True Stories is the seventh studio album by American rock band Talking Heads. It was released on September 15, 1986, by Sire Records, around the same time as lead singer David Byrne's film of the same name.
The album does not contain the actors' performances from the film. Instead, this is a Talking Heads studio album featuring recordings of songs from the film. While an intended original cast recording from the film was not released at the time, several of the film performances did appear on single releases of several songs from the album. Later that year, Byrne released the album Sounds from True Stories containing incidental music from the soundtrack. In 2018, a complete film soundtrack album was finally released, combining tracks from the two released albums (though only the three performances by Talking Heads from the first True Stories album that were actually heard in the film were included) and the cast performances heard in the film.
Time hasn't been kind to Talking Heads' ancillary soundtrack to David Byrne's oddball directorial debut. Though it generated one of the band's biggest radio hits ("Wild Wild Life"), both the film and its songs were dismissed as self-consciously quirky retreads of other, better material; and it's well-known the quartet was beginning to splinter apart around the time of the sessions. Byrne himself has said that he regretted the whole notion of releasing True Stories with his own vocals, a decision made at the behest of the film's financial backers: All along, he intended for the lyrics to be sung, in character, by Pops Staples, John Goodman, and the rest of the cast. (Some of these alternate-vocal versions were eventually released as B-sides.) Despite its perfunctory nature, however, True Stories is not without its charms.
Though an obvious swipe at consumerism, "Love for Sale" boasts one of the band's best hooks, and it's easily their hardest-rocking tune since the Fear of Music days. "Radio Head" is a successful continuation of some of the regional-American motifs Byrne explored on Little Creatures (and bears the distinction of inspiring Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and company to name their band after it).
Free from the movie's weird patina of irony, "Dream Operator" is one of the most affecting tunes Talking Heads ever recorded; the closing-credits theme "City of Dreams" is similarly touching. Elsewhere, there is filler -- touching upon gospel, country-western, zydeco, and sundry other Byrne influences -- but the band's skill at arranging an album and maintaining a mood remains intact.
So while True Stories may remain a regrettable chapter in the band's history, it's certainly not an embarrassing one.
Side A
A1. Love For Sale - 4:30
A2. Puzzlin’ Evidence - 5:23
A3. Hey Now - 3:42
A4. Papa Legba - 5:54
Side B
B1. Wild Wild Life - 3:39
B2. Radio Head - 3:14
B3. Dream Operator - 4:39
B4. People Like Us - 4:26
B5. City Of Dreams - 5:06
Notes
Release: 1986
Format: LP
Genre: Art Rock
Label: EMI Records
Catalog# 1A 062-240612-1
Vinyl: VG+
Cover: VG+
Prijs: €10,00
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