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Talk TalkAlbums ReviewedIt's My Life (1984)The Colour of Spring (1986) Spirit Of Eden (1988) Laughing Stock (1991) The Party's Over(1982)I guess I should probably hunt this down so I can complete the Talk Talk discography on this page, but I just can't imagine it being all that great - I don't really like the following album much either, and I hear that this one's more of the same, but more primitive. It's My Life(1984)While there's a natural progression between each of Talk Talk's five studio albums, the distance between their 1982 synth-pop debut The Party's Over and 1991's jazz and ambient influenced Laughing Stock represents one of the most stunning transformations in popular music; a band that was originally pigeonholed as a one hit wonder, went on to produce some of the most unique and timeless albums of their era. At the time of their second album, however, the London based band were still in a steep learning curve, only gently deviating from generic synth-pop and delivering an album that relied on hit singles rather than substance. Having fired synthesiser player Simon Brenner after the debut, the group pared down to a three piece, with vocalist and songwriter Mark Hollis, bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris. While Webb and Harris are fine musicians, and Webb's busy bass lines especially are an important feature of the band's sound, it's the axis of Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Green who became the key figures in the group, enlisting legions of studio musicians to create lush layers of organic instrumentation. Here though, the music's still relatively simple - in many respects this is merely an average competent synth era record, although with good taste and economical arrangements and topped off with an emotive singer whose voice is akin to a more technically correct version of Peter Gabriel. There is just enough happening musically to create a good album if the songs were up to scratch, but unfortunately it's a pretty hit and miss proposition. The best song is the one that most accurately predicts their future course; 'Tomorrow Started' features the jazzy feel and more experimental textures that would mark their later records, in this case a distorted guitar is used as background ambience for an otherwise gentle track. Most of the first side is relatively solid - the title track was recently a hit for No Doubt, and it's a well constructed and hooky piece, while 'Such A Shame' and 'Dum Dum Girl' are also fine singles of their era, although the latter's central hook is almost irritating enough to write it off entirely. The second half is less convincing, with badly dated material like 'Call In The Night Boy' and 'It's You', with little to get excited over beyond simple keyboard riffs. There are signs of something beyond hit making going on here, but I doubt that too many pundits in 1984 would have predicted this group's following albums to be so sublime and genre breaking. So feel free to skip over this album, and start with their next record Colour of Spring instead - in hindsight, one of the ready available compilations that also includes the group's b-sides from their later career alongside their early singles probably would be a better choice than this album, if you're interested in Talk Talk beyond their last three records. 
The Colour of Spring(1986)Quite simply, this album represents one of the biggest quality leaps in the history of popular music. In the space of two years and one album, Talk Talk went from being in the midst of a crowd of passable bands to transcending the pop genre to the extent where they could subvert it to their purposes. The Colour of Spring takes all the best elements of mid-1980s pop - huge hooks and clean production (which suits this band perfectly) - and adds a few unique elements of its own, emphasising subtlety and nuance, and relying on organic instruments. Synthesisers are all but supplanted by piano, organ, mellotron, and orchestral instruments to supply the colour on this vivid and expressive record. Tim Friese-Green is much more prominent here, co writing every track with Hollis, producing and playing keyboards on most songs, while a sizable cast of backing musicians includes Steve Winwood, Danny Thompson and guitarists Robbie McIntosh (Pretenders) and David Rhodes (Peter Gabriel). A lot of these songs successfully bridge the gap between mainstream pop and artiness, using creative arrangements; the children's choir of 'Happiness is Easy' (which has to be one of the most blatantly sarcastic songs of all time), the infectious piano bassline of 'Life's What You Make It' and songs dropping into gently psychedelic solo sections. They sound like potentially huge hits if the group played by the pop rules more closely, but Hollis and Friese-Green constantly challenge themselves with lateral instrumentation and structures. There are a pair of songs here that break away from the eighties pop idiom altogether, pointing the next direction the band would take; the gentle 'Chameleon Day' is almost nothing but atmosphere, while the jazzy piano led 'April 5th' mostly thrives on the yearning in Hollis' voice. These two pieces help to give the album balance, and embellish it with a more reflective and beautiful tone overall. The album's six other songs are also uniformly strong; the white soul of 'Give It Up' is very reminiscent of Winwood, with a fantastic groove from Webb and Harris, 'Living In Another World' and 'Time It's Time' are catchy and climactic, while 'Life's What You Make It' is one of the best songs of its decade. I guess if you come to this after Talk Talk's following two albums you might find The Colour of Spring somewhat crass - it does betray its eighties origins reasonably blatantly and some listeners may even find it a little sugary in places. But it's easily one of the best records of its decade - pop music is rarely simultaneously so inventive and accessible.
