THE PARTY'S OVER

First album of this Scottish band, who soon became well known in Italy.

We are in the perimeter of new romantic music crossing synth-pop (bad sound of the drums, no guitar, only percussion, keayboards and vocals) and the one and only peculiarity of Talk Talk is the dramatic voice by Mark Hollis, the front-man and leader and main composer.

1. Talk Talk (3:23) is a good synth -pop, with a sustained rhythm, enthralling. The climax is reached in the instrumental part, with piano (Brenner) and bass (Paul Webb), then come Hollis' voice and the percussions (Harris). Rating 7,5.

2. It's So Serious (3:21) is another potential pop single, with a catchy chorus but the song become soon too repetitive. Rating 7.

3. Today (3:30) is the third song with a catchy melody: at this point this album looks like a collection of singles with which to climb the ranking. This time, however, the electronic sound is more sophisticated, and Hollis' voice together with the dark, almost gothic atmosphere and the rhythmic progression reaches a peak of the Talk Talk production and makes Today a small commercial masterpiece. Rating 8+.

4. The Party's Over (6:12) is the first variation: not just a commercial song long 3 minutes but a keyboard ballad of 6 minutes. This time the rhythm and the mood is more melancholic. the song stands on the same melancholy mood from start to finish, only that as time goes by, the volume rises, the intensity of Hollis' voice becomes bigger and more dramatic and desperate. Long final fading tail. Rating 8.

End of Side A.

5. Hate (3:58) is supported by a tribal rhythm, thanks to the deafening percussion, it is the most aggressive song on the album, with a very powerful chorus, maybe too much noise. Rated 7,5 /8.

6. Have You Heard the News? (5:07) is slow pop ballad, with a good melody, dominated by the keyboards. Rating 8.

7. Mirror Man (3:21) is a melodic but rhythmic, conventional, repetitive pop song, perhaps the lowest point of the album. Rating 6+.

8. Another World (3:14) is a rhythmic song, based on keyboards, commercial easy listening, but good grip, however, it is repetetive near the end: another minor song. Rating 6,5.

9. Candy (4:41) Song written by Hollis alone, it has a nice game of percussion and bass, the Simple Minds are around the corner. The intensity of Hollis' voice and the skill of the arrangements make it a good track. Rating 7.5 / 8.

With this song ends an album that has nothing taken from prog, but represents the starting point of an extraordinary band, which still has Brenner on keyboards, and half of the songs composed by the whole group: Hollis will take complete domination with Friese- Greene after the second album.

This debut record is very good, medium quality of the songs:7,44. Rating album: 7,5/8.

Three Stars.