Stop Making Sense: Deluxe Edition (Blu-ray Audio & CD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Aug 15, 2024
Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

N/A

Release Date(s)

1984 (June 4, 2024)

Studio(s)

Sire/Warner Bros. (Rhino Records)

Film/Program Grade: N/A
Video Grade: N/A
Audio Grade: A+
Extras Grade: N/A
Overall Grade: A

Review

[Editor's Note: This is a review of the soundtrack for Stop Making Sense on Blu-ray Audio and CD.]

Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert documentary Stop Making Sense was a landmark film when it was released in 1984, and the passage of time has taken nothing away from it. Few other concert films have been able to capture its perfect fusion of sound and image. It was a rare case where the quality of the performance is equaled by the quality of the filmmaking, making it a legendary film about a legendary concert. For the film’s 40th anniversary, Talking Heads worked with A24 to produce a 4K restoration with a new Dolby Atmos mix that they issued on UHD exclusively through A24 Shop. For more about Stop Making Sense and that disc, please see our detailed review of it here. For now, let’s focus on Rhino’s new Blu-ray audio soundtrack release instead. Yet that will require a brief recap in order to, well, make any sense:

Stop Making Sense was released theatrically in a 4-channel matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, which was also offered on VHS and LaserDisc, while the original album release was purely 2-channel. Jonathan Porath created a 5.1 mix for the 1999 rerelease, which was also available on DVD and Blu-ray. While Jerry Harrison wasn’t directly involved with that mix, he did work with Eric “E.T.” Thorngren to create an alternate “studio” 5.1 mix for DVD and Blu-ray. Harrison was already hard at work on a new Dolby Atmos mix for the 40th anniversary release when restoration supervisor James Mockoski managed to locate the original digital audio tracks, which proved invaluable.

Quick sidebar: there’s some confusion about this, but while some sources (Jerry Harrison included) say that Stop Making Sense was recorded digitally, others like Recording Engineer/Producer Magazine say that it was actually recorded on analogue 24-track recorders, with all mixing and post-production work being completed in the digital domain on 24-track Sony PCM-3324 recorders. The latter seems the most likely scenario, so the original album release was ADA, while the eventual CD releases were ADD.

There are significant differences between all of these mixes, and not just in terms of how the sound is balanced, either. For example, in original Dolby Stereo soundtrack, Chris Frantz ad-libbed the line “Too much of that goddamned snow white, all night” during the strobe light freakout in Genius of Love. That line was included with the theatrical soundtrack that was offered on both the original VHS and LaserDisc releases of Stop Making Sense, but it wasn’t on the album mix, and it was replaced with different ad-lib “Everything is just jumping out of sight” for all of the 5.1 mixes. That was likely at Frantz’s behest, because he made a comment during the 40th anniversary Q&A that he wished he’d kept his mouth shut more during Genius of Love. In the new Dolby Atmos mix, the original line is restored, but it’s been dialed down so low that it’s barely noticeable unless you’re actively listening for it. (The “Everything is just jumping out of sight” line has been moved to a few bars later.)

There were also a few more minor tweaks this time around. For example, Alex Weir’s off-key “Shake down!” during Burning Down the House was pitch corrected into something at bit more on tune. Harrison also made one interesting change throughout the entire theatrical Atmos mix that really did enhance the subjective experience of watching Stop Making Sense. Any time that the camera was focused on one of the band members, he subtly dialed up the sound of their instruments (or their voices). It’s a busy mix no matter what, especially when the full expanded band is onstage, but the new change made it easier to focus on whatever the person in front of the camera was doing.

With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about Rhino’s Blu-ray audio release of the soundtrack for Stop Making Sense. It’s a 3-Disc set that includes a 28-page booklet plus two CDs with all of the songs split between them. The CDs are 16-bit/44.1khz Redbook standard, while the stereo mix on the Blu-ray is 24-bit/48khz DTS-HD Master Audio. Of course, it’s the 24-bit/48khz Atmos on the Blu-ray that’s the real selling point here, but let’s get the track listings and a few other details out of the way first:

DISC ONE: BD

Psycho Killer (4:22)
Heaven (3:41)
Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (2:09)
Found a Job (3:15)
Slippery People (4:00)
Cities* (3:34)
Burning Down the House (4:06)
Life During Wartime (5:51)
Making Flippy Floppy (4:40)
Swamp (4:30)
What a Day That Was (5:54)
This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (4:53)
Once in a Lifetime (5:22)
Big Business/I Zimbra* (7:23)
Genius of Love (4:26)
Girlfriend Is Better (5:06)
Take Me to the River (5:32)
Crosseyed and Painless (6:12)

