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Nearly two decades after its original release, a compilation from U.K. band Talk Talk will be dusted off and reconfigured for reissue.

1997’s The Very Best of Talk Talk was, at the time, a pretty standard affair – a postmortem of the band’s evolution from New Romantic hitmakers to ambitious art-rock ensemble, six years after the band took their final bow. Modestly promoted, it missed the U.K. Top 40 but still was a gold seller in England. Now, it’s being reissued on CD and, for the first time, double vinyl, in slightly altered form: the original track list has been reorganized to chronological order and shortened by one track. (Non-LP B-sides “For What It’s Worth” and “John Cope” have been dropped, edits of The Colour of Spring tracks “Living in Another World” and “Give It Up” have been replaced with their longer versions, and one track is added from the originally-unrepresented final album, 1991’s Laughing Stock.)

Initially comprised of frontman/songwriter Mark Hollis, keyboard player Simon Brenner, bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris, Talk Talk made a splash in England as a synth-driven pop outfit bearing a few sonic comparisons to early Duran Duran. (Their 1982 debut The Party’s Over was produced by Colin Thurston, who oversaw the Birmingham group’s 1981 debut and follow-up Rio, issued just months before The Party’s Over.) “Today” became a Top 20 hit in their home country, while “Talk Talk” became a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Follow-up It’s My Life (1984) – recorded as a trio of Hollis, Webb and Harris with producer/session player Tim Friese-Greene, who’d collaborate with the band on every record going forward – netted the group a Top 40 in America with the propulsive title track. (In 2004, it became a Top 10 hit when covered by No Doubt for a greatest hits collection.)

Few could have predicted what would happen next: Hollis, inspired by a variety of music from jazz to classical, traded in synth-pop entirely for a more expansive, experimental sound. With a cadre of session musicians aiding the recording, from Steve Winwood to guitarists Robbie McIntosh (then of the Pretenders) and David Rhodes (from Peter Gabriel’s band), The Colour of Spring was a critical and commercial success, reaching the U.K. Top 10 and featuring the worldwide hit “Life’s What You Make It.” Its success prompted Hollis and company to get even more creative on 1988’s Spirit of Eden, which blended jazz, prog and ambient ideas in a style that critics would later describe as “post-rock.” The band eschewed traditional promotion for the album and successfully sued to get out of their contract with EMI shortly thereafter. Four years later – just a duo of Hollis and Harris on drums, with Friese-Greene and another expansive array of session players – Talk Talk released another improvisational post-rock project, 1991’s Laughing Stock, for Polydor; they split up shortly thereafter, and, save for a 1998 solo album, Hollis largely withdrew from music to raise a family. His status as a musical trailblazer was all but solidified by 2019, when he died of cancer at 64 years old.

The reorganized track lists and pre-order links for The Very Best of Talk Talk are below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Very Best of Talk Talk (originally released as EMI CDEMC 3763 (U.K.), 1997) – reissued Parlophone/Rhino, 2025)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Talk Talk
2. Today (Single Version)
3. Have You Heard the News?
4. It’s My Life
5. Such a Shame (Original Version)
6. Dum Dum Girl
7. Life’s What You Make It
8. Living in Another World
9. Give It Up
10. April 5th
11. Time It’s Time
12. I Believe in You (Single Version)
13. Eden (Edit)
14. Wealth
15. New Grass *

Original versions of Tracks 1-3 released on The Party’s Over – EMI, 1982. Track 2 released on EMI single 5314, 1982.
Original versions of Tracks 4-6 released on It’s My Life – EMI, 1984. Track 5 released on Parlophone single R6276, 1990.
Tracks 7-11 released on The Colour of Spring – EMI, 1986
Original versions of Tracks 12-14 released on Spirit of Eden – Parlophone, 1988. Tracks 12-13 released on Parlophone 12″ 12R6189, 1988
Track 15 released on Laughing Stock – Verve/Polydor, 1991. * not included on original pressing