THE COLOUR OF SPRING

This is the third album by Talk Talk and it came on the heels of the successful prior album "It's My Life". Even though that album was more popular in the U.S., this album called "The Colour of Spring" was actually a bigger seller worldwide. This album shows the beginning of a shift in the music of Talk Talk towards a more lush sound and begins the transition of the band from pop to an ambient sound. You do hear a lot of that shift in this album, and it makes for some very nice sounds. To me, it is approaching the later sounds of Roxy Music, more of a prog-pop sound. The albums to come after this one are the reason why Talk Talk is in the Prog Archives site.

The first track shows off the change right off the bat. "Happiness is Easy" is not a track you would expect to hear on the radio, especially pop radio in the 80s. It has a light rhythm which has plenty of anti-pop changes throughout. It is a beautiful song with nice instrumentation and plenty to keep it interesting and mildly challenging. "I Don't Believe in You" is more of a customary sounding song with a mid tempo sound and with more of a pop sound. The next track was the single from the album, and, strangely enough, I have found their singles to be rather appealing. This is "Life's What You Make It" and it has a great piano hook which utilizes the lower keys of the piano which is a nice change in the world of pop music. Hints of ambience abound in the next track "April 5th", though the piano riff is repetitive, the other instruments weave in and around this riff and even that mildly repetitiveness becomes less and less noticeable as the other sounds take over the spotlight even drowning out the vocals, but this is all done without much increase in volume, staying in the ambient area. This is a very nice track. Even though it is not a deeply progressive song, it is not typical either and I find it quite enjoyable.

The second side starts off with what was a minor single called "Living in Another World". This one is a return to a poppy sound with an upbeat rhythm. There is a nice harmonica riff in the instrumental breaks, but other than that, there isn't much that stands out on this track. It is said that Mark Hollis was inspired by the modal jazz of Miles Davis for this song. "Give it Up" is more mid-tempo with that mysterious sound to it that made Talk Talk famous. It is a little more interesting than the previous track, but is pretty straightforward with a repetitive chorus. Next is the shortest track at just over 3 minutes. It is called "Chameleon Day", and it is far from ordinary. Instrumentation is dissonant and sparse and includes some brass instruments and vocals are subdued with a few outbursts. This is the route the band would be taking, an excellent move into ambience. The last track, "Time It's Time", is over 8 minutes and has a more prominent rhythm. This one is another very Roxy Music sounding track. There is a nice choir added in the chorus which adds an unexpected twist, but not in the tired, worn out way that you expect in pop music. They almost add some contrast to the mood of the piece and make it more interesting The verses are soft and subdues and the chorus is more intense. With the length of this song, I was hoping for more of a progressive development here, but that doesn't happen in this case.

Anyway, I enjoy this album, but I also enjoyed "It's My Life". But I was really excited to hear how they had started to add some progressive elements to this album when I heard it originally. This would continue in future albums to a much greater extent, staying in the ambient style. This album is not their best, but it is still worth listening to because there are some great sounds and music here, but you do have to sit through a few mediocre songs to get to the great ones. Not perfect, but still a favorite that I think doesn't get enough credit. 4 stars because the highlights are really good.