After The Noise

Everything Is Equal

Monday 09 February 2026

Compilation
Talk Talk – Asides Besides (1998)

Another thirteen-hour day, my own career choice. Sound tracked by Talk Talk’s Asides Besides.

I’ve listened to this album a lot recently. Gone through a bit of a Talk Talk phase. Not sure where it even came from. I think a track popped up on the After the Noise playlist, and instead of just taking the individual song, I followed the thread back to the band.

And here we are.

This is a cash-in compilation, technically. But it’s actually a decent one. More than decent. So many of those label compilations are utter rubbish, but this one holds up. EMI released it around the time Mark Hollis put out his one and only solo album. It gathers most of their singles and B-sides, which explains the title.

The real interest comes on the second disc. It starts with three demo versions from the Such a Shame double 7-inch, and then runs chronologically through the B-sides. It almost feels like an album in its own right. There are some real gems on there.

It begins with Strike Up the Band, the B-side to their first single, Talk Talk. From that point on, you can hear the band slowly changing. It doesn’t include anything from their final album Laughing Stock, because that was on a different label, but you can clearly trace the journey.

They start out as a glossy new wave band. People used to call them Duran Duran wannabes. Then, step by step, they move towards something far stranger and more interesting. By the time you reach The Colour of Spring and beyond, you’re in that avant-garde, almost post-rock territory. That’s the version of Talk Talk I really fell in love with.

I actually think it’s healthy to have phases with bands. I’ve listened to all their albums this past week. Now, I’m firmly stuck on this interesting compilation. I could have just stuck with the After the Noise playlist, but I’m not wired like that. Sometimes a band appears, and you just follow them wherever they lead.

One of the real treats here is John Cope. It was the B-side to I Don’t Believe in You from the Spirit of Eden era. By then, they’d completely transformed from the early singles. It’s not a track I return to often, but it’s special. You almost wish they’d put it on the album itself. There’s no real reason they couldn’t have.

If you wanted a way into Talk Talk’s world, this isn’t a bad place to start. It shows the full arc, and it proves how often they hid absolute gems on the B-sides.

Some bands save their best work for the albums.
Talk Talk seemed to scatter it everywhere.

End Of Listening Log

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