Stop Making Sense: Special New Edition (1984 Film) [EXTRA TRACKS] [LIVE] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [SOUNDTRACK] [SPECIAL EDITION]

Talking Heads

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 7, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 7, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack, Special Edition
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00000K3G8
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,687 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The soundtrack to the Jonathan Demme documentary, Stop Making Sense captures the Talking Heads live in 1984 on what would turn out to be their last major tour. This collection, and the film, is a true gift to the band's fans, a testament to the Heads' extraordinary talent, both in the studio and especially onstage. Frontman David Byrne infuses each song with a jolt of energy and drama that could only have come from a late-'70s art-school student. Now-classic tracks such as "Psycho Killer," "Girlfriend is Better," "Once in a Lifetime," "Take Me to the River," and "Burning Down the House" have never sounded better. This expanded 1999 reissue includes all nine of the original tracks, plus seven previously unheard cuts, including "Heaven," "Found a Job," and "Crosseyed and Painless." --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest live albums ever., October 22, 2004

By	R. J Schaick "minstrel75" (Fredericksburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Talking Heads best collection but not true to the movie., November 17, 1999

By A Customer

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!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long overdue relief., February 25, 2004

By	BGFN8 "If you ain't listenin' you ain't livin'" (Massapequa, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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