Spirit Of Eden(1988)In many ways the jump from The Colour Of Spring to Spirit Of Eden is as much an advance as The Colour Of Spring was from its predecessor. Before I heard Spirit Of Eden, I read other reviews stating that it was closest in style to the somewhat impenetrable 'Chameleon Day' on The Colour Of Spring; while this is largely true, and there's nothing as immediate here as 'Life's What You Make It', this album's far more accessible than that statement would imply. The result of fourteen months of recording in an abandoned Suffolk church, it's certainly not difficult by any stretch of the imagination; it's warm and inviting, filled with rich organic sounds like its predecessor, but more downbeat, subtle and gorgeous than relying on huge pop hooks. Despite the change in emphasis, the support cast is similar, if smaller, than the previous record, although classical violinist Nigel Kennedy is a notable addition. Spirit Of Eden existed before the term post-rock was coined, and it's very much a pioneer of that genre, dispensing with rigid verse-chorus structure in favour of a more impressionistic style, laying down colours and emotions. In terms of harmonic structure and melody, Spirit Of Eden is relatively pedestrian and slow moving, shifting the focus onto production and arrangements, and onto Hollis's yearning vocals. There's also a deep air of spirituality about this record; the anti-heroin ethos of 'I Believe In You' is the only song where the subject matter is spelt out, and even that is underpinned by a spiritual current, while titles like 'Desire' and 'Inheritance', and lyrics like 'rage on omnipotent" only mirror the record's musical content. Its difficult to imagine each of the album's six tracks outside their context, as they're designed to work as a suite; the first three all segueing together, while the long silences between the tracks on the second side are just as critical a part of the album's flow. And each piece has its own distinct character, whether it's the surging and unexpectedly violent guitars of 'Desire', the soothing organ hook of 'I Believe In You' or the naked vulnerability of the closing 'Wealth'. It's difficult to find small faults in such a cohesive work of art as this; it's either close to perfect or a boring pretentious mess, and I'm pumping for the former.
Laughing Stock(1991)After Spirit Of Eden failed to spawn a successful single or follow The Colour of Spring into the UK top ten, despite its huge recording expense, Talk Talk ended their relationship with a disillusioned EMI (the final straw came when the label released several compilations, including a remix album, without the group's consent), while Webb also quit, later collaborating with Portishead's Beth Gibbons as Rustin' Man. The remaining duo of Hollis and Harris continued for one last album, released on the jazz label Polydor. Coincidentally, it's actually the jazz feel of the rhythm tracks - Harris mastering a jazzier drumming style and the acoustic bass of the session players - that's the single biggest departure from the Spirit Of Eden sound. Otherwise Laughing Stock is a gentler, more subtle sequel; apart from the violent guitars of 'Ascension Day', it rarely raises above a gentle murmur. Of course, it would be a shame if Hollis and Friese-Green didn't continue in the ground-breaking vein of Spirit Of Eden, and this album is very nearly as good; it's just the relatively sedate and uneventful opening and closing tracks that stop this album reaching the same heights. Full marks for the artwork though; it's not every pop album that features the huia and the tui, two endemic New Zealand birds, on the cover. As noted above, the book ending tracks don't leave much impression, relatively short and atmospheric. The remaining four tracks, though, are largely sublime, pushing out the boundaries established by Spirit Of Eden. Hollis's guitar assault in 'Ascension Day' is simultaneously more refined and wilder than on the previous album's 'Desire', while 'Taphead' pushes further into avant-garde territory. 'After The Flood' and 'New Grass' both approach the ten minute mark and are both gorgeous, relying on vivid acoustic textures. The spiritual, Christian-derived themes are even more pronounced here - I'm sure there's some overriding theme running through this album although I'm unable to pick it out, but it's steeped in references to the Bible and to redemption. "Climb through needle neck" is a lyric from 'Taphead', while 'New Grass' looks forward to "Someday Christendom may come/Westward/Evening sun recendent". There are plenty of absolutely gorgeous moments here, and it's a fine, if premature end, to a wonderful career; if it wasn't a little overshadowed by and a little close in tone to its predecessor, I'd probably rate this even more highly, and if you're a Talk Talk fan Laughing Stock is absolutely essential. Mark Hollis has been largely inactive since Talk Talk's breakup, but he released a well-received self-titled solo album in 1998.
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
