Performer Notes

The Psychedelic Furs: Richard Butler (vocals); John Ashton, Roger Morris (guitar); Duncan Kilburn (horns, keyboards); Tim Butler (bass); Vince Ely (drums, percussion).
Producers: Steve Lilywhite, Ian Taylor, Martin Hannett, The Psychedelic Furs.
Reissue producer: Bruce Dickinson.
Includes liner notes by Tony Fletcher.
Digitally remastered by Mark Wilder (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
Arguably the Furs finest hour, TALK TALK TALK is the perfect combination of gritty post-punk attack and angular, Bowie-ish art-pop. "Pretty in Pink" would become the band's signature tune when it was used in the John Hughes movie of the same name a few years later. Deservedly so, as it's a winning mixture of romantic desolation and pop-rock drive.
The Furs also score with this combination on the explicit "Into You Like a Train" and "I Wanna Sleep With You," Richard Butler's tawdry rasp sounding right at home amid the hook-filled debauchery. Despite all the "romanticism," the band's iconoclasm is still firmly in place, as seen on "Mr. Jones," an update of Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man." TALK TALK TALK is where post-punk art and pure pop heart meet in a serendipitous multi-car pileup.

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (3/8/02, p.75) - "...Their best by far..." - Rating: A-

Q (7/96, p.144) - 3 Stars - Good - "...still one of the most exciting post-punk sounds....their dark, echoey wall of sound takes on a life of its own....Richard Butler's hoarse, sub-Lydon sneer and mocking portrayal of messed-up characters provides the perfect vocal complement to that flying, swirling sound..."

Q (May 2002, p.134) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...Amongst a slew of early-'80s British acts who had American sucess...John Hughes would build a film around [track] Pretty in Pink..."

CMJ (1/5/04, p.8) - Ranked #5 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1981".

Mojo (Publisher) (5/02, p.122) - "...Spunkier and poppier and sported the original 'Pretty In Pink'..."