LAUGHING STOCK

Despite being challenging, groundbreaking and highly influential on all modern rock music created afterwards, this album will probably sit uncomfortably with most prog heads. An explanation is that prog is usually very busy music, with loads of stuff going on, preferably all at once! This is the exact opposite; it's slow, sparse, almost without rhythm and without easily recognizable melodies. Yes and ELP couldn't be further away.

Myrrhman is as elusive as its title. The melodic progression is so slow it becomes almost ambient. It's not hard to see the huge influence it must have had on Steve Wilson when he penned No-man's Together We're Stranger. I especially love the cracked guitar chords and Hollis pensive melodies.

Ascension Day unleashes noisy guitars on a laidback jazzy groove. Without ever straining himself, Hollis has such a natural emotive strength in his voice. Beautiful. As on Spirit Of Eden, there's an entire legion of guest musicians that show themselves masters of restraint. The arrangements are very intricate though and continue to reveal new things upon each listen.

The dark mood continues on After The Flood, with lush Hammond sounds and Hollis' morose musings. Taphead is one of the most experimental compositions, featuring minimalist smoky jazz parts with slightly dissonant harmonics. New Grass is more rhythmic, but again the melodic development is very abstract and suggestive. With Runeii the album ends as magical as it started.

I think this is Talk Talk's highest achievement next to the entirely different The Colour of Spring. It is never an easy listen and it could be an absolutely horrid event for metal fans, but I love the freedom and natural fluidity of this music a lot. It's one of the most innovative and defining albums of the early 90's, and more importantly, it's an absolutely mystifying experience.