History Music / TalkTalk

+Music/Radiohead, Music/{{Elbow}}, Music/WildBeasts, Music/EverythingEverythingBand

+Music/MilesDavis, Music/JohnColtrane, Music/{{Can}}, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/BelaBartok, Music/ClaudeDebussy, Music/SteveWinwood, [Music/TrafficBand Traffic]

+Music/MilesDavis, Music/{{Can}}, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/BelaBartok, Music/SteveWinwood, [Music/TrafficBand Traffic]

+Music/MilesDavis, Music/{{Can}}, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/BelaBartok, Music/SteveWinwood, [[Music/TrafficBand Traffic]]

* KidsRock: "Happiness Is Easy".
* LongestSongGoesLast: "Time It's Time" from ''The Colour Of Spring''.

* TheXOfY: ''The Colour of Spring'' and ''Spirit of Eden''

* NewSoundAlbum: Each one is different from the ones that came before it, with the jump between ''The Colour of Spring'' and ''Spirit of Eden'' being the most drastic.

* NotChristianRock: Biblical allusions feature heavily in their lyrics, from their first album all the way to the Mark Hollis solo record, but despite this the band are not an overtly religious band and mainly use Christocentric imagery for metaphorical purposes.

Critical acclaim greeted the record while sales predictably decreased a bit, and some attempted ExecutiveMeddling from EMI making them release "I Believe in You" as a single led to a lawsuit that the band eventually won and had their contract dissolved. Webb left in the meantime, and the now-reduced-to-a-trio Talk Talk moved to Creator/PolydorRecords. Their last album, ''Music/LaughingStock'', came out in 1991 on Polydor's famed jazz label, Creator/{{Verve|Records}}. The recording sessions were even more demanding, the list of guest musicians was longer, the track lengths increased as well, the music moved in an even more minimalist, improvisational direction, the influence on PostRock was larger and the critical acclaim even larger. In short, ''Laughing Stock'' was ''Spirit of Eden'' turned UpToEleven.

On February 24, 2019, reports emerged that Hollis had passed away at the age of 64. The reports were confirmed two days later by his former manager, who specified that Hollis had died of "a short illness from which he never recovered." No exact date of death has been specified, nor has the name of the illness; Hollis will be dearly missed.

* ''Mark Hollis'' (1998)[[note]]billed as a Mark Hollis solo album, but was originally made under the band name and is generally treated as the sixth Talk Talk album in all but name[[/note]]

While Hollis from the start cited jazz musicians like Music/MilesDavis, Music/JohnColtrane, and classical artists like Bartók and Debussy and influences, the band's financial situation in their early years forced them to rely on synths and brought about predictable comparisons to [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] artists like Music/DuranDuran. Snapped up by Creator/{{EMI}}, the lads released their first album in 1982, ''The Party's Over.'' Produced by former Music/DavidBowie and Music/DuranDuran engineer Colin Thurston, the album showcased the SynthPop / [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] sound that attracted accusations of [[FollowTheLeader derivativeness]] but scraped the UK Top 40 with "Talk Talk" and "Today." In the ensuing tour, the band opened for Music/{{Genesis}} at a concert, forcing Hollis to spend most of the set [[ProducePelting avoiding whatever fans threw on stage]].

Critical acclaim greeted the record while sales predictably decreased a bit, and some attempted ExecutiveMeddling from EMI making them release "I Believe in You" as a single led to a lawsuit that the band eventually won and had their contract dissolved. Webb left in the meantime, and the now-reduced-to-a-trio Talk Talk moved to Creator/PolydorRecords. Their last album, ''Music/LaughingStock'', came out in 1991 on Polydor's famed jazz label, Verve. The recording sessions were even more demanding, the list of guest musicians was longer, the track lengths increased as well, the music moved in an even more minimalist, improvisational direction, the influence on PostRock was larger and the critical acclaim even larger. In short, ''Laughing Stock'' was ''Spirit of Eden'' turned UpToEleven.

While Hollis from the start cited jazz musicians like Music/MilesDavis, Music/JohnColtrane, and classical artists like Bartók and Debussy and influences, the band's financial situation in their early years forced them to rely on synths and brought about predictable comparisons to [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] artists like Music/DuranDuran. Snapped up by Creator/{{EMI}}, the lads released their first album in 1982, ''The Party's Over.'' Produced by former Music/DavidBowie and Music/DuranDuran engineer Colin Thurston, the album showcased the SynthPop / [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] sound that attracted accusations of [[FollowTheLeader derivativeness]] but scraped the UK Top 40 with "Talk Talk" and "Today." In the ensuing tour, the band opened for Music/{{Genesis}} at a concert, forcing Hollis to spend most of the set avoiding whatever fans threw on stage.

* IAmTheBand: Mark Hollis became this around ''Laughing Stock'', despite Lee Harris being present on the album.

[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Lee Haris, Mark Hollis, Paul Webb (in 1984).]]