I follow an account on Twitter called Vinyl Deals UK which alerts followers to discounted or reduced records being sold on Amazon. Mostly it is stuff I'm happy to ignore but every now and then some gold turns up...or in this case, some white!
A couple of weeks ago I saw that 'The Party's Over' by Talk Talk was being sold for just £15 delivered. The album is on my 'to buy' list and I was tempted even before I saw it was the remastered 40th Anniversary Edition, that was enough for me to send some filthy Lucre Bezos' way.
So what have I bought? Talk Talk's critically acclaimed debut album from 1982 which includes the singles 'Talk Talk', 'Today' and 'Mirror Man'. This is a classic early 80s synthpop album which compares favourably to its contemporaries of the time.
There are obvious comparisons with Duran Duran due to the name of both bands and the fact that they both shared the same record company as well as producer, Colin Thurston. The feel of 'The Part's Over' is noticeably different from Duran Duran's debut which has a warmer, poppier slant to it. When I first heard this album way back then, I thought it was too cool for me so went back to 'Planet Earth', 'Girls On Film' etc.
Now I'm older, wiser and obviously cooler (?!) I can appreciate just how good this album is and how much of a genius Mark Hollis was. This album stands the test of time and is miles better than I remember it was when I first heard it. Although you can hear the Duran Duran comparisons there are also hints of Heaven 17, Depeche Mode, Japan and the Human League in here - some of the synthpop's biggest hitters at the time.
The scary thing is that isn't even Talk Talk's best album! This is a cracking introduction to the band and stands up on its own merit in my opinion but subsequent releases blow this out of the water, lets's hope Amazon has a deal on 'The Colour Of Spring' or 'Spirit Of Eden' soon!
If you fancy getting your hands on one of the best synthpop albums of the 80s then this 40th Anniversary record can be picked up for just £16 on Amazon or around £20 from your friendly independent record store.
Tracks To Try: 'Talk Talk', 'It's So Serious', 'Today', 'Have You Heard The News', 'Mirror Man', 'Candy'