Deep Album Tracks: Inheritance

Talk Talk: Inheritance

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A lot of albums have run through my head as I’ve considered this week’s theme, but it was Geoviki’s thoughts about the nostalgic appeal of some music that convinced me that I had to post something from Talk Talk’s 1988 album, Spirit of Eden.

What makes a great album might be a collection of great songs. But Geoviki is right that what makes a favorite album is a collection of great songs coupled with an album’s role in our personal life’s narrative.

I think Spirit of Eden is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, based only on it’s merits as art. But it also has enormous nostalgic appeal for me. I remember driving home from the San Francisco airport having just dropped off a girl who I guessed I would never see again (I was right). This album distracted me from that pain as I left the city. I also remember long nights talking with friends while Mark Hollis’s crying vocals accompanied us in the background. There are many other times when this album has been in the background of my life.

The Spirit of Eden takes a lot of getting used to. There is nothing easy or catchy about it. It’s quiet and rarely demands your attention. It develops slowly. Many of you will probably push “play” on this post, wait 20 seconds, then move on to something else. I get that, I really do. But to me it’s beautiful.

I think all of the tracks would qualify as “deep tracks”, since there are no hits from the album, so I just chose a good song that hasn’t been posted on this blog before.

Doublespeak: Talk Talk

Talk Talk: Talk Talk

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Talk Talk: Time It's Time

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There's so much doublespeak in this post that I'll have you seeing double!

Here is a pair of songs by the dual-named 80s synthpop group, Talk Talk. The first song is also called Talk Talk, which slots this band with the likes of Bad Company and Big Country – groups synonymously named with their first big hit. Talk Talk started out mining the same pop vein as that other dual-named 80s synthpop group Duran Duran, but by their third album, from which Time It's Time is taken, they've developed a complex, moody, almost oblique style, as if they're trying to channel Carl Orff with that choral stuff at the end.

Plus they have some of the coolest album artwork ever. What's not to like?

Fade Outs: I Believe In You

Talk Talk: I Believe In You

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I've posted once before about Talk Talk and in that post I mentioned that I never recommend them to anyone. This is true. But if I had a list of the most underrated albums of all time (oh wait... I do) then The Spirit Of Eden would probably top the list. It's one of the most haunting albums in my library.

Fade outs are often cop outs, but there is nothing about The Spirit Of Eden or the featured track I Believe In You that cops out. On the contrary this album represents the moment that Mark Hollis fully embraces his artistic vision. He sloughs his New Romantic pop image and creates a masterpiece of brooding, cerebral post-pop with nary a radio friendly song in the lot.

The featured track is about talking a friend out of slipping back into heroin use, and as always, the cardinal feature of all Talk Talk songs is Hollis's weeping voice.

Spring & Flowers: April 5th

Talk Talk: April 5th

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I stopped recommending Talk Talk to people several years ago after consistently receiving tepid responses, at best, from friends. I admit that they are a bit moody and difficult at times, but I love the band (late period only) and I think they are more musical than people give them credit for.

Talk Talk started off as darlings of the New Romantic movement in 1981, getting heavy rotations on MTV. But by their third album, front man Mark Hollis had led them away from pop music into the netherworlds of a particularly haunting brand of jazz-infused post-rock. In my opinion their two great albums are The Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, with Spirit of Eden being the clear high point. I also think Hollis's first solo offering is worth hearing.

But, like I said, I don't officially recommend this band to people anymore. Purchase or download at your own risk.

That being said, you can't help but love the lyrics of this featured track:

Here she comes
Silent in her sound
Here she comes
Fresh upon the ground

Come gentle spring
Come at winter's end
Gone is the pallor from a promise that's nature's gift
Waiting for the colour of spring
Let me breathe
Let me breathe the colour of spring

Here she comes
Laughter in her kiss
Here she comes
Shame upon her lips

Come wanton spring, come
For birth you live
Youth takes its bow before the summer the seasons bring
Waiting for the colour of spring
Let me breathe

Reader submission by Berrett