Customer Reviews

True Stories

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album, made in conjunction with the filming of David Byrnes' underrated film True Stories, is absolutely amazing from start to finish. This may not be the Talking Heads' best album, but it doesn't fall short by much, and it definitely features a few of the band's most touching and emotionally moving songs. It is both unfortunate and bewildering that this album is looked at as something of a negative chapter in the band's history. A medley group of performers (including John Goodman) sang these songs in the film True Stories, and I understand that David Byrne really wanted to release a soundtrack of the movie player's recordings but was talked into recording the songs himself alongside his then-fracturing Talking Heads band members.

Wild Wild Life is the best known song from this album, as both the song and the video got plenty of air time (and you get both the original version and an excellent extended remix here); Love For Sale also met with some success as a single release. I'm here to tell you these are not even the best songs on this album. Puzzlin' Evidence, Hey Now, and Papa Legba are great but uninspired, but the second half of the album is incredible. Radio Head is the Talking Heads at their eccentric, fast-paced best. People Like Us, sporting a country-type sound, is more laid-back but no less compelling; it is a true song of empowerment and a virtual theme song for "normal" people who only want someone to love. City of Dreams is a touching concluding song that reinforces all the good feelings inspired by both the album and the movie, but even this poignant piece pales in comparison to the almost indescribably good Dream Operator. The Talking Heads aren't really known for songs of a soft, tender nature, but Dream Operator is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

Put all of these tracks together, mixing a number of different styles in the uniquely David Byrne-inspired way, and you have what I consider one of the best albums of the 1980s. This album never fails to make me feel better and, more importantly, to feel better about myself. This is an album for the average man or woman going about his/her life, wanting nothing more than to be loved and find contentment in his/her own heart. It may be more pop-oriented than earlier, vintage Talking Heads albums, but True Stories remains one of the best CDs in my collection.

I have no idea why this album gets dismissed as "rubbish" by many Talking Heads fans and David Byrne himself. It's not that bad. You've got the hits "Love For Sale" and "Wild Wild Life" which are good songs but there is so much better to be found on here. "Papa Legba" has some neat percussion. "People Like Us" is a good song but it's even better in the movie 'True Stories' (which i recommened you check out) where John Goodman sings it! "Dream Operator" has to be one of the most beautiful songs the Talking Heads have ever written and it's probably my favorite on the album. The only song I never really cared for is "Hey Now". One last thing I have to say is when a band like Radiohead names themselves after one of the songs off this album, it can't be all that bad.

One of my all-time favorite albums. I bought the LP twice...I played it so much, I wore it out. The movie is great. A Texas version of Best in Show or Mighty Wind. But the music will definitely move you. You won't be able to sit still. You'll have to sing every word out loud--very loud! It drives you to it.

Actually there were THREE albums that came out.
-The Talking Heads album, True Stories
-Sounds from True Stories, with music from Carl Finch and others.
and finally, the really obscure album
-The actual music from True Stories including Pops Staples singing Papa Legba.

I'd love to get ahold of this if anyone knows how and where.

I had no idea that this was considered a bad album. This is my favorite Talking Heads album. I like all of the songs on it, but especially Dream Operator. It is extremely beautiful and it is my favorite pop song of all time. I have great memories of watching the movie with my dad as a child. I loved the movie so much that my dad gave me his soundtrack tape. Well, I have long since worn it out and am ready to buy it on CD!

I'm not going to give this album five stars or say that it's the best album ever, because it's clearly not. I will say, however, that this album is consistently underrated by music critics. I have a lot of fun with this album every time I listen to it. It's just not as inventive and artistic as other Talking Heads albums are. I can't exactly explain this feeling but I have it. One more time: I enjoy this record and I'm not afraid to say it.

Nothing against those who love this album - you have your own reasons to enjoy it, and I think that's great. This is more for those newly exploring the Talking Heads oeuvre who would like to know where to start, or go next. In my opinion, not here.

I don't worship Talking heads, but I do love Remain in Light, find great joys in Fear of Music, More Songs..., '77, Speaking in Tongues, and grooved nearly every weekend for months to the midnight showing of Stop Making Sense back in the late 80's. This Talking Heads album, however, delivers one disappointment after another.

Personally, I find that pretty much each song falls flat (such as the irritating "hit" Wild Wild Life). Papa Legba does have a nice lilt to it, though. It's the one song on this record that I return to, albeit rarely.

Even the swan song Naked is better than this one (the Heads album doesn't count). If you like early/mid era Talking Heads, skip this one, or get it cheap if you must. I have nothing against Americana, or even attempts at arch commentary on the ersatz quality of much that comprises Americana; but dull is dull.

Actually...no. Some of these appeared in this form in the movie "True Stories", which is a wonderfully skewed look at Texas during its sesquicentennial (which, it should be noted, Texas didn't appreciate much). But while all of these songs here are the Heads's versions, there are some cases where the version on the film was _much_ better. Most notably, "Papa Legba", where Pops Staples turns in a spectacular, chilling, and deliciously bluesy performance on this voodoo-chant based track. But that's not here. As for the material, it's good pop...but for the most part, it's 'good pop', and not too much beyond that. The fire that came before just isn't here. My suggestion would be to, instead, get a copy of the movie and then you get the 'actual' performances of the songs here, as well as a lot of interesting missing music (by the likes of Meredith Monk, etc), plus the context in which all of this appears. "True Stories" is so much moreso David Byrne's vision at work, and what's here is better appreciated in its proper context.

This is good, but it isn't the soundtrack. So where is the soundtrack, recorded by various artists and performed in the movie? Wondering minds want to know!

This music is almost as great as the totally funky movie; I highly recommend both. I've been trying to locate the sound track from the movie; it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. This version is great on driving trips; it's never-fall-asleep music.