Talking Heads announce Stop Making Sense 40th anniversary reissue

By Jerry Ewing
published

New 4k film restoration and full concert double vinyl release for Talking Heads' groundbreaking Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The 40th anniversary of Talking Heads' collaboration with film director Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense, is to be celebrated with a newly restored 4K version of the film that will return to cinemas for a global theatrical run, and a deluxe version of the soundtrack that will include the complete concert for the first time.

The deluxe edition of Stop Making Sense will be available through Rhino on August 18 as a limited edition, two LP set and digitally along with a Dolby Atmos mix of the complete concert, mixed by Jerry Harrison and E.T. Thorngren, who also mixed the original release.

Both versions will feature every song performed in the film, including two that have never been released on vinyl - Cities and Big Business/I Zimbra. The limited edition vinyl version features a 28-page booklet with previously unpublished photos along with new liner notes from all four band members –Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison.

“We had done a live album before this, but coupled with the film, and with the improved mixes and sound quality, this record reached a whole new audience," says David Bryne. "As often happens, the songs got an added energy when we performed them live and were inspired by having an audience. In many ways, these versions are more exciting than the studio recordings, so maybe that’s why a lot of folks discovered us via this record.” 

Filmed at three shows at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December 1983, Stop Maing Sense captures the art rock band at their commercial peak and features some of their best known material, although it is perhaps best known for the oversized suite sported by David Byrne for the song Girlfriend Is Better.

Pre-order Stop Making Sense.

Talking Heads

(Image credit: Rhino)

Taking Heads: Stop Making Sense (deluxe edition) tracklist

Side One
Psycho Killer
Heaven
Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
Found A Job
Slippery People
Cities”*

Side Two
Burning Down The House
Life During Wartime
Making Flippy Floppy
Swamp

Side Three
What a Day That Was
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Once In A Lifetime
Big Business / I Zimbra 

Side Four
Genius Of Love
Girlfriend Is BetterTake Me To The River
Crosseyed And Painless

* Previously Unreleased

Jerry Ewing
Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.