The Party's Over (Talk Talk album)

The Party's Over
Two blue lips posing as "eyes", left "eye" open", right "eye" closed. Has nose and closed red lips.
Studio album by
Talk Talk
Released12 July 1982 (1982-07-12)[1][2][3]
Recorded1981–1982
Genres
Length36:28
LabelEMI
ProducerColin Thurston
Talk Talk chronology
The Party's Over
(1982)		 It's My Life
(1984)
Singles from The Party's Over
  1. "Mirror Man"
    Released: 5 February 1982 (1982-02-05)[6][7][8]
  2. "Talk Talk"
    Released: 5 April 1982 (1982-04-05)[9][10]
  3. "Today"
    Released: 21 June 1982 (1982-06-21)[11][12]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarHalf star[13]
QStarStar[14]
Mojo (re-issue review)StarStar[15]
Smash HitsStarStarStarStarStarHalf star[16]
UncutStarStar[17]

The Party's Over is the debut album by Talk Talk, released in 1982 by EMI Records.

Release

The Party's Over was released on 12 July 1982 by EMI Records.

In the United Kingdom, the album's single "Today" was a top-twenty hit. The re-recorded and re-produced version[18][19] of the single "Talk Talk" reached number 1 in South Africa in 1983 and number 23 in the UK.

In the United States, the album reached number 132 on the Billboard 200. The single "Talk Talk" reached number 63 on the Dance Club Songs chart and number 26 on the Mainstream Rock chart, but peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.[20][21]

In New Zealand, the album was a hit, peaking at number 8 due to the success of "Today", which reached number 10 in 1983.[22]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Smash Hits reviewer Neil Tennant wrote: "One sad mood permeates the whole LP as though they're compensating for the fact that they'd like to say something important but can't think of anything to say. Still, attractive tunes and synthesizer phrases plus sliding bass-playing prosper in the big, careful production. If only they'd cheered up, the part[y] might have been much more enjoyable."[16] In the Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records, Karen Schlosberg found the album "slick and professional but lifeless", bemoaning its "melodramatic angst and amateurish lyrics", adding that "The band shares a double name, producer (Colin Thurston) and superficial veneer with Duran Duran, but hasn't any of the other band's panache or underlying passion."[23]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Chris Woodstra felt the album was "slavishly derivative, Duran Duran-styled new romantic synth pop", but that it had a "naïve charm that makes for some really enjoyable music".[13]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Talk Talk"Ed Hollis, Mark Hollis3:20
2."It's So Serious"Simon Brenner, Lee Harris, M. Hollis, Paul Webb[note 1]3:19
3."Today"Brenner, Harris, M. Hollis, Webb[note 1]3:28
4."The Party's Over"Brenner, Harris, M. Hollis, Webb[note 1]6:10
Total length:16:17
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Hate"Brenner, Harris, M. Hollis, Webb[note 1]3:56
6."Have You Heard the News?"M. Hollis5:05
7."Mirror Man"M. Hollis3:18
8."Another Word"Webb3:12
9."Candy"M. Hollis4:40
Total length:20:11 36:28

Note: the original US vinyl swaps the positions of "Today" and "Hate".

Personnel

Credits adapted from original European LP liner notes, unless otherwise noted.[24]

Talk Talk

Technical

  • Colin Thurston – producer, engineer; mixing (2, 7, 8)
  • Mike Robinson – mixing
  • James Marsh – cover painting
  • Bill Smith – design
  • Ron McMaster – mastering[25]

Charts

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[26] 94
UK (Official Charts Company)[27] 23
Billboard Pop Albums[28] 132
Chart (2025) Peak
position
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[29] 13

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Silver 60,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 250,000[31]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Per the original sleeve notes, which additionally delineate the credit for the song as "Lyrics - Hollis, Music - Brenner/Harris/Hollis/Webb". However, BMI records list all five Talk Talk songs credited to Brenner/Harris/Hollis/Webb (the four on The Party's Over plus the non-album B-side "Call in the Night Boy") as being written by Brenner and Hollis only. See BMI Work numbers 1313128, 1524648, 1155289, 530291, and 170255.

References

  1. ↑ "News - Merchandising" (PDF). Record Business. 5 July 1982. p. 2. Retrieved 25 March 2022 – via World Radio History.
  2. ↑ "Record News" (PDF). Sounds. 17 July 1982. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  3. ↑ "New Albums" (PDF). Music & Video Week. 17 July 1982. p. 19. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  4. ↑ Paste Staff (3 June 2024). "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 3 June 2024. ...the New Romantic-aligned synth-pop of their 1982 debut The Party's Over...
  5. ↑ "Top 15 Sophisti-Pop Albums". Classic Pop. 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Get Smart!". Smash Hits. 21 January – 3 February 1982. p. 26. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  7. ↑ "Record News". New Musical Express. 30 January 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  8. ↑ "News - Merchandising" (PDF). Record Business. 1 February 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  9. ↑ "Turn On - Releases". Record Mirror. 3 April 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 24 August 2022 – via Flickr.
  10. ↑ "News - Merchandising" (PDF). Record Business. 5 April 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  11. ↑ "News - Tours". Record Mirror. 19 June 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  12. ↑ "Record News". New Musical Express. 19 June 1982. p. 34. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  13. 1 2 Woodstra, Chris. "The Party's Over - Talk Talk". AllMusic.
  14. ↑ "The Party's Over review". Q. September 1997.
  15. ↑ Eccleston, Danny (May 2012). "Lost Horizon". Mojo. No. 222. London: Bauer. p. 100. ISSN 1351-0193.
  16. 1 2 Tennant, Neil (22 July – 4 August 1982). "Albums". Smash Hits. p. 23.
  17. ↑ Stubbs, David (November 1997). "Talk Talk: The Party's Over / It's My Life / The Colour of Spring / Spirit of Eden". Uncut. No. 6. p. 89.
  18. ↑ "Singles". Record Mirror. 6 November 1982. p. 22. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  19. ↑ "Loquacious Talk Talk meet garrulous Jim Reid". Record Mirror. 13 November 1982. p. 27. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  20. ↑ "Talk Talk - Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  21. ↑ Rutherford, Kevin (26 February 2019). "'It's My Life' & More: Mark Hollis & Talk Talk's Billboard Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  22. ↑ "Talk Talk - The Party's Over (Album)". charts.nz. Hung Medien / eMedia Jungden. 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  23. ↑ Schlosberg, Karen (1983). Ira A. Robbins (ed.). The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 315. ISBN 978-0684179445.
  24. ↑ Talk Talk (1982). The Party's Over (LP liner notes). London: EMI Records. 1A 064-07646.
  25. ↑ Talk Talk (1982). The Party's Over (LP liner notes). EMI America Records. ST-17083.
  26. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 304. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  27. ↑ "Talk Talk UK chart history". Official Charts. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  28. ↑ "Album Search for "the partys over"". AllMusic.
  29. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2025. 27. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  30. ↑ "British album certifications – Talk Talk – The Party's Over". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 August 2019. Select albums in the Formats field. Type The Party's Over Talk Talk in the "Search:" field.
  31. ↑ Deevoy, Adrian (28 August 2013). "Talk Talk: 'You should never listen to music as background music' – a classic interview from the vaults". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
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