Review of Stop Making Sense (1984) by Lester Y — 27 Jun 2009

The greatest concert film of all time.

I can count how many bands exceeded Talking Heads in terms of consistency, ambition, and influence in the 1980's with one hand. Stop Making Sense captures the funkiest white band in the world at a point where they have released classic after classic after classic, so there's a great wealth of amazing songs to pick from, and they got most everything you want as far as song selection. What's more is that they deviate greatly from the studio cuts, from an awesome, Byrne-only version of "Psycho Killer" to the full blown party atmosphere of "Crosseyed And Painless", the band is at their performing peak. The movie is shot pretty sparely, with some low-key flair at best, but it's still visually enthralling, from Byrne's giant suit to the strange projections to Tina Weymouth's signature undulations. Overall just fun, energetic, moving, celebratory. See it.