Stop Making Sense

Over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, filmmaker Jonathan Demme and famed cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth joined Talking Heads to create Stop Making Sense—one of the greatest concert films of all time. Opening with singer-guitarist David Byrne on an empty stage (accompanied only by a boom box) performing “Psycho Killer,” the film builds to an early ecstatic crescendo with “Burning Down the House”—the sixth song of this 16-song set—by which time all of the Heads are onstage (Jerry Harrison on guitar/keyboards, Tina Weymouth on bass, and Chris Frantz on drums) along with backup musicians. Fueled by the polyrhythmic pop-funk precision that was a Talking Heads trademark—with the deliriously eccentric Byrne as ringleader (he pauses mid-concert to emerge in his now-legendary oversized suit)—other classic songs here include “Life During Wartime,” “Girlfriend Is Better,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” “Once in a Lifetime,” and a powerhouse rendition of “Take Me to the River.” Presented with two separate DTS-HD 5.1 mixes and in stereo, Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by the band, a 1999 press conference, an archival interview of Byrne interviewing himself, the bonus tracks “Cities” and “Big Business/I Zimbra,” and a storyboard-to-film comparison. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (J. Shannon)