The Album Review Club - Week #197 (page 1330) - Levelling the Land - Levellers

[mancity2012_eamo]

Ta...found an audio of it on the tube.

He's murdering Psycho Killer. Still, that probably proves it's live!

It needs visuals.
The full effect and context.

 

[BimboBob]

It needs visuals.
The full effect and context.

Hmmm...

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Hmmm...

Hmmm., indeed.
It’s a concert I’ve watched more than purely listened to, over the years.
The full sound track is good but as Foggy has alluded to, the original album doesn’t do it justice.
On audio you do get the sense of the build but the visuals show you the stage being put together as they get further into the show.
You see the construction of a piece of art, of theatre, not just a gig.
It’s still a really interesting concept, even after all these years.

 

[hilts]

Well as its my favourite album from my favourite band, it's always gonna be a 10/10 for me.. Unlike @FogBlueInSanFran I prefer this and the later stuff. I think the versions on stop making sense are much better than on the original albums, they were too raw and you could tell they were still learning their trade.

Never seen a live concert anywhere near as good as this. Missed the bloody new release in the cinemas genuinely pissed off about it. Never saw it advertised. Will never get the chance again no doubt.

 

[LGWIO]

He's murdering Psycho Killer. Still, that probably proves it's live!

I'm not sure I would agree with you on that, but then I wasn't coloured by having heard the original studio version. So the live raw, almost frail voice is what struck me.
Going on it just builds and builds showing how they all gel together and simply have fun on stage.
It was the energy of the live concert that made me enjoy JLL @ the Star and I think that def comes over here aswell

 

[The Black Shed]

Jonathan Demme directed this film, then went on to direct Silence of The Lambs, then Philadelphia. Three completely different films. And all really, really good in their own way.

Anyway, onto the music. At it's time it was probably a collection of their finest songs, starting things off with a naked, raw version of Psycho Killer and ending fully clothed with Crosseyed & Painless, still one of my favourite TH songs and a brilliant groove. As others have said, the way the show develops gives the viewer a glimpse into how things work in a theatre, bringing backstage onstage. And it works a treat.

Anybody who loves music and is open to try new sounds give this a listen. Might be close to 40yrs old now but it still rocks.

9.5/10

 

[BlueHammer85]

Im gonna predict a 7.71 for this.

 

[mrbelfry]

Sheesh was driving yesterday thinking about Talking Heads and how I needed to listen to them more. Thanks for the opportunity

 

[southamptonblue]

Ummmm...this is a strange one, the original 'album' was 8 tracks, we're listening to 18!! Basically a concert, not an album then, and it's suggested to 'watch it' rather than listen, and also pretty much a 'best of'. I know and like a couple of the songs, will give it a listen, but won't be scoring, as to me, it's not as the thread is intended ;)

 

[RobMCFC]

I also have a review from the top 1100 thread from back in October 2021.

Interestingly, this is the album where after reading some of the reviews, Foggy came to the conclusion that some of us like to dance to music and some of us like the listen.

I’d also forgotten the controversy it stirred up when it was mentioned that there were lots of post-production overdubs.

Stop Making Sense (Live) - Talking Heads

Right, listened to it straight away to get it out of the way. I said after Remain in Light that I wouldn't be bothered if I never heard another Talking Heads album and listening to this has only backed up that hunch.

I'll start with some positives - even though this is a live album, the sound is light years ahead of Remain in Light. You can actually feel the spaces in between the instruments, you can hear the guitar strummed and the individual thump of the drums. "Pyscho Killer" is a great start, a good live version of a studio track that I enjoy. In fact the first few songs looked set to prove me wrong, but I didn't have to wait long to be disappointed all over again.

To borrow a line from Foggy's review of Joe Jackson (because it was so damn funny) and adapt it slightly, even though this is a live album, about 3 or 4 tracks in, somebody decided to push the fader marked "quirky keyboards" up to 85. As if that wasn't enough, a giggling schoolboy managed to sneak through the door during the post-production and added a load of weird random beeps and noises (oh, this is so funny, I feel like my sides are about to split). It makes you want to scream FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST PLAY THE DAMN MUSIC!!!!

And did I mention that David Byrne is another "singer" (and I use that in the loosest possible sense) who you can add to the list of annoying vocalists? No? Well he's not the worst but he ain't great either.

6/10 (and only because I made the mistake of giving Remain in Light the same score when it probably should have been 4).

 

[LGWIO]

Ummmm...this is a strange one, the original 'album' was 8 tracks, we're listening to 18!! Basically a concert, not an album then, and it's suggested to 'watch it' rather than listen, and also pretty much a 'best of'. I know and like a couple of the songs, will give it a listen, but won't be scoring, as to me, it's not as the thread is intended ;)

Fully appreciate that and it was something that I pondered about prior to deciding what I would put forward. My rationalisation being that it was live and therefore as valid as JLL.
Whether scoring it or not, main thing is to take a little bit of pleasure from it......
Can I get a hallelujah?

