Stop Making Sense
by Talking Heads

Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads
(Live album)
Year: 1984
Release date: 1984-09-00
Overall rank: 393rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 706 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1984 (8th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1980s (54th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (393rd)

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The Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition) [New Vinyl LP] Deluxe Ed
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Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition) by Talking Heads (Record, 2024)
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Talking Heads Stop Making Sense Tour (RED Vinyl Release) Records & LPs New
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Talking Heads bestography

Stop Making Sense is ranked 4th best out of 17 albums by Talking Heads on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Talking Heads is Remain In Light which is ranked number 26 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 27,187.

Talking Heads album bestography « Higher ranked (339th)
Speaking In Tongues
This album (393rd)
Stop Making Sense
Lower ranked (546th) »
Talking Heads: 77

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Stop Making Sense track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 87 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Stop Making Sense rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 393rd | 1980s rank: 54th | 1984 rank: 8th
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026Exist-en-cielTop 74 Music Albums of 19841/745
2026stangetzawayTop 41 Music Albums of 198428/412
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s73/1006
2026 TakaTop 100 Greatest Music Albums94/1007
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s13/10018
2026javicho07Top 16 Music Albums of 19847/163
2026SkernsTop 100 Music Albums of 198451/1003
2026cicadelicQ magazine Recordings Of The Year 199950/50 -
2026cicadelicTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s29/10014
2026byuzakTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s76/1005
2026brent13Top 13 Music Albums of 19844/134
2026 slatsheitTop 53 Music Albums of 198418/533
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Greatest Music Albums49/10052
2026BLOTop 100 Greatest Music Albums7/10094
2026 PurplepashTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s30/10014
2026 RomanelliTop 40 Music Albums of 198436/401
2026 FischmanTop 100 Music Albums of 198451/1003
2026 pranafilmsTop 100 Greatest Music Albums54/10046
2026 TamthebamTop 100 Music Albums of 198426/1004
2026javicho07Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s27/10015
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 486
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 4,230
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Stop Making Sense collection

Stop Making Sense ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 706 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 706 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
03/14/2026 10:39 slimharpo  Ratings distribution  1,48369/100
 
85/100
 
03/09/2026 21:06 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,96370/100
 
40/100
 
02/19/2026 10:23 Leonard  Ratings distribution  6,54870/100
 
100/100
 
02/13/2026 02:12 evstratios  Ratings distribution  18097/100
 
90/100
 
02/06/2026 21:51 Robert_fripp  Ratings distribution  11285/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.3/100, a mean average of 82.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.5.

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Stop Making Sense comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 32 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
100/100
From 10/17/2023 22:56 | #299532
It's been a while but this year they did release a limited run of the expanded vinyl and even included two new songs with it. This is a 10/10 by far. Almost all of the versions on this beat the original recorded versions of them. The Expanded Vinyl is perfect.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 02/14/2023 10:42 | #294000
Agreed with the other comments here; the expanded album with the extra tracks and corrected running order is the essential way to listen to this, but I also think it's crucial to watch the film as well. If you're here reading this comment you probably already know about the film anyway, but this concert is so damn fun. This is one of the few concerts where the performance itself is in a league of its own separate to the music. The music is great too (especially the bass and synth lines), but the energy and occasional silliness of the performances just ooze the enjoyment you can tell every person on stage is sharing for this concert. This is musically an odd comparison, but conceptually in terms of performance of the music being just as important as the music itself, this album reminds me a bit of Louis Prima from the jazz era, specifically the album "The Wildest!"

Bonus points given for the very silly and entertaining "liner notes" in the CD booklet for those of us who are weird enough to have bought the CD instead of just streaming this.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/28/2022 15:11 | #292287
Novas versões, grandes músicas, mais um marco.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/07/2022 04:31 | #288216
The best live concert I've ever watched. You have to pull it up on youtube and enjoy some David Byrne.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 04/01/2022 02:19 | #283672
One of my favourite live records, and the accompanying film is a must watch
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/04/2021 04:32 | #273277
Please listen to the special edition, the original release is out of order and missing some of the best tracks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 05/07/2021 16:46 | #269464
The definitive versions of some of the Head's best songs. In terms of visual experience, easily the best concert film of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 05/12/2020 23:13 | #251337
Before this album, I had never encountered a live album I liked. But this is so well put together it immediately became one of my all time favorites, and has remained as such ever since.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 07/13/2019 15:22 | #239439
Experiencing a record album the way an artist/producer arranges it is a gift from art. Personally, I love albums, but I love live music even more. And most live performances are compilations of songs and stories and themes from different albums. That being said, this is the best live concert video I have ever seen. Maybe my opinion of a video should not be transferred to a soundtrack CD; but I cannot hear the soundtrack without seeing the video in my mind. After all, isn't what music does to your heart and soul and mind what counts?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 07/05/2019 14:02 | #238991
I lived off this as my only Talking Heads album for years. Don't know what took me so long to get into their studio albums because this is a brilliant album. Agree that if you like it listen to the extended live album - well worth it
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1984
1. Purple Rain by Prince And The Revolution
2. Ride The Lightning by Metallica
3. Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
4. The Smiths by The Smiths
5. Let It Be by The Replacements
6. Hatful Of Hollow by The Smiths
7. Double Nickels On The Dime by Minutemen
8. Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads
9. Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü
10. Treasure by Cocteau Twins
11. Powerslave by Iron Maiden
12. Ocean Rain by Echo & The Bunnymen
13. The Unforgettable Fire by U2
14. Reckoning by R.E.M.
15. Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers by Bob Marley & The Wailers
16. Diamond Life by Sade
17. 1984 by Van Halen
18. Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
19. Meat Puppets II by Meat Puppets
20. E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching