Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk

Natural History
Greatest hits album by
Talk Talk
Released29 May 1990[1]
Recorded1982–1988
Genre
Length71:47
LabelParlophone/EMI
ProducerColin Thurston
Tim Friese-Greene
Rhett Davies
Talk Talk chronology
Spirit of Eden
(1988) 		Natural History
(1990) 		History Revisited: The Remixes
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
New Musical Express8/10[3]
Select4/5[4]

Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk is a 1990 greatest hits album by Talk Talk. It collects songs that the band released under EMI between 1982 and 1988.

Reception

The compilation spent 21 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #3,[5] and went on to sell over one million copies worldwide.[6] The North American version appended two live bonus tracks. A companion collection of the band's music videos was released in July 1990.

Production and re-releases

EMI released the compilation without the band's supervision. Talk Talk leader Mark Hollis said, "A compilation album is not my idea of an album. I don't like compilation albums and I didn't like that one. It certainly wasn't the selection of tracks I would have liked even if there had to be one. But, at the end of the day, they had every right to do it so . . ."[7] In light of Natural History's success, the remix album History Revisited was released in 1991. Talk Talk sued EMI for remixing their material without permission. Though the collection contains no new material, it does have the non-LP 1983 single, "My Foolish Friend", which had never appeared on a full-length release before. On 12 March 2007 the album was reissued with a bonus DVD of their music videos. Two bonus tracks were also included from the 1999 live release London 1986.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Today"
The Party's Over3:30
2."Talk Talk"
  • Hollis
  • Ed Hollis
The Party's Over3:18
3."My Foolish Friend"
  • Brenner
  • Hollis
Non-album single3:21
4."Such a Shame"
  • Hollis
It's My Life5:43
5."Dum Dum Girl" It's My Life3:49
6."It's My Life" It's My Life3:55
7."Give It Up" The Colour of Spring5:19
8."Living in Another World" The Colour of Spring6:57
9."Life's What You Make It" The Colour of Spring4:29
10."Happiness Is Easy" The Colour of Spring6:33
11."I Believe in You" Spirit of Eden6:04
12."Desire" Spirit of Eden7:00
Bonus tracks on the CD release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Life's What You Make It (Live @ the Hammersmith Odeon)" 4:40
14."Tomorrow's Started (Live @ the Hammersmith Odeon)"
  • Hollis
7:45
Reissued 2007 reissue listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Today"
The Party's Over3:30
2."Have You Heard the News"
  • Hollis
The Party's Over5:04
3."Talk Talk"
  • Hollis
  • Ed Hollis
The Party's Over3:18
4."My Foolish Friend"
  • Brenner
  • Hollis
Non-album single3:21
5."Such a Shame"
  • Hollis
It's My Life5:43
6."Dum Dum Girl" It's My Life3:49
7."It's My Life" It's My Life3:55
8."Give It Up" The Colour of Spring5:19
9."Living in Another World" The Colour of Spring6:57
10."Life's What You Make It" The Colour of Spring4:29
11."Happiness Is Easy" The Colour of Spring6:33
12."I Believe in You" Spirit of Eden6:04
13."Desire" Spirit of Eden7:00
14."Life's What You Make It (Live @ the Hammersmith Odeon)"  4:40
15."Tomorrow's Started (Live @ the Hammersmith Odeon)"
  • Hollis
 7:45

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[8] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[9] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[1] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Credits

References

  1. ^ a b "British album certifications – Talk Talk – natural History". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ Page, Betty (9 June 1990). "Long Play". New Musical Express. p. 31.
  4. ^ Rice, Glenn (July 1990). "Talk Talk: Natural History". Select. p. 111.
  5. ^ Tim Rice, Paul Gambaccini, and Jonathan Rice, The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, 7th ed. (Guinness World Records Limited, 1996).
  6. ^ James Neiss, "Talk Talk Archived 2000-03-03 at the Wayback Machine," Record Collector, December 1991.
  7. ^ Steve Sutherland, "Talk Talk: Silencing the Scams Archived 2006-10-11 at the Wayback Machine," Melody Maker, September 1991.
  8. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Talk Talk; 'Natural History')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Talk Talk – Natural History" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 24 August 2019. Enter Natural History in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1991 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".