 

[hilts]

Ummmm...this is a strange one, the original 'album' was 8 tracks, we're listening to 18!! Basically a concert, not an album then, and it's suggested to 'watch it' rather than listen, and also pretty much a 'best of'. I know and like a couple of the songs, will give it a listen, but won't be scoring, as to me, it's not as the thread is intended ;)

Lots of albums get extended versions, an album is just a collection if songs, this is a collection of songs. How hard do we need to make things on here.

It's albums people like but hey ho.

 

[crublue1]

The live show is just stunning. There's 2 or 3 songs on it that take my breath away with how competent they were as a band.
The backing singers are especially good, particularly on what a day that was, they fucking nail it.
His energy is something else, a unique front man, with an unconventional voice, but he manages such consistency throughout the set. I like how he's clearly throwing himself into it, but it's actually perfectly controlled.
I wasn't even a fan as such, but I'm sure this was on another thread a while back, and I remember that while I admired them from afar, I didn't realise how good they were live. I'd mistakenly dismissed them as a studio band.
Apologies, I can't remember who nominated it, or it may have been one of those random picks from that top album list thread we had.
Anyway, as a live show, it's fantastic, and I've watched it several times since then.
Weirdly, I've never listened to them ears only, I've just enjoyed watching the whole spectacle as a complete piece of art.
This is a performance that I find myself going back to time after time, it's that good.
10.

 

[GornikDaze]

Nearly three years on nothing much has changed. Still listen to this regularly and enjoy it every time. What’s not to like.
“I only dip in and out of this thread, but rather spookily I watched this on TV about 6 weeks ago and have been playing the album on and off for years… most recently yesterday! As many have said this is one of the definitive live albums. It’s a 10/10 for me.”
I’ll still give it another few listens over the next few days, not that I need and excuse

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Ummmm...this is a strange one, the original 'album' was 8 tracks, we're listening to 18!! Basically a concert, not an album then, and it's suggested to 'watch it' rather than listen, and also pretty much a 'best of'. I know and like a couple of the songs, will give it a listen, but won't be scoring, as to me, it's not as the thread is intended ;)

Fair point and BimboBob most likely agrees with you.

 

[BimboBob]

Fair point and BimboBob most likely agrees with you.

I can't find the full concert on the tube and I'm not paying money for it but I have seen quite a few of the songs and listened to the audio of the concert.

First impressions are...I have no idea what you lot see in this performance. His voice is fucking awful. No real range. The guitarist is rather good though, as are the backing singers.

Reserving judgement.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

I can't find the full concert on the tube and I'm not paying money for it but I have seen quite a few of the songs and listened to the audio of the concert.

First impressions are...I have no idea what you lot see in this performance. His voice is fucking awful. No real range. The guitarist is rather good though, as are the backing singers.

Reserving judgement.

David Byrne is not a singer. He’s a lead vocalist. No argument there.
You’ll either like what he does with a song overall, or you’ll most likely hate it….
Like @RobMCFC ;-)

 

[Big Joe Corrigan]

You've certainly not missed the boat because all are welcome on here.

We have a list of nominators that we work our way down - you can see the current list on page #1 that runs until early October for the current round. I'm happy to add you if you'd like to join in.

All we ask is that people who are nominating get involved in the weekly discussion/reviewing. There are no hard and fast rules, and many people miss weeks, but participation is appreciated if you are going to nominate.

Ok Rob, I’d like to have a go, and will join in with the weekly discussions.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

I can't find the full concert on the tube and I'm not paying money for it but I have seen quite a few of the songs and listened to the audio of the concert.

First impressions are...I have no idea what you lot see in this performance. His voice is fucking awful. No real range. The guitarist is rather good though, as are the backing singers.

Reserving judgement.

Ok well there are three guitarists (two and a half since Byrne sometimes just sings) on this so you’ll need to narrow that down.

His lack of range as you put it is part of the “art” of the band and this comment is the absolute poster child for why singers don’t matter to me as much as the music.

 

[southamptonblue]

His lack of range as you put it is part of the “art” of the band and this comment is the absolute poster child for why singers don’t matter to me as much as the music.

Couldn't agree more, my favourite 3 bands are Van Halen, Midnight Oil, Alice Cooper.....and to put it mildly, Dave Lee Roth, Peter Garrett and Alice Cooper are not good singers (Hagar is a much better singer than DLR, but I find Van Hagar average at best).....but are 3 of the best 'frontmen' that ever lived, live ;)