Stop Making Sense

The content of Stop Making Sense is absolutely a 5 out of 5. The disc itself however is not a manufactured pressed disc. It is a burned blu-ray disc which is evident by the very dark, almost black color of the playing side. The top of the disc has a fully printed label which you would expect from a manufacturer. This is a Palm Pictures disc. The box is a plain blue box but no "Blu-Ray" insignia. There was no booklet with this disc. The insert looks clearly printed. All content plays well. The picture is a bit grainy. I guess it's real?

I watched this for the first time the other night and really enjoyed it, but I did notice that the Blu-ray Disc started freezing/skipping at the beginning of “Burning Down the House”. I figured it was an issue with my player, but upon putting the disc in a different player I realized it was in fact an issue with the disc. It’s a little annoying, but I only lose a few seconds of video before the film resumes. That’s the only issue with it. The rest of it plays perfectly. I love the music and the staging! I’m definitely looking forward to A24’s remaster and—hopefully—upgrading to a physical release from them.

I first watched the video on Amazon Prime. I though the performances were simply outstanding. It starts with David Byrne performing Psycho Killer and then with each song another member joins the stage. Until finally the full band is onstage and several session players and backup singers. Worth the money.

The New Wave Era (mostly Late 70s) in rock music resulted in the introduction of a host of newly formed bands into the music scene. The music was simple, energetic, danceable and fun. Of all the bands, three stand out as strange departures from all the rest: Talking Heads, Devo and Pere Ubu. I own LPs produced by all three and I love the music. Then in the early to mid-80s, Talking Heads produced a movie of one of their concerts called "Stop Making Sense." Some critics billed it as the greatest filmed rock concert of all time, perhaps in part due to the music but mostly for the way that the movie was put together. Of course, I had to see it during the first run and it was excellent. Wonderful film/concert! Well, now the original film/concert has been redone (re-mixed and re-mastered, as they say) and put out in the much more modern DVD format, Well, I waited a long time, but I had to have it."Stop Making sense is a truly excellent video concert. I've never seen better. I was captivated from the moment David Byrne wandered out onto the stage and did his first song with the help of a portable boom box. Then it just got better and better as Byrne and his bandmates progressively joined in on the fun. And what fun it was! The energy released in this concert is just amazing. How Byrne manages to keep going throughout the whole concert is amazing in itself. He jerks and twitches, staggers around, runs around and around the stage, but never misses a note. He's always beautifully in step with his spastic performance. The other band members are somewhat less energetic, but close-up shots reveal that they're all sweating from the effort.The Talking Heads band, ordinarily a quartet including Byrne, Chris Franz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Waymouth, was supplemented by five additional musicians and all performed excellently. Perhaps it's just because I'm used to listening to their records, but I prefer the band as a foursome. Well, that's just my personal quirk. The band, as constituted, ran through a long list of Talking Heads songs and did an outstanding job. The sound was excellent and the visuals, such as they were, added to the performance. The movie seemed short. Maybe that's because I was enjoying it so much. A couple of songs were included as a bonus at the end and I felt it was too bad these weren't included in the concert film irself.Well, the film seems to have changed quite a bit from that which I remember from the mid-80s, but it's excellent. Quite well done! I loved watching it again and this is a DVD that I'll be able to watch again and again.Gary Peterson

