Stop Making Sense (album)

Stop Making Sense
Live album by
Talking Heads
ReleasedSeptember 1984 (1984-09)
RecordedDecember 13–16, 1983[1]
VenueThe Pantages Theatre, Hollywood
Genre
Length39:37
Label
Producer
Talking Heads chronology
Speaking in Tongues
(1983) 		Stop Making Sense
(1984) 		Little Creatures
(1985)
Singles from Stop Making Sense
  1. "Once in a Lifetime"
    Released: October 1984
  2. "Slippery People"
    Released: October 1984
  3. "Girlfriend Is Better"
    Released: November 1984[2]

Stop Making Sense is a live album by the American rock band Talking Heads, also serving as the soundtrack to the concert film of the same name. It was released in September 1984 and features nine tracks from the film, albeit with treatment and editing. The album spent over two years on the Billboard 200 chart. It was their first album to be distributed by EMI outside North America.

Limited pressings of the original LP version featured a full-colour picture book wrapped around the album jacket; standard versions had many of the pictures (printed in black and white) and captions on the album's inner sleeve. The CD release of the album includes the full-colour book, but it rearranges the layout to conform to the dimensions of a square CD booklet (compared to the vertically-oriented rectangular shape of the LP book). In 1999, a 16-track re-release—with content and sound closely matching those of the film—coincided with the 15th anniversary of the concert filming. An expanded 40th anniversary edition was released by Rhino Records in August 2023, marking the first official release of the complete concert recording,[3] alongside a theatrical re-release of the film by A24.[4][5] A tribute album, Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, was released by A24 Music on May 17 2024, featuring artists such as Paramore, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, The National, Girl In Red, Blondshell and BadBadNotGood.[6]

The album was ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[7] In 2000, it was voted number 394 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[8] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #61 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[9]

  1. ^ London, Michael (December 21, 1983). "Talking Heads: Demme's View of Their World". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 103.
  2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 809. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. ^ "Talking Heads Celebrate STOP MAKING SENSE with Deluxe Edition and Theatrical Run". 16 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  4. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (16 March 2023). "A24 Releasing Remastered Version of Talking Heads Classic Concert Film 'Stop Making Sense'". Variety. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  5. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (16 March 2023). "A24 Acquires Talking Heads 1984 Concert Film 'Stop Making Sense', Will Restore In 4K For Theatrical Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  6. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (2024-01-31). "Lorde, The National, Girl In Red and more to feature on star-studded 'Stop Making Sense' tribute album 'Everyone's Getting Involved'". NME. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  7. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 149. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  9. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant Magazine. 5 March 2012.