Stop Making Sense (Special New Edition)

by

Talking Heads

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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

I love the band, and love this cd (saw them on the '83 tour in Charlotte NC, and they were incredible. One of my favorite bands for sure. BUT, I agree with Pop Kulcher above, where is the CD version of "The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" from about '81 or '82? It is without doubt one of the best live albums ever. (I've only got it on vinyl). The early stuff expecially is out of this world, like "Don't worry about the Government" and then the mid period pieces like "Artists Only" ; and all was so very well produced and sonically beautiful! Though it wasn't a hit at the time, it's great - Please someone re-release this beautiful album. It's one of my all- time favorite albums. Does anyone else from then miss it? It's incredible. Anyway, Stop Makning Sense is good, but nowhere near this one. Keep expressing, Richard