Rank Talk Talk’s albums

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by RedRoseSpeedway, Aug 13, 2019.

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  1. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

    Location:
    Carefree, AZ
    I don't think of "It's My Life" as synth pop. In fact, to me it's a truly perfect pop album. It's not really of a time in my ears, but transcends the era it comes from. And the three following albums all exceptional and transcend their era as well, but are clearly different from the two earlier albums.

    But my point is to elevate It's My Life, based on the quality of the pop music on it.

    The first album is definitely synth pop, and of it's time.
     
  2. HeavensAbove

    HeavensAbove Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    The Colour of Spring (One of my favorite albums of all time)
    Spirit of Eden
    It's My Life
    Laughing Stock
    The Party's Over
     
  3. Aphoristical

    Aphoristical Aphoristic Album Reviews

    Wikipedia and RYM both list the primary genre of It's My Life as "synth-pop". I find it very dated and difficult to listen to. Talk Talk sounded so much better when they started using organic textures on The Colour of Spring.
     
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  4. Beamish13

    Beamish13 Forum Resident


    Yep. “Without You” and “Again a Game...Again” are essential songs
     
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  5. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    You basically buy it for the studio For What It's Worth and everything on it is just bonus tracks.

    I really wish it was an album track though.
     
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  6. Aphoristical

    Aphoristical Aphoristic Album Reviews

    I love the five song run on the end of the second disc of Asides Besides:

    1. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" – 5:46
    2. "For What It's Worth" – 5:22
    3. "Pictures of Bernadette" – 5:04
    4. "Eden" (Edit) – 4:22
    5. "John Cope" – 4:39
     
  7. Aggie87

    Aggie87 Gig 'Em!

    Location:
    Carefree, AZ
    For lack of a better description, perhaps. But it's not synth pop in the way the first album is. It's an album of fully formed pop songs, IMO.

    And I like Colour of Spring better, regardless. It's an incredible album.
     
  8. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    Pretty much, it's full of arrangement choices that are a bit odd to file under "synth pop". More like new wave or art rock.
     
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  9. TheSeldomSeenKid

    TheSeldomSeenKid Forum Resident

    This is really an unusual request, as I find the last 2 Albums and Hollis Solo Album being a completely different type of Music. I also rank 'Colour of Spring' as a Great Album, but just cannot cross compare it with SOE & LS, as Apples & Oranges to me and would rate all 3 Albums either 9 of 10 or 10 of 10.

    I would rank 'It's My Life' much lower, and have not yet checked out 'The Party's Over', but will eventually do so, although the consensus seems to be that 'TPO' is the Weakest Album of their Discography, so my expectations are not going to be high prior to hearing it.

    I think it would be more interesting to rank the Album Cover Art from Best to Worst(taking the Music out of any consideration in this ranking), but any takes on Album Cover Art are still subjective and based on individual preferences. All the Talk Talk Album Covers look great to me though and as good for 5 Albums, as has been made by any other Music Artists(with 4-6 Studio Albums). Maybe the Cover Art for the 5 Police Albums is close to the same quality.
     
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  10. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    For my money from C.O.S to mark Hollis solo album is a perfect run over 4 albums.

    Very few have done this, the Beatles, Hendrix and Dylan come to mind...
     
  11. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    Spirit of Eden
    The Colour of Spring
    Laughing Stock
    It's My Life

    and The Party's Over in distant last place (might as well have been a different band).
     
  12. Eleventh Earl of Mar

    Eleventh Earl of Mar Somehow got them all this far.

    Location:
    New York
    You might wanna get your ears checked because Paul Webb on that record might actually be better than what he did on It's My Life. He was a seriously good fretless player, and lyrically it has some really cool imagery that often gets overlooked because...

    Well actually, the amount of people that straight up haven't heard The Party's Over strikes me as odd. I suppose if you never enjoyed the earlier post punk/new wave era, I sort of get it but if you did skipping this feels like a crime. It's definitely more synth pop than anything they did later, but songs like News and Hate would probably make my personal top 10 in their entire discography. News in particular is probably the coldest album track they did until Chameleon Day.
     
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  13. Moshe

    Moshe "Silent in four languages."

    Location:
    U.S.
    Spirit of Eden/ Laughing Stock (tie)
    Colour of Spring/It's My Life/The Party's Over (tie)
     
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  14. Uther

    Uther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    I'd put them in the order of release, but I'm a New Wave kind of boy.
     
  15. NorthNY Mark

    NorthNY Mark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canton, NY, USA
    Spirit of Eden
    Mark Hollis
    Laughing Stock

    Colour of Spring


    It's My Life




    The Party's Over
     
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  16. lonelysea

    lonelysea Ban Leaf Blowers

    Location:
    The Cascades
    I can’t really rank them. I understand the importance of and appreciation for The Colour Of Spring and Spirit Of Eden (and Laughing Stock, to some degree), but those albums never really resonated with me as much as they have with others - but I’m still trying!
    For me, It’s My Life is their high water mark; my attachment to it is personal and emotional, just like their music was always meant to be.
     
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  17. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan

    Location:
    USA
    for me:

    the first 3 albums are in a separate
    category, and the last 2 are at the
    bottom, because i don't listen to them:
    ============================
    It’s My Life (1984)
    The Colour Of Spring (1986)
    The Party’s Over (1982)
    -----------------------------
    Spirit Of Eden (1988)
    Laughing Stock (1991)
    --------------------------------------------

    i would rank the live album highly,

    with missing pieces at the bottom again,
    with the mark hollis one also.

    i will collate the votes, once there's enough.

    later
    -1
     
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  18. ostrichfarm

    ostrichfarm Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Laughing Stock
    The Colour of Spring
    Spirit of Eden
    It's My Life
    The Party's Over

    Some days I might bump Spirit of Eden down a spot, and maybe it'll eventually go up to #2 since I've gotten a bit burned out on The Colour of Spring.

    Either way, Laughing Stock is my favorite by a wide margin.

    I've yet to connect to Spirit of Eden to the same extent, even though it's the closest to Laughing Stock of the first four albums. I've only listened to the Mark Hollis album a couple of times, and I haven't yet clicked with it.
     
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  19. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan
    Genuinely surprised to see two with IML at the bottom of the pile!
     
  20. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan
    Have you heard “The Party’s Over” and if so, where do you rank that one?
     
  21. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan
    My favorite track on Asides Besides is “Pictures Of Bernadette”!

    It really is an invaluable collection for us Talk Talk fans, I’m glad we have even more material to enjoy besides the 5 albums and the Mark Hollis record. I’m not as into the remixes as I am the studio tracks, but I’ll pop one on occasionally and it’s enjoyable enough :righton:
     
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  22. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan

    I personally feel people are overly critical of TPO. For those who haven’t heard it, it’s well worth a listen, as it has some of their best tracks, like Hate (my personal favorite on TPO), Mirror Man, Candy (probably the most underrated cut on the album IMO), etc...

    And sure, the styles are much different each record, but you can still hear the vital spirit of Talk Talk in all the records, especially when they’re all tied together by Mark’s haunting, beautiful voice...
     
  23. davers

    davers Forum Resident

    It's My Life has always been a top ten album for me. A perfect mix of hooks and moody late night music.

    Colour Of Spring

    The Party's Over (sometimes tied with Colour Of Spring)

    Spirit Of Eden never grabbed me as an entire album, although objectively I can understand why certain music fans love it.

    Laughing Stock
     
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  24. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan
    This is a good list! Can’t argue with this haha
     
  25. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    I have it, But I've never played the whole album...

    I just prefer the later more experimental Talk Talk :)
     
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