Surf Up dudes!!!
What are your thoughts on the legendary 80's band Talk Talk? Do you consider them better than the Beatles? The Stones? What is your favorite track of all time? Mine is Happiness is Easy, followed by Life's What You Make It.
Dates
· UTC
What do you guys think of TalkTalk?
Archived36 replies · 917 views
This is an archived legacy thread. Replies are closed, but the discussion is preserved.
"spirit of eden" and "laughing stock" are two of my favourite all time albums, pure genius, blissed out, chilled out, fukin lush 
,
another case of "shame they dissapeared up there own arse"
Isamu wrote: Surf Up dudes!!!
What are your thoughts on the legendary 80's band Talk Talk? Do you consider them better than the Beatles? The Stones? What is your favorite track of all time? Mine is Happiness is Easy, followed by Life's What You Make It.
"legendary"?
I worry about your record collection sometimes! Have you been in a coma or prison for fifteen/twenty years, and are only now just discovering some of the stuff that emanated from this island back then? First it was the Mission, then various other bands that few people over this side of the pond even recognised.
As for the Beatles, yes they did some good stuff, but a lot of crap and a lot of hype.
The Stones? A niche band. Either you get them or you don't, and they certainly don't deserve to be put up on some pedestal as the best there is.
One of those bands where you dont really need to dig deeper than a best of for me. Spirit Of Eden has a big reputation for being really good, but i found it to be pretentious up its own arse shite with the exception of the track Desire.
Bloody typical. People make records that go a little beyond 4/4 time and verse-chorus-verse and they get dismissed as "pretentious". Late-period Talk Talk is simply beautiful you philistines, and even the early sub-Duran Duran synth pop has its merits. And Mark Hollis' solo LP is bloody wonderful as well.
I'd say NO/JD - with, at their best, their penchant for musical experimentation and lyricless abstraction - have a lot more in common with Talk Talk than they do with most of the other bands that get regularly cited on here (cf: Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Mission(?!) etc etc).
there is always something about a musical group that has a title of one of their songs the same as the group name... it just seems kind of corny i guess... can't really take them serious..."hey hey we're the monkees!!!" "everybody wang chung tonight!!!" "talk talk, talk talk, talk talk talk..."i suppose i do like 'it's my life'... but that was a million years ago... better than rihanna's 'UMBRELLA-ELLA-ELLA-EH-EH-EH-EH'...
Now then... A band of two halves. Early stuff laughably shite overblown synth pop. A "transitory" album in the colour of spring (not very good really) and then they released the amazing Spirit of Eden. I still listen to that occasionally now. Laughing Stock is in the same vein but not as successful as Spirit of Eden IMHO, which is often touted as one of the precursors to Post-Rock, along with Slint's Spiderland.
Just as an aside, I saw Mogwai at Sonar last Saturday and they were absolutely bloody amazing. Lots of bewildered people in the crowd though 
old lead foot wrote: "spirit of eden" and "laughing stock" are two of my favourite all time albums, pure genius, blissed out, chilled out, fukin lush
Well said... Not keen on the early synth-pop stuff but these two, alon with bits of The Colour Of Spring and Hollis' solo album are genius!
Snorri xxx
Snorrimon wrote:
old lead foot wrote: "spirit of eden" and "laughing stock" are two of my favourite all time albums, pure genius, blissed out, chilled out, fukin lush
Well said...
Snorri xxx
Funny that, someone recommended Hollis' solo album to me yesterday but I can't find it. Have to check out amazon
Got a natch history, faves being lifes wot u make it ,talk talk,and.... whats the name of that other goodish track?
Four great albums, and the first one isn't a total waste either. ;) Laughing Stock is my fav. It's well worth also finding the Colour Of Spring-era b-side It's Getting Late In The Evening.
And if you're talking about The Music Machine song - nice piece of garage rock, but still ain't no Pushin' Too Hard. 
RichShan wrote:
Snorrimon wrote:
old lead foot wrote: "spirit of eden" and "laughing stock" are two of my favourite all time albums, pure genius, blissed out, chilled out, fukin lush
Well said...
Snorri xxx
Funny that, someone recommended Hollis' solo album to me yesterday but I can't find it. Have to check out amazon
also check out " 'O' rang " album, its got the same vibe as "eden" and "laughing" and its by lee harris(drums) and paul web(bass)of talk talk
Eh, they're alright, actually. I only like one song from 'em--
Life's What You Make It.
