Customer Reviews
Awful - NOT the Original Version - By: J. Peters, 12 Sep 2008 
I owned & loved the vinyl LP of this album in the 80's. When CD came onto the market, I taped my LP collection & ditched my records & record deck through lack of space. Now, years later, I was keen to re-buy the album on CD.
This version is awful though. Every track (I think) is a kind of disco mix of the original with lots of digital drums & 'scratching' thrown in. Utter rubbish.
One of the tabloid papers was recently giving copies of this CD away, so I got one of those........and it's exactly the same!! Have Sony/BMG somehow lost the original masters or something? It seems it is not possible to buy a CD copy of the original vinyl release.
I'm going to get myself a vinyl copy on Amazon or at a car boot sale, & archive it to CD (I've bought a record deck again in the meantime!) as this seems to be the only way.
Very disappointed!!
warning, NOT the original album version - By: gnagfloW, 17 Jul 2008 
The initial CD version of No Parlez included only longer versions of the hit singles alongside a few other songs. The album versions from the album were, however, nowhere to be found. In the liner notes of this re-release Paul Young describes those versions as being wearing; not an understatement. According to Paul, the album version was always the true version & finallly one can listen to it on CD a quarter of a century later.
It took me not a whole lot longer than zero seconds to realize that something was wrong. The starting crushing interplay of bass & drums on Come Back & Stay is nowhere to be heard, the songs simply "starts". When I heard that the middle section where Paul sings "Since You've Been Gone...." is truncated did I realize that this is the single version being used, NOT the original album version. Things get worse: Love Will Tear Us Apart is presented here without the intro on the original album, again it simply "starts". Similar story with Love of the Common People, the long intro on the album has been shortened, similar as to the single version although I am not sure whether its identical, it is a bit longer than the version on his Time compilation. I think/hope I have spotted alll the faults.
The production at the time was revolutionary; Lauri Latham (later worked with Echo & the Bunnymen, Squeeze & The Stranglers) came with a distinctive glossy & crisp sound. Although it became soon dated, it sounds today very fresh. The re-mastering is good, it is as if the tapes were cleaned with the separation much clearer. The music has also aged well, Paul Young's voice still gives me goose bumps. A bonus CD is included with the boring 12 inch versions but an interesting version of Tears For Fears' Pale Shelter & 2 great live recordings.
In whole, a major disappointment due to shortened versions, & simply baffling since it is stated that this IS the original album. I thus give it only three stars, which may be generous. Any comments, especiallly from someone responsible for this re-release would be welcomed.
Prodict of its time... - By: are-jay-enn, 23 Sep 2007 
Great album & very much a product of its time. That's good or bad depending on your view on eighties music & production techniques. Good eighties pop is always difficult to beat but this album would have had five stars if it did not feel just that little bit dated in the 2000's.
Young's vocals are as always excellent & the musicians (including the superb Pino Pallladino on bass) are too. The backing vox are Kim & Mazz aka the Fabulous Wealthy Tarts (if memory serves) & they were sadly missing from most of the tracks on the next PY album. Most of the songs here are not penned by PY although the one that is, Broken Man, is a good un.
I want to parlez about this album... - By: T. Picton, 29 Apr 2003 This was a classic album of the 80s. There are some great soul sounds here such as the legendary "Wherever I Lay My Hat" & "Broken Man", but also some slightly crazy songs such as "Ku Ku Kurama" & "Sex" (which must surely be tongue in cheek), which are a lot of fun. This album will bring back some memories & put a smile on your face.
