Talk Talk formed in 1981 as just another new-wave band - supporting Duran Duran on one of their earlier tours and achieving much chart success - but went on to record three critically acclaimed albums in the late 80s/early 90s.
Debut album The Party's Over was a solid synth-pop offering with minor hit singles "Today" and "Talk Talk". It's My Life followed in 1984 and was a bigger success, buoyed by the title track which was a hit single in Europe and the US. It was later also covered by Gwen Stefani and became a worldwide hit to a new generation. The Colour of Spring (1986) was the first of Talk Talk's critical smashes, showing much creativity beyond the straight synth-led new-wave pop of their earlier work. Thanks in part to the hit single "Life's What You Make It" it became their biggest seller in the UK and abroad.
The band then fell out with their label bosses at EMI after making a far more experimental album with limited commercial appeal - Spirit of Eden (1988). However, it was loved by critics and is now seen as an important album in the development of post-rock. It was followed, on a new label, with a similarly avant-garde album with jazz and classical influences, Laughing Stock (1991). Again, it was widely loved by music critics without ever troubling the charts. The band disbanded shortly afterwards.