DISC TWO: CD

Psycho Killer (4:20)
Heaven (3:40)
Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (2:09)
Found a Job (3:15)
Slippery People (4:00)
Cities* (3:34)
Burning Down the House (4:06)
Life During Wartime (5:51)
Making Flippy Floppy (4:40)
Swamp (4:30)

DISC THREE: CD

What a Day That Was (5:54)
This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (4:53)
Once in a Lifetime (5:22)
Big Business/I Zimbra* (7:23)
Genius of Love (4:30)
Girlfriend Is Better (5:06)
Take Me to the River (5:32)
Crosseyed and Painless (6:11)

* Previously Unreleased

Here’s where things get even more complicated. Back in 1984, the original soundtrack release of Stop Making Sense included only nine songs, and they were sequenced differently. That lineup was: Psycho Killer, Swamp, Slippery People, Burning Down the House, Girlfriend Is Better, Once in a Lifetime, What a Day That Was, Life During Wartime, and Take Me to the River. Also, despite being a soundtrack, the album was mixed separately from the film, and the two of them were conspicuously different from each other. It wasn’t until 1999 that a special edition version of the soundtrack was released in order to capitalize on a theatrical re-release of Stop Making Sense, and it contained all of the songs from the film in their proper sequence.

Yet that version still wasn’t quite complete. While Stop Making Sense featured 16 songs in its theatrical cut, the original VHS and LaserDisc releases of the film were expanded versions that included three more songs: Cities, Big Business, and I Zimbra. All three songs were omitted again from the DVD and Blu-ray releases, although they were offered as deleted scenes instead. The main 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense conformed to the original theatrical cut, but the eventual 4K UHD release from A24 included an expanded version of the film with newly re-edited versions of the missing songs. Rhino’s Blu-ray audio release also includes them in their proper sequence from the expanded version.

Further muddying the waters is the question of the mixes. The album mixes have never matched the theatrical mixes, and that hasn’t necessarily changed this time around. The CDs and the hi-res stereo track on the Blu-ray contain a remixed and/or remastered version of the original album mixes, while the Atmos track on the Blu-ray is similar to the Atmos mix from the 4K restoration. Similar to, but not identical. It actually appears to be the same Atmos version that was released streaming on Apple Music last year, which has some variances from the theatrical Atmos mix. The most obvious difference is that all of chatter between the songs has been edited out in order to keep the musical flow from song to song, but there are also small differences in the songs themselves.

The biggest change is that it’s a more balanced mix than the theatrical Atmos version, with none of the changes in level to prioritize whoever is on camera. That effect wouldn’t really work without the accompanying images, so it makes sense that it hasn’t been reproduced on this soundtrack release. Alex Weir’s “Shake down!” is still pitch-corrected, but it’s dialed back so far in this mix as to not even be noticeable. Frantz’s “Too much of that goddamned snow white, all night” during Genius of Love is completely absent, with his “Everything is just jumping out of sight” moved back up again to replace it, just like it was on the original album mix and the more recent 5.1 remixes.

What all of that means is that this Blu-ray audio soundtrack release of Stop Making Sense isn’t identical to the theatrical mix, but the same thing has been true of every single soundtrack release for the film going all the way back to 1984. The film is the film, and the albums are the albums. That said, the sound quality here is fantastic. It’s mastered at a higher level than the Atmos track was on A24’s UHD, so it doesn’t require as much of a heavy hand with the volume knob (but it hasn’t been compressed, either). When the two are level matched, the sonic differences aren’t pronounced, but the really low levels on the UHD don’t do it any favors compared to this version. It’s also nice that the hi-res stereo mix can be switched with the Atmos track on-the-fly (although they’re also not level matched, so have your hand on the remote whenever you do so). It’s an interesting way to compare some of the really big differences between the mixes.

From a strictly musical perspective, Rhino’s Atmos presentation on this Blu-ray has a slight edge over the Atmos track on A24s UHD. The fact that it’s a more balanced mix has the side effect of making everything sound more spacious and expansive. The theatrical mix is more effective in context with the film, but this version is the best way to sit down and simply absorb the music while being enveloped by the sounds of the wildly enthusiastic Talking Heads fans at the Pantages Theatre back in 1983. Jonathan Demme’s film is so mesmerizing that it’s impossible to take your eyes off the screen, so it makes sense that the audio mix would direct your attention toward it, but it’s far more enjoyable to listen to this soundtrack with your eyes closed, fully immersed in another time and another place. There’s nothing naïve about that particular melody.

- Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd).