| True Stories | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Talking Heads |
| Cover: | Talking Heads - True Stories.svg |
| Recorded: | February–June 1986 |
| Studio: |
|
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 40:33 |
| Label: | Sire |
| Producer: | Talking Heads |
| Prev Title: | Little Creatures |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Naked |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
True Stories is the seventh studio album by American rock band Talking Heads. It was released on September 15, 1986, by Sire Records, preceding lead singer David Byrne's related film True Stories.
The album includes only Talking Heads studio recordings of songs from the film; an original cast recording from the film was planned, but was not released at the time, although some actors' performances were featured on singles of songs drawn 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 cast performances from the film and tracks from the two previous albums; only those three performances by Talking Heads from the first True Stories album that are actually heard in the film were included.[1]
The single "Wild Wild Life" became the most prominent hit from the album, accompanied by its video airplay on MTV. The "Wild Wild Life" video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 1987: "Best Group Video" and "Best Video from a Film" (the video is in fact an extended sequence lifted directly from the film itself). A video for "Love for Sale" was created for use in the film (during a sequence when a woman, played by Swoosie Kurtz, watches the video on TV), and an extended version was later released as a video in its own right.
In 2006, the album was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (an extended mix of "Wild Wild Life", "Papa Legba" with vocal by Pops Staples, and "Radio Head" with vocals by Tito Larriva). The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "Wild Wild Life" and "Love for Sale". In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.
From contemporary reviews, Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a three out of four stars rating, stating the album was "gently melodic pop, with little of the polyrhythmic aggressiveness that has characterized recent Talking Heads albums." Tucker found that "some of the songs verge on triteness or banality" but "Love for Sale" and "People Like Us" were "beautiful rock music."
The band Radiohead named themselves after the sixth track, "Radio Head".[2]
| Peak position | |
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 2 |
|---|---|
| European Albums (Music & Media)[3] | 8 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[4] | 19 |
| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[5] | 1 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[6] | 17 |
| Peak position | |
| Croatian International Albums (HDU)[7] | 8 |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[8] | 21 |
| Position | ||
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 32 | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] | 84 | |
| European Albums (Music & Media)[10] | 91 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] | 17 |
