Customer Reviews

Talk Show

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the hit or miss affair that Vacation was, the Go-Go's finally took a break from their rigorous touring schedule. They returned back on the top of their game with Talk Show. The album combines their punkish attitudes with a slick pop production. The pounding piano on "Head Over Heels" practically begs you to get up and dance. "Forget That Day" shows Belinda Carlisle's ability to perfectly portray the girl with the wounded heart. "Yes Or No" & "Beneath The Blue Sky" or good pop songs as is "Capture The Light". The highlight of the album, and possibly their career, is "Turn To You". The song is a perfect synthesis of their early punk rocking days and their recorded pop sheen. The song has a frantic driving guitar and slamming drums, but it also has a stop and go sound with perfect harmonies. A true triumph. Unfortunately the band imploded after this release, but they did leave behind three great albums.

Without a doubt, this is the best Go-go's album. On this album, the music and the songwriting is more mature than the two previous albums "Beauty & the Beat" and "Vacation". For me the best cuts on this albums are "Head Over Heels", "Beneath the Blue Sky", "Forget that Day" and "Capture the Light". If you're looking to buy an album by a group of really hard working women, this is it, nothing comes better than the Go-Go's. Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine and Jane Wiedlin are indeed THE greatest female rock group in the world. Forget the Spice Girls and any other girl group like them, THE GO-GO's are the real deal.

Following the disappointing reviews of their second album, "Vacation," the Go-Go's took some deserved time off - but not by their own choice. Guitarist Charlotte Caffey developed a hand problem (now known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and the Go-Go's as a group encoutered problems with their manager and record label.

At the end of 1983, they got back together to work on a new album ("Talk Show") with a new producer (Martin Rushent). The happy result was a stronger and more vibrant album than "Vacation," showing the Go-Go's as a band that could withstand tough times.

The hit "Head Over Heels" starts the album off, providing a piano hook by Caffey and one of the Go-Go's most memorable songs.

The follow-up hit, "Turn to You," shows off the guitar chops of Caffey and Jane Wiedlin and the new, assertive production style of Rushent.

"You Thought" is a pleasant surprise, penned by drummer Gina Schock and bassist Kathy Valentine. The result is one of "Talk Show"'s most memorable album tracks, demonstrating Belinda Carlisle's emerging, confident vocals.

"Beneath the Blue Sky" reminds us of the Cold War and its insanity; one may have to read the lyrics to fully understand the concept of this fine Valentine/Wiedlin effort.

"Forget that Day" is perhaps the finest album track, and the source of irritation among band members. Author Wiedlin wanted to sing lead, but the rest of the group nixed that notion. This was probably the final straw for Wiedlin, who left the group after finishing their concert tour in October 1984. This does not, however, detract from the song's quality.

"I'm the Only One" is a rollicking effort, the only detriment possibly being a heavy guitar mix over the vocals.

"Yes or No" was written by Wiedlin with the Mael brothers from Sparks. This was the last charted single for the Go-Go's in their 80s incarnation.

If there is a weak song on the album, "Capture the Light" might be it. Perhaps it only seems weak in the wake of so many fine songs that came before it on the album.

"I'm With You" is a fine love song by Schock and Wiedlin, with emotion fully captured in Carlisle's vocal.

"Mercenary" is a finely written tune, and somewhat sad, considering it was the last track on the last Go-Go's album in the 1980s.

It's too bad that personal problems and infighting destroyed the group within a year of this album's release. "Talk Show," however, stands as testimony to the Go-Go's fine songwriting and proves that they could cut a rock album as good as anyone else at the time.

Third time's the charm, I have always been told, and this is a shining example of that theory. After their debut "Beauty and the Beat", Go-Go's were looked upon as something of a novelty. A group of women who not only played their own instruments but wrote their own songs. A REAL band, in an era ( the early Eighties ) of manufactured, visually driven MTV pop. Unexpected platinum sales for the debut lead to unreasonably high expectations for the follow up, and when "Vacation" underperformed with critics and fans, the Go-Go's retreated for a break and returned two years later with this incredibly solid album. It rocks surprisingly hard. It SOUNDS great ( kudos must go to producer Martin Rushent ). The songs are all tight and just hooky as hell, despite the fact that many are rather dour lyrically. This is where it all fell into place - the writing, the production and mixing, the performance. This is the Go-Go's finest hour. Three fantastic singles. Many fine album cuts, not a clunker in the bunch. Highly recommended for fans of the band, as well as pop-rock lovers who like tunes with just a little edge.

When Universal Records wisely decided to reissue Vacation and Talk Show, I was elated. Given the hard-driving punk/surf guitar/new wave sound of their third album, they should've been going strong. They feel stronger here than their first two albums, and as a result, I say this is the best album they ever released.

"Head Over Heels" alternately charms with the ongoing piano and really packs a punch with the lead heavy rock guitar. The heavy clap that sounds in the chorus is kinda neat too in this hard-driving track.

