release date: Feb. 1984
format: vinyl (reissue) / cd (1997 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Tim Friese-Greene
label: EMI Records - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "Dum Dum Girl" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Such a Shame" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Renée" - 4. "It's My Life" (5 / 5) (live) - 5. "Tomorrow Started" (4 / 5) - 6. "The Last Time" (4 / 5) - 7. "Call in the Night Boy" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Does Caroline Know?" - 9. "It's You"
2nd studio album by Talk Talk is a strong follow-up to the debut from '82. By now the band is officially reduced to a trio as keyboardist Simon Brenner has left the band; however, producer Tim Friese-Greene is co-writer with Mark Hollis on three of the tracks, and Friese-Greene is also credited for playing keyboards alongside Ian Curnow. Friese-Greene would later be the band's second major songwriter alongside Mark Hollis, although he should never become an official member of the band.
The style is still very much synthpop but now more evidently art pop. It's no longer chorus-based pop compositions for the teenage-filled dance floors, and the band has in a way alienated itself from what was formerly seen as Duran Duran-associated music. Where the debut was more of a whole, this is still rather distinct in style, but it also points in new (yet obscure) directions.
The title track was undoubtedly the band's biggest radio hit, and both single and album generally fared well making it to top-10 entries in many countries except for in the UK where the single topped at #13 (the highest ranked single ever by Talk Talk on national scale), whereas the album topped at #35, but it made it to #2 in Switzerland, #3 in The Netherlands, and #4 in Germany. The title track was brought back to fame in 2003 when the American band No Doubt covered the song to promote its compilation album The Singles 1992-2003. The Talk Talk version of the song is not 'just' pop as it's a rather great and complex composition. Several other tracks drag the tempo and in that link the style more to that of Japan / David Sylvian (listen to "Tomorrow Started" and "Does Caroline Know?") and to the band's future trademark of what was much later labelled post rock and what slowly lifted both the band's and especially Mark Hollis' status. Tracks like #5, #6 and #8 already contain parts of that style. Bassist Paul Webb has a playing style that resembles that of Mick Karn (Japan) quite a bit - but then again: what bassist from (almost) any synthpop band of the early 1980s didn't copy his style? Compared to the debut, this is different and perhaps more original on its own premises and without falling into a specific stylistic category.
I have this particular album in 3 versions: a later vinyl reissue [Dutch pressing, year unknown], the original cd mastering (as of 1988), and a '97 remastered cd version, with no significant audible differences, although, I think that the remastered version offers slightly broader dynamics.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
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| vinyl cover (reissue) |
