Back in the early 90s, some music associates of mine were singing the praises of Talk Talk. They had become somewhat zombie-eyed about them, and were making grand proclamations that they represented true progressive rock, and that the dinosaurs of Yes and Genesis were old hat and tiresome. Like with religion and politics, once you're dealing with someone who "has the inside skinny on the Truth", it's likely they've taken drink of the local kool-aid - and logic is out the window. My resistance meter went straight to the red zone. After hearing Spirit of Eden, I was predictably nonplussed. It's OK I guess. But it's no Close to the Edge! And that was my Talk Talk experience.
That was 30 years ago. Still rather youthful and close minded myself. In these last few years of crate digging, I've been on the lookout for any Talk Talk, but they are not to be found. Finally scored The Colour of Spring at the Denver Record show, a beautiful copy for $5 - one of the better steals of the show for me. Now I'm going in with a totally different perspective, that of the X-Wave mind. Which is - of course - exactly the roots of Talk Talk themselves. I haven't heard anything by the band - I won't even count that Spirit of Eden experience - but I understand this is their "transitional" album from the standard synthpop to a more serious outfit. With an empty slate of expectation, I let the music do the talking minus filters (as much as anyone can do that). Now I'm on board. Selling it as progressive rock is crazy, but as an established New Wave band maturing to adulthood, this is stellar stuff. And what an interesting selection of instrumentation. Can't think of too many X-Wave bands that dug back into the 70s and pulled out the trusty Hammond organ and mellotron. Overall The Colour of Spring is a somber, moody affair with a rich analog sound. I can imagine this being quite a revelation for many fans of 80s music. Just don't go comparing it to Selling England by the Pound. Different game entirely.
Ownership: LP: 1986 EMI America. Single sleeve with lyric inner bag. Acquired as noted above (2022).
10/21/22 (new entry)
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