Belinda tries to coax someone scared of love in the equally driving "Turn To You." There's even a Beatles-like "ooh la la" mixed in there. "You think falling in love means falling to ruin" sings Belinda, explaining a flaw present in both sexes. The strong surf-punk sound gives the chorus an extra punch.

"You Thought" has a lot more spit and grind than its cousins "Lust To Love" and "Fading Fast" from Our Lips Are Sealed.

Kathy Valentine's pulsing bass sets the rhythm for "Beneath The Blue Sky". The blue sky is the illusory calm that hides the stormclouds brewing between two people. Wonderful guitar solo and rhythm guitar work from Jane in this singleworthy tune.

Rhythm guitar and piano underscore the sad "Forget That Day" about trying to forget a lost opportunity: "I can only kneel and pray/try and try to forget that day." Why do those days have to be rainy days?

The grinding and snarling guitars make "I'm The Only One" the "We Got The Beat" of this album, complete with a drums and vocals section just like that song.

"Yes Or No" sort of slows the pace, although the same sound is present. "Capture The Light" recaptures the chugging rhythm guitar and tells how everybody wants their own piece of happiness. In one inspiring part, Belinda sings how "[I] used to hunt for darkness/and it would follow me/wherever I'd go/now I'm looking up again/I got no more time for feeling low."

The last two songs, "I'm With You" and "Mercenary" are slower, but still have a strong sound permeating throughout the rest of the album.

After Talk Show, first Jane Wiedlin, replaced by Paula Brown, then Belinda Carlisle left the fold, and the Go-Go's were no more until God Bless The Go-Go's in 2000. What's important is that each member of the band did their own thing. Belinda Carlisle had the best solo career of the lot, followed by Jane Wiedlin who also did some acting. Gina Schock did the short-lived House Of Schock, Kathy Valentine had the Delphines, and Charlotte Caffey teamed up with Meredith Brooks and Gia Ciambotti for the Graces. And there aren't too many other groups who do that.

A definite comeback but then the group was on its way out. Head Over Heels Sparkles and there is some of the rock that would later show up on God Bless the Go-Go's.

Underappreciated LP sort of dismissed because by now the Go-Go's had basically paved the way for all the otehr female groups and they were no longer unique. One day "I'm the Only One" will be recongized as a Go-Go's classic

I agree the others who said they're been waiting 10 years for this CD!. (I saw the original CD release once but didn't buy it at the time as I had the vinyl LP! BIG MISTAKE!) I bought the other CD releases like Valley of the Go Go's just to get *some* of the songs from Talk Show on CD.

Yes, compared with their first two albums, Talk Show shows the Go-Go's at their songwriting best. The tunes are great and the fact that a lot of the songs end with a bang (not just a fade out) is great too. An absolute must for Go'Go's fans.

Talk Show is a punchy, hard rocking, brilliant pop masterpiece. It was my choice at the time as 1984's best album, and it is the only one of the Go-Go's first three albums that still does not sound dated. The production by Martin Rushent is superb --- the drums slam in your face, the harmonies give you goose-bumps, the guitars jangle and soar harmonically and rock down 'n dirty. "Beneath the Blue Sky" and the great single "Head Over Heels" are the best tracks, but every one is a winner and shows off the band members' virtuosic songwriting skills. Truly a great album, and perhaps the best pure pop album of the '80's. A criminally overlooked work -- get it now !

Although overlooked by most critics because of the band's subsequent break up, Talk Show is argueably one of the top five rock albums of the decade, right alongside Prince's Purple Rain and U2's War. In light of the bands problems and lack of critical acclaim for this outing, the sound produced by the group can only be called brilliant. Poetic intelligence and a full and knowledgeable understanding of the groups limitiations run throughout Show, and yet the ladies pushed for genius on tracks such as Mercenary, Capture the Light, and the best track on the album, You Thought. Incorporating the best of the California Sound from the Byrds and the Beach Boys on its brighter side, to the Doors and thoughtful Eagles on its darker, this Wiedlin/Caffey driven work typifies the complexity of this dichotomy of sound. Perhaps because they make it all seem so easy, from their carefree smiles on the album cover to their flawless playing and uplifting melodies and harmonies, Talk Show hasn't been put in its proper place amongst rock's greats, yet!

'Talk Show' is one of the most underrated and underappreciated albums of the 1980s. Here, the Go-Go's present a concept album that deals with the anger and troubles behind love. Break-ups and unrequited love never sounded so good. And with "Forget That Day," the Go-Go's take the angst of a broken heart to a new plateau. After listening to this one song, you can't help but be thankful lead singer Belinda Carlisle found true love! And what's truly amazing about this song is how the harmonist (I suspect Jane Wiedlin) appears to be the truly broken-hearted! The album features fantastic guitar riffs, solid drum work, and pulsing piano playing. Go-go break your heart, listen to this, feel the pain, and get a whole lot better!