Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11385 in VHS
• Released on: 1991-07-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese, Spanish
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

First CD I ever purchased
This CD is the sole reason (well, I got Kate Bush's 'The Hounds of Love' the same day) I purchased my first CD player back in 1985. I actually bought the CDs before the player.

Sure, I had heard "O Superman" from 'Big Science' a few years prior, but it did not do enough for me to go out and get the album. Excerpts that I heard from 'United States Live I-IV' were great, but I was a poor college student and could never justify purchasing it.

A friend (thanks Jon) had turned me on to "Language is a Virus" and "Smoke Rings" and we went to go see the movie and I was majorily in awe. Some of the soundtrack items are more clear and concise than the movie ("Language is a Virus". Conversely, somethings worked better on film ("Radar", "White Lily").

But either by video or audio - Laurie Anderson never fails to keep me interested and/or entertained.

It is unfortunate that the movie is not out in DVD - because as companion pieces, they soundtrack and movie are phenomenal.

Moments of captivating brilliance....
Some of the songs on this are better experienced in the film (the version of "Language is a Virus" in the film is some of Anderson's grittiest and best work - the version on this disc is over-produced and glossified), but many songs here stand perfectly on their own. "White Lily" and "Radar" cast beautifully haunting moods (each in less than three minutes!). And the ending of "Late Show" gives you chills after even a hundred plays. Not her best album, yet it contains some of her finest, simplest work.

"And the florist says...'white lily'"
this is definitely my favorite Laurie album ever. It contains eight selections from her 1986 film "Home of the Brave" which i'm trying to get a copy of to no avail. laurie is at her most dynamic, kinetic, rhythmic, and colorful here. Highlights for me include Smoke Rings, White Lily, Language is a Virus, and most of all her live film rendition of Sharkey's Night which is much more cutting vibrant and altogether beautiful. :) you definitely want to pick this one up soon.