Filmed at the apex of their tour for Speaking In Tongues at Hollywood's Pantages Theater, the combined efforts of David Byrne's storyboarded presentation (from literally empty stage to full ensemble plus offbeat choreography - dancing with lamps and running marathons around the stage, not to mention the now iconic 'big suit'), and director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth's superb camera and lighting work create a concert film experience like no other. Not only are there no 'MTV'-style quick-cut edits ('Once In A Lifetime' is done in virtually one long uncut take), and cuts to other members of the band at what would normally seem to be inopportune times give the viewer a sense of playful intimacy rarely seen in concert videos made ever since.My own exprience in TH albums prior to the film and soundtrack album came only with 'Remain In Light' and 'Speaking In Tongues' when they were first released, but the film made me a fan of everything they did musically before and after, and it is a sad reality that there has never been another band like them since they called it quits.The film only covers about half of their stage show from that tour, but there are so many highlights, simply beginning with David Byrne's awkward dance to the opening 'Psycho Killer' (reworked with only David, an acoustic guitar and Roland drum machine) performed on a virtually empty stage, as one-by-one we are introduced to all the players in this little drama.When most filmmakers find the band boring, there are usually hundreds of jump cuts to the audience or behind the scenes taking the audience out of the experience ('The Last Waltz' and 'The Song Remains The Same' come easily to mind). Fortunately, the focus is entirely on the band - the audience in the theater is treated like the audience in the concert, and the only time the camera breaks away to the crowd is at the absolute end of the show, and we see that the original audience has been loving every minute of it, dancing in their seats or grooving in the aisles - this is just a fun concert film that you can't but help move to, and don't be embarassed if you start dancing, too.Oh, there's some bonus stuff on there too, (like David Byrne's self-interview and two - three if you consider the second is a medley - excised songs from the original extended VHS release taken from an old 1" videotape master) but you'll get more mileage out of the restored concert footage, which looks rich and sounds stunning thanks to 3 separate mixes - PCM stereo, theatrical 5.1 and 'studio' 5.1 versions (the theatrical mix is really the best).To borrow from David Byrne, overdubbed in post-production for the intermission break, "Does anybody have any questions?"

Although I wasn’t much of a Talking Heads fan back in the day, I quite liked some of their songs in isolation. And now, three and a half decades later, I had a sudden urge to check this gig out on Blu-ray, as I’d never seen it before in its entirety.As most already know, the concert kicks off with a stripped down version of Psycho Killer, with just frontman David Byrne, his acoustic guitar, and a cassette player providing an electronic drum backing. Byrne is his usual manic, idiosyncratic self - I always wondered how he managed to do that thing where he almost falls over but somehow manages to stay on the ground! So far so good…And then additional band members come on - one for each subsequent song - until the whole line-up is there. I liked the idea conceptually, but I found the second, third, fourth and fifth tracks a bit dull - sloppy even.With the sixth number, Burning Down The House, the whole band springs into life, and everything is highly entertaining from then on. My personal favourites were Making Flippy Floppy and the classic Once In A Lifetime.I’m still not really a TH fan, but most of the stuff on this DVD is highly watchable. It was also filmed very creatively by acclaimed director Jonathan Demme (Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia, etc). I’ll definitely be looking at it again!

This a good quality blu-ray and a superb film of course. My reason for reviewing it is to point out that the depicted item is not what you will receive. The package shown was the original limited edition of the release and the current offering is the same disc but in a standard blu-ray box.

Even though it is now over 30 yrs old, this is still as enthralling as when I first watched it on VHS decades ago. IMO, it is the best live concert recording of any band and shows the band at the height of their powers, captured by Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme.Play it LOUD and dance like no one is watching!

This film combines footage of Talking Heads in concert, shot over three nights at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood in December 1983 as part of the `Speaking in Tongues' tour. An early directorial effort by Jonathan Demme, it was completely financed by the band (at a reputed cost of more than US$1million) and the first ever to deploy 100% digital sound recording. The result is widely regarded as a leading contender for the best rock movie ever made.Having owned the VHS video for 25 years, I have to say the Blu-Ray transforms the viewing experience. The show opens with a performance of `Psycho Killer' by charismatic, eccentric band leader David Byrne on guitar and voice, playing over a thumping rhythm track on a 1980s ghetto-blaster placed on the stage beside him. It's absolutely riveting, mesmerising to watch. The other band members gradually join him one by one and two by two, until all nine are onstage.The band's performance is truly awesome, and even if you were never a fan and haven't heard their music you're likely to be won over. It never lets up from start to finish, full of quirky touches like Byrne sprinting clockwise around the stage for several minutes while the rest of the band plays on, and the outrageous `fat suit' which transforms his physique.There has never been a band quite like Talking Heads, combining catchy tunes, exemplary musicianship, poignant social commentary in the song lyrics and performance-art. Their demise was a loss to the spirit of true creativity and originality, but you still have this performance as a reminder of how great they were.The extras on the Blu-Ray offer an entertaining insight into the dynamics of the band, the mutual respect and good humoured ribbing between the different members a persistent feature of the relationships behind this enduring music.

Sublime concert. I now have the LP, CD, DVD and Bluray. Slippery People, Burnin Down the House and Life During Wartime are some of the highlights. After watching this look up Singing Frogs on Youtube for a brilliant Muppets version.