[and i agree.]
GREAT BAND - LOVED THEM (THAT'S WHY I AM WRITING IN CAPITALS)
My friends parents used to live next door to the drummer.
Fav tracks in order
TODAY IT'S MY LIFE SUCH A SHAME
Ahh, good to see quite a few fans here. I really really REALLY been meaning to pick up SoE but it used to be EXTREMELY difficult to find on CD. Does anyone know if there albums have been re-issued and remastered? Also what is the name of Mark Holis' solo album?
Isamu wrote: Ahh, good to see quite a few fans here. I really really REALLY been meaning to pick up SoE but it used to be EXTREMELY difficult to find on CD. Does anyone know if there albums have been re-issued and remastered? Also what is the name of Mark Holis' solo album?
It's on Soulseek. Checked it out yesterday, like a couple but found some of it a bit dull, might give it a few listens. I've got a 12x12 cd of extended mixes, which is ok.
I certainly have a remaster of Spirit of Eden on CD but my copy of Laughing Stock is an original copy. The Mark Hollis solo is what is known in the trade as an eponymous album (i.e it's title is "Mark Hollis"). The Mark Hollis solo is in my opinion as good as the superb SoE and Laughing Stock albums. There is a review of "Mark Hollis" at the Julian Cope's excellent Head Heritage site here : http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1728
Late period Talk Talk and solo David Sylvian (check out "Gone to Earth") albums are what I use to chill out to. Both artists are quite similar starting out a bit crap (remember early Japan and the fact that Talk Talk appeared in concert with Duran Duran). But then both acts developed to an extraordinary degree - perhaps only matched by the leap taken from something like Warsaw's "Gutz" to Joy Division's "The Eternal".
Another forgotten 80's artist that I am chilling to is Virginia Astley - her "In Gardens where we feel secure" is something else.
Didn't No Doubt do a cover of one of their songs a few years ago? I think there were better musicians during the 1980s than Talk Talk, but we all have our personal tastes.
I loved 'Talk Talk' especially the extended version and 'Life's what you make it', but can't say I'm familiar with the rest of their stuff.
Missy Jem wrote: I loved 'Talk Talk' especially the extended version and 'Life's what you make it', but can't say I'm familiar with the rest of their stuff.
ah THE DUM DUM girl is BACK
ROCKET MICK wrote:
Missy Jem wrote: I loved 'Talk Talk' especially the extended version and 'Life's what you make it', but can't say I'm familiar with the rest of their stuff.
ah THE DUM DUM girl is BACK
Boom Boom!
Missy Jem wrote: I loved 'Talk Talk' especially the extended version and 'Life's what you make it', but can't say I'm familiar with the rest of their stuff.
Wait, there's an extended version of 'Talk Talk'!? 
Niiice.
leather_girl wrote: Didn't No Doubt do a cover of one of their songs a few years ago? I think there were better musicians during the 1980s than Talk Talk, but we all have our personal tastes.
Yep, No Doubt covered 'It's My Life' for their best-of a handful of years back. However, that cover is, well, shite.
They shouldn't have touched that track.
ROCKET MICK wrote:
Missy Jem wrote: I loved 'Talk Talk' especially the extended version and 'Life's what you make it', but can't say I'm familiar with the rest of their stuff.
ah THE DUM DUM girl is BACK
How rude (what do you mean anyway?) I'm a bit out of touch, I forgot about your weird posts :p
[lost in benidorm...] ['sunshine'] wrote:
leather_girl wrote: Didn't No Doubt do a cover of one of their songs a few years ago? I think there were better musicians during the 1980s than Talk Talk, but we all have our personal tastes.
Yep, No Doubt covered 'It's My Life' for their best-of a handful of years back. However, that cover is, well, shite.
They shouldn't have touched that track.
Yeah, it wasn't a really good cover. I don't like No Doubt either, though.
I was ignoring this thread because I never liked Talk Talk nor any of their songs. I Find it boring... But then I've read all the current threads so I decided to check out this one.
Call them legendary? Probably a forgoten myth. Better than the Beatles and/or the Rolling Stones? Yes, until the time that your mom woke you up because you've been sleeping too much.
No offense to Talk Talk fans, but to call them legendary and better than the Beatles? Hell NO!
Indeed!
