best for your buck.