Asides Besides

Asides and Besides
Compilation album by Talk Talk
Released	20 April 1998
Recorded	1981–1988
Genre	Synthpop, art rock, post-rock
Length	142:46
Label	EMI
Producer	Tim Friese-Greene, Colin Thurston
Talk Talk chronology
The Very Best of Talk Talk (1997) Asides and Besides (1998) 12 x 12 Original Remixes (1999)

Asides Besides is a compilation album by Talk Talk, released April 1998. It is a collection of rarities, B-sides and demos previously unavailable on Talk Talk CDs. It was issued as a companion volume to the band's 1997 album remasters and has been described as "tieing up loose ends" in the band's career.^[1] The album was critically lauded, as Talk Talk rarities were (at the time) quite rare and out-of-print. The album only contains rarities from the 1982–1988 period, however, as EMI could only obtain rights for Talk Talk music from this period. An album of rarities for Talk Talk's career after 1988 was released in 2001 as Missing Pieces.

Background

Talk Talk released four studio albums for EMI in the 1980s, as well as numerous singles, a remix album (It's My Mix), and several EPs. Though the four studio albums made it onto CD in the 1980s (and again in 1997), the singles, remix album and EPs all contained B-sides and remixes that were not republished onto CD. A surge in Talk Talk's popularity arose following the 1997 remasters of the band's catalogue, which was coupled with a new compilation album (The Very Best of Talk Talk) as well as new material from Mark Hollis and .O.rang. To capitalise on this, EMI decided to release all the previously unavailable songs on one double album to make it much easier to buy the otherwise rare material.

Songs

Disc one consists solely of remixes, all of which had only been available on 12" singles and were not available on CD at that time. (New Talk Talk remixes had been released on the 1991 compilation album History Revisited which the band disowned and tried to block the release of).

Disc two opens with rare demo versions of "Talk Talk" (already featured in its extended form on disc one), "Mirror Man" and "Candy," all of which had appeared on a limited edition double 7" single of "Such a Shame." Then the disc progresses into B-sides such as "John Cope," originally the B-side for the somewhat unofficial single release of "I Believe in You" from 1988. Single edits of songs such as "Eden" are also included. Disc two does feature one song that had already been available on CD: "My Foolish Friend," which had only appeared on the 1990 retrospective album Natural History, an album which was not included in the 1997 CD remaster campaign.

"Call in the Night Boy (Piano Version)," "For What It's Worth," "It's Getting Late in the Evening" and "John Cope" later appeared on 2003's Introducing ... Talk Talk. All the remixes on disc one were reissued in 1999 as the standalone album 12 x 12 Original Remixes, which itself was reissued as Remixed in 2001.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Released in 1998, around the same time as Mark Hollis' solo album, .o.rang's second album, and the remasters of Talk Talk's EMI albums, some critics said that the album was a "cash-in" but added "rarely does such a calculated industry move result in such a treat for fans".^[2] Allmusic gave 4 stars to the album, saying "Asides Besides may be of interest only to diehard Talk Talk fans, but for that audience this collection is absolutely essential."^[2]

In a rundown of Talk Talk's discography, the BBC said that Asides and Besides was "a double CD set that includes many of the band's best 12" mixes and b-sides."^[3] However, when talking about how EMI treated the band, the BBC talked about the album's artwork, saying "[the album] bears the tell-tale signs of the lack of respect that EMI had shown for the band. One example is that the artwork for the A-Sides Besides compilation features pictures of sleeve artwork for many of the singles featured. However, it is obvious EMI hadn't retained any of the artwork as the pictures are clearly scanned in from actual records, with all the wear and tear that entails. This wouldn't have been so bad, if they had remembered to remove the Music and Video Exchange and other record shop price stickers clearly visible on the finished artwork."^[3]

In 2014, the NME ranked the album at number 9 in their list of "30 Killer B-Side and Rarity Albums".^[4]

Track listing

Disc One

1. "Talk Talk" (Extended Version) – 4:35
2. "Today" (Extended Version) – 4:34
3. "My Foolish Friend" (Extended Version) – 5:30
4. "It's My Life" (Extended Version) – 6:19
5. "Such a Shame" (Extended Version) – 7:01
6. "Such a Shame" (Dub Mix) – 6:34
7. "Dum Dum Girl" (12" Mix) – 5:24
8. "Without You" (12" Mix) – 5:55
9. "Life's What You Make It" (Extended Mix) – 7:01
10. "Living in Another World" (Extended Remix) – 8:58
11. "Pictures of Bernadette" (Dance Mix) – 8:06
12. "Happiness Is Easy" (12" Mix) – 7:02

Disc Two

1. "Talk Talk" (Demo) – 3:28
2. "Mirror Man" (Demo) – 3:30
3. "Candy" (Demo) – 4:25
4. "Strike Up the Band" – 2:45
5. "?" – 4:09
6. "My Foolish Friend" – 3:20
7. "Call in the Night Boy" (Piano Version) – 3:50
8. "Why Is It So Hard?" – 4:05
9. "Again a Game ... Again" – 4:12
10. "Without You" – 3:26
11. "Dum Dum Girl" (US Mix) – 3:40
12. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" – 5:46
13. "For What It's Worth" – 5:22
14. "Pictures of Bernadette" – 5:04
15. "Eden" (Edit) – 4:22
16. "John Cope" – 4:39

References